Jack had contacted Duncan, filling him in on the details of what had happened. The island was small, and it hadn’t taken him and Teal'c long to ascertain that Daniel and Casey were not on its sandy beaches. Five hours had passed since they had first arrived.

Frustrated, feeling totally helpless, Jack sat on the beach, staring out at the waves. He was concerned for his friends, wracked with guilt over what Casey had endured; and was apparently still going through. Never again. He was never again going to do something so…so damned distasteful!

Teal'c lowered his large frame to the sand beside his friend. He said nothing. His presence was welcome, and both men knew it.

"We never should have let it get so far out of hand," Jack said softly, breaking the easy silence that had fallen between them.

"I agree, O’Neill. Casey Jackson was correct, we should have told her as soon as we returned from the planet after Daniel Jackson’s successful placement among the Goa’uld."

"I just never thought she’d really believe that he didn’t love her."

"Perhaps Duncan MacLeod’s lie about the drug that counteracted the Fire was instrumental in making her believe just that," Teal'c said softly.

Jack nodded. "Probably. I think Duncan is thinking the same thing. It’s tearing him up dealing with it."

"Indeed."

"We should have followed our first instinct and not let her go at all," Jack said again, after another lengthy pause.

"I agree. However, it would have been extremely difficult to keep her from accompanying us."

"We could have sent her with SG-6…she’s gone with them before."

Teal'c nodded. "It is easy to look back and see what we should have done. We did not have time to fully consider all options, or consequences."

That was true. The Tok’ra had pushed to get the mission started and underway within days of their first report. When they first discussed the mission with Daniel, he had refused. Had he continued to refuse, the mission would have been scrubbed. But the idea of finally getting Anubis swayed the young archaeologist. He was hesitant when it was revealed what could, and most probably would be expected of him. New intel on what Anubis was up to had convinced him that the…sacrifice… was worth the risk. That risk had turned out to be much greater than any of them had imagined, and the cost certainly much higher.

A  A  A  A  A  A

'I’m here, babe. Are you in a…prison cell?'

"Yep. Wonder if the toilet works. I need to go."

'Find out.'

'Yeah?'

"What is going on?"

A deep sigh. 'I have no idea.'

She sat down on the bunk, leaned her back against the wall and brought her legs up, put her arms around her knees. "I liked it better when we were together, even if it was cold."

'Me too, babe.'

"I’m hungry."

'Hang on, babe…something's happening.'

Her heart began to race, listening, waiting for him to talk to her again, to tell her what was going on. A clanging sound echoed near the ‘door’ of her cell. She jumped to her feet, ran to stand in front of it. The door opened, and Daniel stepped inside. The fact that the door was slammed shut behind them was ignored for the few seconds they took to cling to one another.

"How…?"

He shook his head. "The door on my cell opened, and then lights began to come on as I moved down a hallway. If I tried to turn or go a different way, all of the lights went off. I counted about ten of these ‘cells’ between us. There isn’t any way to look inside to see if anyone was in them. Jack and Teal'c must be in them as well."

She shivered. "It’s almost as if…they…are willing to let us be together, because we want it."

"It seems that way. I’m not going to question or argue. As long as we’re together." He led her to the bunk, pulled the blanket from it. He sat down, leaned back against the wall, then motioned for her to sit down between his legs. She leaned back against him, and they covered themselves with the blanket.

"Is it just me, or does the air smell funny all of a sudden?"

"It’s not you, babe, I smell it too."

"Great. Wonder where we’ll wake up this time?" she complained. She tightened her hands on his arms. "Just as long as they leave us together," she whispered.

His response was to hold her tighter.

She wasn’t even aware of falling asleep.

She opened her eyes. She was cold. At least, the back of her was cold. She was laying on his chest, could feel that he was still inside her. She lifted herself up and looked around. Daniel was still asleep, and they were still in the cell, lying on the bunk, naked. Obviously they had made love. The blanket was on the floor. She reached down and grabbed it, managed to get it over them, then put her head back down on his shoulder. If the bastards holding them had wanted a show, she certainly hoped that they had enjoyed it!

He opened his eyes. She was lying on him, her weight a sweet burden. It took him a few seconds to realize that they were naked and he was still inside her body.

"Were you dreaming about making love by that lake in paradise?" she asked softly, aware that he was awake.

"Yeah, I was. Apparently the only thing we were dreaming was the lake."

"Apparently." She snuggled closer. "Who would have thought that such advanced beings were nothing more than your garden variety voyeurs? Maybe they’re so far advanced that they don’t even make love anymore, and they want to remember how to do it," she suggested.

Daniel laughed. "Now that’s a possibility I hadn’t considered," he admitted.

"But how do we explain the Fire to them, how do we explain the love? When our bodies come together, it’s love, not just sex," she said softly.

He tightened his arms around her. "Yeah, it is. The best love. I don’t know how we explain it, Angel. Maybe we can’t."

"I’m really getting hungry," she said finally, breaking the peaceful silence that had fallen over them.

"Me, too."

She sighed. "Nachos. I want nachos. A big, honkin’ plate of nachos, with lots of cheese and shredded beef and topped with green onions and tomatoes and guacamole and sour cream."

"Sounds good."

She giggled. "I know."

"I could go for some of your lasagna. Big plate full of it."

"I have some in the freezer. If we ever get out of here, I’ll warm it up for you."

There was suddenly a clanging sound, and the door to the cell swung open.

"Get dressed, babe, I think we’re going somewhere," Daniel said quietly. They dressed quickly, their eyes on the open door, fearing that it would slam shut again before they were fully clothed and ready to leave. "Let's go."

She held tightly to his hand as they slowly walked down the corridor.

They followed the lights that began to glow as they approached. A door at the end of the corridor opened onto a cave. There was a pool of water, and they could see sunlight reflecting on one side, as if there was an opening somewhere in the water.

"I think we’re going to have to swim," Daniel said. "I’ll go first, make sure it’s safe."

"You are not leaving me here alone! When you go, I go," she insisted.

One look in her green eyes told him that this was one argument he would not win. "Okay, babe. Deep breath." They dove into the water, and swam toward the light.