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The doctor checked her temperature again, and agreed that she could go to their quarters. He suggested a warm shower, and then insisted that she remain under blankets for at least another hour.

The shower did help warm her up, and when she came out, Daniel was already under the blankets waiting for her. She snuggled close to him. He breathed deeply of her sweet scent, put his hand over her heart to feel it beating, to feel her chest rise and fall with each breath.

"I nearly lost you, Angel," he whispered, pulling her tighter against his naked body.

"You told me all I had to do was call you if I needed you. That’s what I did, and you saved me. Which must be getting old by now," she added with a smile.

"Never. As long as it keeps you by my side, I’ll do whatever I have to, save you as often as I need to. Which would be a lot less if you stayed out of trouble," he teased.

"Aw, what fun would that be? Getting the adrenaline flowing is good for you!"

"I can think of better ways to do that."

She smiled at him, ran her hand up and down his body, stopping high on his thigh. "Really?"

"Oh, yeah." He reached down and moved her hand, placing it on his rising manhood. He gasped when her fingers surrounded him, began to slowly stroke him. "That’s getting something flowing," he grinned.

She rolled to her side and began to kiss him, slipping her tongue into his mouth, tasting him, feeling him, letting the sensations light the fire in her body. His tongue began to dance with hers.

He needed to taste her, feel the warmth of her body. He gently pushed her to her back, then pulled the blanket over his head and began to make love to her breasts, suckling until her nipples were hard and pointed. He moved lower, kissing her belly, her hips, then settled between her thighs.

She gasped when he began to worship her, his tongue teasing her, arousing her. He slipped his fingers inside her and stroked until her back was arching off of the bed and her thighs were quivering. He moved up and buried himself in her warm, wet well.

"You feel so good, Angel," he whispered in her ear, moving slowly, gently.

"So do you, my love," she murmured in reply. Her body was caressing him…she was squeezing him with those muscles deep inside…rocking her hips against his. She started to whimper, and began to grind her body against his. Their dance became faster, their moves more energetic.  "Oh… I’m gonna come!" she whispered.

"That’s it, babe, give it to me…come for me Angel," Daniel whispered in return.

With a cry she obeyed, her body trembling beneath him. He increased the pace of his thrusts, his own body nearing release.

"Love me, Daniel, please let me feel you throb inside me," she whispered in his ear.

He began to move hard and fast, in and out of her body. With a deep moan, he reached his climax, pushing deep and hard as he emptied into her. He rolled them over, then helped her readjust the blankets so that she remained covered. His arms held her close. Again the knowledge of how close he had come to losing her flashed across his brain, constricted his heart. He had to hold himself in check to keep from squeezing her too tightly.

"We should get cleaned up, and find out what progress Jack has made," she said after several peaceful minutes. "I want to know who sabotaged this mission."

"Okay, babe, let’s hit the shower."

A  A  A  A  A  A

Twenty minutes later they found Jack, Teal'c, and Jacob in one of the conference rooms, Colonel Harrington and Lieutenant Carrie Walters sitting across from them. They all looked up when the Jacksons entered the room.

"Well?" Daniel asked quietly.

Jack shook his head. "Until we can get one of those Zay-whatsits, and get them hooked up, we aren’t going to know anything for sure."

Casey sat down beside Daniel. "Do we know for certain that Osiris is dead?"

Jacob shook his head. "Looks as if both Zinder and Osiris got away."

Casey looked at the two who were being accused. Something just didn’t seem right. Neither of them…felt…guilty. "Carrie, what level were you assigned?"

"Seven," was the soft answer.

"Detention level. Which would explain why she saw me when I was captured," Casey said. "Colonel, I’m assuming your zeal to get off the ship was to protect those who had made it to the rings in time from further early explosions?"

The man nodded. "One of the bombs had already gone off early. By the time Walters joined us, we had thirty seconds. Unless you had been right behind her, I knew that there was no way you were going to make it off."

"Case, want to share with the rest of the class?" Jack asked.

"I…they don’t…feel…guilty," she said. "I know, it sounds weird."

Daniel shook his head. "After today, nothing sounds weird."

Teal'c looked hard at Carrie. "When you arrived at the rings, you stated that the Jaffa had killed Casey Jackson, but that you did not know where they had taken her. If you were on the detention level, how could you have witnessed her death, and not her imprisonment? To know that she was dead, you would have had to be nearby to see her killed."

Carrie shook her head. "I saw them dragging her, I could tell she was dead. I just didn’t know which cell they took her to," she argued.

Now Daniel and Jack were looking at her. "How did you know she wasn’t just unconscious?" Jack asked.

"With a staff wound the size of Alaska on her chest?"

"Why would they put her in a cell if she was dead?" Daniel asked. "Why not take the body to their infirmary, or laboratory?"

Carrie shrugged. "Maybe they knew she was Immortal."

"Osiris!" Casey hissed. "That bitch was on Zinder’s ship the whole time! That’s why two pods were missing. She knows I’m Immortal."

Carrie threw Casey a look of gratitude. "I’m sorry I didn’t try to help you. I was just…I got scared, then the whole ship started shaking, and time was running out, and…" she looked down at her hands.

Casey smiled. "Self-preservation is one of the strongest emotions we have. And when it kicks into gear, it’s damned hard to fight it."

Colonel Harrison was glowering at the young SF. "We never leave our people behind if we can help it! You should have contacted us! At that point there was still time to do something!"

The young woman flinched visibly.

"This still leaves us with the unanswered question of who messed with the timers," Jack said.

"Unless it was a simple malfunction," Jacob replied.

Jack shook his head. "I just don’t buy it. But maybe we’ll get lucky and that will be all that it is."

"I suggest that we keep everyone on board until we can test them all," Selmak said. "The technicians who tested and set the timers are on board the Phoenix. If one of them is guilty, we will find out."

Casey shuddered. "With all the problems we already have with the bad guys, I hate to think that one of our own has turned."

Selmak nodded. "Treachery is never easy to understand, or accept. Unfortunately, it happens more often than any of us would like."

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