Cat's Cradle

by J. M. Griffin

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/asj/jmgriffin/cradle.php
Summary: Daniel discovers that his theory about planets with even digits is correct.

When the first fingers of dawn's light made their way into his apartment, Daniel Jackson, curled on his side in bed, was sound asleep. As the sun's rays touched him, he dreamed of cat feet tiptoeing up his body. The creature stood on his pillow for a few seconds, breathing over him, then lay down with a whump that woke Daniel with a start.

Later, he couldn't say if it had been a dream or not.

PX4-222. Daniel Jackson gave one last glance at his notes and nodded in satisfaction. He liked planets with round numbers. For some reason, they were less likely to harbor odd creatures that snuck into human bodies and wreaked havoc. Planets with even numbers seldom had rulers with delusions of godhood. While he hadn't made an actual study of it, he felt in his bones this was true. It was going to be a good day.

"What are you grinnin' at?" Jack O'Neill growled as he came up beside SG-1's resident archaeologist/anthropologist.

"Who me?" Daniel made sure to give the colonel his best look of innocence. It appeared Jack had downed one too many beers last night. And since they had been together at the gathering the night before, Daniel was sensitive to the fact that Jack might decide it was all his fault.

"Damn, why did you let me drink so much, anyway?" Jack asked as if on cue.

"Because we were not scheduled for a mission this morning, O'Neill." Teal'c said smugly as he stepped onto the ramp that led up to the towering ring of the Stargate. "Thus, there was no reason to preach restraint."

Jack only groaned as Major Samantha Carter joined the group.

"Hey, I was hoping we'd get this planet." Carter enthused, oblivious to the colonel's sour face. "It was supposed to be SG-7's recon, but Captain Ramey has some weird strain of the flu and the whole team got pulled. So it's ours, isn't that great?"

"What exactly is so special about this planet, Major?" O'Neill looked at his team with eyes squinted half shut.

"The sand is black, like Viento Negro in Mexico. And it has traces of naquada in it, though not enough to be of any use to us or the Goa' uld. SG-7 brought back a sample yesterday." Carter ignored Jack's sullen squint entirely. "They didn't have time for more than a cursory look before Ramey collapsed, but the word is the oasis closest to the Gate is inhabited by a group of people who hunt with huge leopard-like wild cats. I think that..."

"Major?" Jack bent his head as if to get rid of a crick in his neck.

"Yes, Colonel?"

"Shut up. I'll read the report for myself."

"Yes, sir," Samantha Carter said haughtily, but there was laughter in her eyes and everyone knew she wasn't angry with her C.O.

~~~

PX4-222 was not a place of great beauty, unless one was seduced by dark grey, almost black, sand dunes as far as the eye could see. The SG-1 team stood at the top of a rise and surveyed the land around the Stargate. They had barely gotten over the frosty feeling that came with gating in and already they were sweating.

"Must be 110 in the shade," Jack groused.

"What shade," Daniel muttered.

"According to earlier reconnaissance, the oasis is said to be three kilometers to the south-east." Carter offered.

"Oh super, directly into the sun," Jack adjusted his dark glasses on his face, as if that would give him added protection from the sunlight.

The team began to move as a unit. After a few steps, Jack glanced over his shoulder to make sure Daniel was heading in the same direction as the rest of the team. The man was known for his little side jaunts, but today he was trudging along only a few steps behind the colonel. It made Jack happy to have him there. He wouldn't say it aloud, of course, but he was deep down thrilled that Danny had continued on the SG-1 team after his wife, Shau'ri, had died. Of course, Daniel had a new mission - to find the Harcesis child, but Jack liked to think there was more to Daniel's decision to stay.

He'd been thinking along those same lines last night too, which was why he'd had so much damn beer. He'd been thinking how friendly it would be to invite Daniel back to his place. He'd been thinking he'd like to get a certain spacemonkey to...

"Don't you agree, Sir?" Carter directed her question to O'Neill. No telling how much of her discourse he'd missed as they walked up one sand dune and down another.

"Come again, Major," the colonel said, "The wind is kicking up and I' ve got some sand in my ear."

Thank god the wind really was beginning to blow hard. Then again, maybe that wasn't such a good thing. They knew from experience sand storms were a bitch. At the bottom of the next dune, Jack signaled the team to a stop. "Better get the tents off F.R.E.D. It's gonna be a live one."

The two tiny tents were specially designed for just this purpose and they expanded so fast it was smart to stay out of the way as they unfurled. Still, the funnel of the storm was nearly on SG-1 by the time the tents were off the Field Remote Expeditionary Device and set up side by side on the dark sand. Jack intended to join Teal'c, but a particularly sharp blast practically blew Carter in with the Jaffa and so Jack ducked down and crawled in with Daniel. He was instantly sorry he'd done so as he put his pack down beside the younger man.

And instantly glad.

Daniel's blue, blue eyes were but a hair's breath from his own face. Daniel's coffee breath touched his cheek, a lover's caress. Jack inched back in self-preservation. But Daniel was so close, his thigh hard against Jack's as they sat in the dimly lit enclosure, there was no way to put any real distance between them. The wind outside was whipping viciously, scratching at their tiny sanctuary with a raw, eerie sound. Jack felt Daniel give an involuntary shiver, goose bumps obviously having run down his spine.

Both men made small movements, getting situated in the sand. It was warm and cozy, the tiny lights sewn into the seams of their enclosure giving off a comforting glow. Jack found himself yawning. Daniel shot him a grin and Jack shrugged. He had planned to sleep in this morning. He couldn't say he was too annoyed by their current circumstances, however. Hunkered here with Danny in such close proximity wasn't half bad.

Daniel watched as Jack's head began to nod. He didn't move when the older man slowly slumped over and his cheek came to rest on Daniel's shoulder. Jack had had how many beers last night? Maybe five or six. Daniel had spent much of the evening watching Jack out of the corner of his eye, wanting to put a gentle hand on his friend's shoulder and say, "It's okay. You aren't alone in this. I'm here."

Daniel knew parties did things to Jack. Made him feel forlorn and lonely, which in turn made him morose and surly. Daniel figured the man's head must have been killing him all morning. But he was obviously in no pain now. He breathed gently against Daniel's shoulder, in little puffs that weren't quite snores. Daniel leaned back against their stacked backpacks and the movement was enough to settle Jack against him more firmly, with no chance of a crick in Jack 's neck when he woke.

The wind continued to hiss against the tent. Sweat trickled down Jack' s forehead and Daniel leaned over and caught the droplet on his tongue. He was half hard, a comfortable ache in his groin, not a driving need, thankfully, though he'd felt that for Jack, too, at times. No, this was just a quiet want, containable as long as Jack didn't move, only sagged against him, all the lines smoothed out on his face, the angst which had provoked the beerfest of the night before forgotten in sleep. Jack liked to think himself inscrutable, perhaps, but Daniel knew the man felt things deeply. He knew Jack's body curled against his own in such total trust and abandon was a gift. More than just "watch my back while I sleep, buddy."

At least, Daniel wanted it to be more. He rested his cheek on the top of Jack's head and closed his eyes. He didn't want to think anymore. For a time he was content only to feel.

~~~

Jack woke slowly, in the warm cocoon of orange. It took his fuzzy mind a moment to place himself in a tent; it took him a few beats more to figure out who he was leaning on. Carefully, so as not to disturb Daniel, he pulled himself upright. Danny was sound asleep, his rosebud mouth slightly open, his breaths tiny huffs. Jack swiped at his own mouth, feeling oddly at peace. The wind was dying down outside, it wouldn't be long now before they'd be able to dig their way out. Jack sat cross-legged, elbows on knees, chin in hand, and watched Danny sleep. He would have liked to have leaned in and kissed him. Instead, he just sat there and thought about it.

About ten minutes later, Teal'c was outside calling "O'Neill" in his deep voice. Daniel woke with a start to find Jack grinning at him.

"Time to get up, sleepy head."

As he gathered his pack, Daniel prayed he didn't talk in his sleep. That had been one interesting dream and Jack had been starring in it.

~~~

The grey-green of the oasis loomed in the distance; the sun shone high overhead. Daniel, for one, was glad he had on his expedition hat. They had reached the top of yet another dune. Sam and Jack had their binoculars out and were scanning the horizon for signs of life, when motion off to the left caught everyone's eye.

The sand seemed to boil at the top of a dune, round puffs of steam rising off it. Then something came racing down it at break neck speed. Two somethings actually. One so low to the ground as to be almost lost from view as it fairly flew along. Behind it, in close pursuit, another animal raced. It was this second thing that held the eye. A huge grey cat, running full out. As SG-1 watched, the cat gathered itself and leaped, bringing down its prey in a tall plumb of sand and smoke.

When the dust cleared, the wild cat stood still, a plump, rabbit-like creature hanging from its mouth. A moment later, a rider on a horse crested the same dune over which the first two animals had appeared over. The figure rose in its' stirrups, called back over one shoulder, then it made its way past the cat to the four SG-1 team-members.

Up close, it was evident the person on the horse was most probably male. He rode past the cat, who was now lying down guarding its prey, and stopped his mount mere steps from the team.

"I am Farran of the Damalis," the rider made no move to dismount, but bent slightly at the waist as he spoke.

Stepping forward, Daniel gave his own little bow. "I am Daniel Jackson of Earth and these are my friends, Jack O'Neill, Samantha Carter and Teal'c."

"I know of no oasis called Earth." The rider said as he pushed back the hood of his robes. His skin was dark gold, but his hair was so blonde as to be almost white.

"We came through the Chappa'ai. We are of the Tau'ri." Daniel explained, and heard a little sound of protest from Jack.

Farran made a small concise movement Daniel took for a shrug. "If you are from afar, you must come with me. Our queen will want to meet you."

Daniel looked back over his shoulder at Jack. The colonel made a his own shrugging motion as if to say "why not."

Dismounting, Farran put two fingers to his mouth and gave a shrill whistle. SG-1 watched in amazement as the grey wildcat lumbered to its feet, grabbed up the uneaten carcass in its mouth and loped over to the other rider who had appeared on the crest of the dune and still waited there.

"Graysalas will accompany Suri home. I will walk with you to the Oasis Per Bast." In a heartbeat, the cat and the other horseman were gone over the top of the hill. Farran started walking and the others followed.

~~~

On the southern edge of the oasis, a walled city rose up out of the nearly black sands. SG-1 was led through its gates with little fanfare. It was obviously market day and the dusty streets were swarming with people. Many stared at Teal'c, and indeed, it appeared he was darkest skinned person around. One child was brave enough to extend a finger toward the large Jaffa, but not brave enough to touch.

Farran led the Gate travelers to a bricked road, which, not surprisingly, ended at what could only be termed a stone palace, even if it was only three stories high and its flat roof appeared to have a garden on it.

At the doors to the keep, Farran paused. "Within you will encounter Bast. It is customary to bow to her, though she won't be insulted if you don't, as you are obviously foreigners."

For a moment, none of the Stargate team said a word, though Teal'c's eyebrows flew up at another mention of the Egyptian goddess' name.

"Thank you." Once again Daniel played spokesman. The massive doors swung open, though no one had knocked or indicated the group's presence outside the doors.

Once inside, they were led across an open courtyard toward another set of doors upon which a sunboat was intricately embossed, flames radiating from it in an abandon of whorls, licks and curls. These double doors were guarded by two golden-skinned guards. Just as Faran and SG-1 approached the guardsmen, an older woman stepped from an adjacent hall and hurried toward them.

"Farran," she called out and since the man stopped and turned, the SG-1 team did so as well.

"Sula, is Graysalas angry?" Farran asked anxiously.

The old woman gave a wrinkled smile. "No, but he would have preferred to continue hunting."

"As would have I." Farran gave a wry grin and cast an apologetic look over his shoulder at the newcomers.

"Bast awaits them, " the woman told him. Farran gave that tiny from-the-waist-bow again and, without any word of command, the guards standing nearby grabbed the large brass handles of the doors and swung them open.

Carter leaned toward Daniel as they passed through the tall portal. "Bastet? The goddess of fire, cats, the home, and pregnant women?"

Daniel grinned, but shook his head. "Just Bast, not Bastet. Scribes added an extra "T" to make sure the name wasn't pronounced "Bas." And in the most ancient writing she is protector, destroyer and avenger of the pharaoh. A lioness, not a cat."

Jack gave the two whisperers a little shove from behind and they got moving again.

A woman stood on a dias at the end of what appeared to be a long rectangular audience hall. A woman and a very large grey desert cat.

"Whoa," Jack breathed softly.

"Greetings to you, travelers. Welcome to Per-Bast. I am Renata, speaker of Bast." The woman was tall, golden, and as fair-haired as Farran.

Daniel gave the same greeting he'd given Farran, but the words Chappa' ai and Tau'ri seemed to have no meaning for Renata either. So he gave up and tried a different avenue. "We are, as you have surmised, travelers from afar. We would like to learn of your people and your customs. We would also like to tell you of our world."

Jack harumped at that. But they all knew there would have to be an exchange of information if these people were to even begin to trust them.

The speaker cocked her head as if listening to some inner voice. Then she gave that bow that Daniel was beginning to think of as a nod of assent. "Bast agrees that you may stay a day or two in her company. Tonight we feast, and Johar, our foremost storyteller and scribe, will entertain." She turned then and walked away.

The desert cat stayed sprawled on the dias. Its eyes never wavering from SG-1 as it yawned, showing a cavernous mouth and enormous teeth. At this close range, it was easy to see it had darker gray whirls on its coat, similar to the pattern on a South American black jaguar. Finally, the beast stood, licked its delicate black lips, and sauntered out of the hall. All in all, an ostentatious display of power.

"Come," Farran said when the cat had left. "The day has been hot and mealtime approaches. Let me show you to a place where you can refresh yourselves.

They were shown to a spacious chamber with a courtyard which held a tiny bubbling fountain that spilled into a small pool. A servant indicated they could drink or wash from this fount and then left. The moment they were alone, everyone spoke at once.

"Okay. That's enough." Jack took the high ground and the others stopped talking. The colonel heaved a sigh and sat on one of the long low couches scattered about the room. "Hokay, what have we got here?"

Again, Daniel, Carter and Teal'c all spoke at the same time. "Oh, for crying out loud. Stop it." Jack bellowed. "Daniel, you first. And keep it short, I don't want a thirty minute discourse on Bast." Jack smiled to take the sting out of his words.

Daniel nodded. "Bast in a nutshell, it is. She was Ra's daughter according to everything I ever read. Thought of now days as the "cat goddess," she was in truth a fierce warrior who fought for and protected the pharaoh."

"The woman seemed to be listening to someone speaking in her head." Carter interrupted. "But I don't think she's Goa'uld."

"Whoa, wait a minute," Jack held up his hand, though no one else was speaking. "Say that again, Sam. You don't think she's Goa'uld."

Carter shook her head negatively. "No, she doesn't appear to be."

"Appearances can be deceiving, Major Carter," Teal'c intoned at the same time Daniel was saying, "You mean the Goa'uld "radar" that you got from Jolinar didn't go off?"

Carter gave a quick shake of her head. "No, not at all."

Daniel turned toward the Jaffa. "Teal'c, have you heard of a system lord called Bast? Or of any of her followers?"

"No, I have not." Teal'c admitted. "But I saw the depiction of the sunboat on the doors to the audience chamber. It is obvious she has links to Ra."

"Hmm," Daniel rubbed his chin as he spoke, "Bast is one of the oldest of the gods. She is always depicted as a human with the head of a wild cat or lioness, or as a desert cat, never as fully human. I wonder if that could mean anything?"

"I think it means we better watch those cats," Sam said emphatically. The three men looked at the major sharply. She shrugged her shoulders. "For some reason they give me the heebee-jeebees."

"Well, that's scientific," Jack teased.

"The cat's seem to be exactly what they look like. Big desert cats, like the ones the Ancient Egyptians used for hunting. They were never completely domesticated, but they did co-exist rather well with humans." Daniel informed them all.

Teal'c spoke up. "Appearances can be...."

"Deceiving, yeah, I know," Daniel finished for him.

"Okay, our strategy is simple." Jack told them all. "We go to the feast, keep an eye on the cats, learn all we can, and try to get a chance to scout around this place. In the morning, we head back to the Stargate. And Daniel...,"

Daniel's clear blue eyes came up to meet Jack's brown ones. "What?"

"Try not to tell them all Earth's secrets, okay?"

~~~

The banquet was not unlike those they had participated in on Abydos, though the surroundings were more sumptuous. Seated on pillows around low tables, SG-1 did their best to blend in, while at the same time being very careful about what they ate. The natives of the area were polite, but cool toward their guests.

Only Farran, seated at Daniel's side, paid much attention to the team, though gradually as the evening progressed, his gaze began to focus more and more exclusively on the team's archaeologist.

Jack watched as Farran leaned in to Daniel yet again and offered him some delicacy from his own plate.

Fighting the urge to groan, Jack settled for rolling his eyes. Why was it always Daniel who got this sort of treatment? What was the allure? Perhaps it was his blue eyes. But Sam had pretty blue eyes and she didn't get this kind of attention. Maybe it was Daniel's complete lack of guile. Or perhaps it was his unconscious innocence that was such a draw. Whatever it was, Ra had felt it, and Hathor, and maybe even Apophis. Obviously Farran had.

Problem was, Jack felt it too. And was drawn to it. Moth to flame. Did the moth ever consider how the flame burned?

Someone called to Farran and he murmured politely in Daniel's ear before he got up and left.

"Whew," Sam commented delicately. Daniel paid no attention, but seemed to be staring at a mural of a band of running horses which flowed across one wall of the banquet hall.

"Oh wow," Daniel said, jerking out of his apparent reverie.

"What?" Jack leaned forward, knowing that Daniel had most likely come up with something pertinent.

"The horse. It was a real horse."

"And your point it?"

"It looked like a real horse, Jack. From Earth. When did they bring it through the Stargate?"

"Perhaps the wild cats are also transplanted from Earth, DanielJackson." Teal'c interjected from his place beside Jack.

"It won't be the first time we've discovered animals which were not indigenous to the planet," Sam said from Daniel's side of the table.

"But Big Cats have been around since pre-historic times." Daniel told them seriously, "Horses such as we know them now, have not. They seemed to have appeared on the Asian continent some time between 5000 and 2,500 years B.C. The Hyksos rode them across the desert when they invaded Egypt in about 1700 B.C. "

"Daniel, you're rambling. " Jack warned.

Daniel visibly pulled his thoughts together. "Horses aren't commonly associated with Egyptian mythology and they didn't arrive in Egypt until after the Goa'uld had left. So, the question is, when did these go from earth to PX4-222?"

"Somehow I don't think it would be politic to ask them right now." Jack was eying a pair of desert cats that reclined in an alcove not far away. "Do you think those are the two we saw earlier?" He asked with a chin point in that direction.

"Probably," Sam said.

"No, " said Teal'c a beat later. "The first feline we saw today was a male. Those two are female and one is undoubtedly pregnant."

The court storyteller had come into the room during the team's hushed discourse and, as the assorted conversations going on about the room were dying down, it became evident he was about to begin.

"This should be interesting," Daniel murmured. Jack just rolled his eyes again.

~~~

The storyteller had been interesting. Not that Jack was going to admit it. Still, he'd been relieved when the revelry of the night had ended and the foursome had been escorted back to their room. Rooms, actually, it seemed there were three bed chambers adjacent to the fountain area, a suite of sorts. Sam got a room of her own, as did Teal'c. Jack and Daniel were thrown in together.

Though it was Jack who had professed to being bone weary, it was Daniel who slept soundly on one of the long couches that doubled as beds. The night was hot and humid, with not even a hint of a breeze. Jack stood in the small courtyard in the black tee shirt and boxers he always wore under his fatigues. Too wired to relax, he found himself wishing for a cigarette, though he hadn't smoked in several years. Tonight, he just needed something to occupy his hands, his mind, his heart. Jack sighed deeply.

If he had the guts, he'd just go to Danny and tell him. Ask him if he was interested. And then Daniel would say yes and they'd do the deed and it'd be over. And he'd be free of this insanity.

Jack laughed bitterly into the still night air. Like he believed that. If it was that simple, he'd have done it already. But his feelings for Daniel were not at all simple, and though Jack hated to admit it even to himself, he wanted more than sex from the younger man. He wanted what he'd almost, almost, had with Sara. That unconditional love, the "I love you anyway, for always." He hadn't really cared, then. God, how he wanted it now.

Jack knew Danny had not had it with Shau'ri. No, what the other man had experienced with his wife was that marvelous first bloom of love. Daniel had been new to it, that had been so obvious it hurt. He might have had sex before; hell, he'd been what, twenty-nine, when he met Shau'ri? Jack certainly hoped he'd had sex by then. But he'd obviously never been loved before Shau'ri, of that Jack was sure.

Looking into the fountain, Jack saw, not the water pooled there, but Daniel, stripped down to his skivvies, sound asleep in the room behind him. A shiver that had nothing whatsoever to do with the ambient temperature ran down Jack's spine.

"O"Neill."

"Shit!" Jack nearly jumped out of his skin. It was Teal'c, of course, from his door on the other side of the small courtyard. "Yeah?"

Teal'c crossed to where Jack stood by the fountain. "I have not been able to find a way to leave our rooms in order to look around. We are too closely guarded. Perhaps there will be further opportunity in the morning."

"It's okay, Teal'c, go to bed." Jack said with a shrug that could mean anything.

"And you as well, O'Neill. Shouldn't you be joining DanielJackson in bed?"

Jack looked over at the tall, dark alien and told himself, "No, he didn't mean that. It's just Teal'c's way of talking. Get a grip, O' Neill."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm on my way."

Jack did not see the self-satisfied smile on the Jaffa's face as he turned away toward his room.

He padded into the bedroom to find Daniel had kicked the light coverlet off his body, so he was all but naked, sprawled on the bed-couch in only his briefs. The bed looked too narrow, even if Jack had wanted to join Danny on it. And he did. Oh, how he did.

"Jack?"

"Shit," Jack said again as he startled. "Sorry. Yeah, wutsamatter?"

"Why aren't you asleep?" Propped on one arm, Daniel stared at Jack with an odd look on his face that O'Neill was at a loss to interpret. Nevertheless, he crossed over to the young man, drawn to Daniel's nearly naked body like that damned moth he'd been thinking of earlier. Danny 's eyes got impossibly big as Jack drew near.

Not a foot from the narrow bed, Jack leaned down and swiped the coverlet from the floor, then tossed it to Daniel. Again some emotion flitted over Danny's face. Embarrassment or interest, Jack could not be certain in the dim light.

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"I... uh..."

Jack stood staring for a moment. Then he took the final step that brought him up to the side of the bed, bent down and kissed Daniel. He 'd expected a gasp of surprise, but instead Daniel opened his mouth eagerly and sucked in Jack's tongue.

Oh shit, oh shit. It was soooo good. It was just what Jack had wanted. It was better than he'd dreamed. Daniel grabbed him by the wrist and pulled down until he was lying on top of the younger man's body. Daniel was all warm silk skin against him, and he slipped his hand's into Daniel's thick hair, making Daniel moan, the vibration of the sound in his mouth sexy as hell. He ground his hips roughly, wanting the friction, the satisfaction of his body hard against Daniel's. Ah, like that.

Daniel bucked against him, then slid one hand inside Jack's boxers and began stroking him. Stroking and stroking, again and again.

"Oh god, yes, Danny. Yeah." Jack was climaxing almost before he knew it. When his breathing quieted, he pushed up so he could look into the face of the man beneath him.

Daniel's expression was almost vacant with satisfaction, and Jack watched intently as silent aftershocks shuddered through his lover's body. He could feel Daniel's left hand spasming against his spine, clutching and releasing the back of his tee. Ducking his head, he licked a bead of sweat from Daniel's neck.

"Jack," Daniel whispered as he shuddered one last time.

"I'm right here, baby."

"Don't call me baby."

"No, I won't."

"No, no, call me anything you want." Daniel pulled Jack down beside him on the bed that was not too narrow for the both of them, after all. "Anything you want, Jack."

Moments later both men were sound asleep.

~~~

Daniel woke to sunlight streaming into the room and across the bed. He grimaced and rubbed his face. The morning air was cool and crisp, but he felt stiff and sticky, as if he'd been camping on the beach. Daniel reached for the coverlet he'd shoved away some time during the night. The movement brought him in contact with the other body on the bed.

The other body on the bed being Jack. Oh shit.

Oh god, he and Jack had... He'd... To Jack... They'd...

"Breathe, Daniel." Jack's rusty voice cut through the clamor in his brain.

"Jack, I... I..," he sputtered somewhat less than intelligently.

"Are we going to have a problem with this?" Jack arched an eyebrow.

Daniel looked away from the older man's keen gaze. His stomach was jumping around and he felt like he was going to cry maybe. He'd really, really enjoyed what they had done last night, but in the clear light of day, he found himself upset and... afraid.

Jack, lying on his side, one arm supporting his head, looked so matter of fact. He reached out his free hand and touched Daniel lightly on the mouth, just a slight rap on his lower lip.

Daniel opened his mouth, whether to speak or gulp in a breath, he wasn 't sure. "Jack.. I... Oh shit, oh damn."

"Daniel, for pity's sake, what is the matter with you?" Jack's voice was dry as a bone. He stopped and cleared his throat. "It's not just about sex. Is that what you need to hear? It's about..."

"Stop!" Daniel was up off the bed in a shot. "Not now, okay. Not now," he said in a panic. Snatching up the coverlet, he wrapped it around his hips with an errant wish for the security of his pajama bottoms, then hurried out into the bright light of the courtyard.

Big mistake. Sam was sitting on the edge of the small pool, obviously enjoying the morning breeze.

Daniel stopped short, whirled around, and dashed back in the bedchamber. To find Jack was sitting up on the side of the bed.

"Uhh, Sam's out there..." He explained to Jack's raised eyebrows.

"Daniel, will you fucking stop it." Jack complained. "Just relax, okay? I don't know exactly what this is between us, but it can be whatever we want. So stop rushing around like a scared ninny."

Daniel burst out laughing. Trust Jack to cut to the heart of the matter. Shaking his head, Daniel walked over to where Jack sat.

"God, you're sexy as hell when you're annoyed with me," he said and was pleased at the surprised look that flitted across Jack's face. "Just give me a little time." he said softly. "Give me a little time to sort it all out, okay? Please?"

Jack huffed out a breath. "All the time in the world, baby." He winced at his own words. "Oh, damn, sorry about that."

Daniel took another step closer to the man on the bed. "It's okay. I said it was okay, remember?" he whispered.

Jack stood up and encircled Daniel's waist with one arm. "I remember," he said, right before he kissed him.

"I do not think Farran-of-the-Dalamis will favor this association."

Daniel and Jack broke apart instantly upon hearing Teal'c's voice in the room.

"Teal'c." Daniel said sharply.

"I, however, find no harm in it." The big Jaffa continued without a hitch.

"Teal'c," the word was a groan this time.

"Save it, Dannyboy. He's known for a long time."

Daniel's eyes grew large. "Known what for a long time?"

Jack did not deign to answer; instead he made a show of picking up his clothes and shaking them to get rid of any hidden creatures.

"Jaaaccck." Daniel got no response from the commander of SG-1, the man who was now his lover. One thing he'd learned in his long association with Jack was when to quit. Shaking his head in disgust, Daniel went to get his own clothes and put them on.

They were barely dressed when there was a knock on the door. Teal'c went to open it as Jack stepped into the courtyard to signal for Sam to join them. So they were all there to see the huge grey cat stroll into the room behind Farran.

"Good morning," Farran said with a smile that was aimed at all of SG-1, but seemed to linger longest on Daniel. "I am pleased to say Graysalas and I have been given leave to take you on a tour of the palace as you requested." At the sound of its name, Graysalas set gleaming eyes upon Daniel and licked its thin cat lips.

Daniel stood very still under such close scrutiny. No one moved as the animal made its slow regard of the man. When the beast sat down docilely enough, blinking its eyes like a sleepy house cat, there was a collective sigh of relief.

No longer held in the creature's stare, Daniel shook himself and addressed Farran, "A tour? Oh yeah, sure."

"Not you, Daniel of the Tau' ri," Farran amended. "Renata requests an audience with you, while your friends accompany me."

"Ummm, ah," Jack felt a sense of unease rise in his chest, but, as he couldn't say whether it was due to the cat and its owner's interest in Danny, or the thought of turning Daniel lose with Renata, he ended up shrugging and saying. "Sure."

A manservant of the palace stepped through the door and motioned to Daniel, an obvious invitation to usher him to the audience chamber. Daniel shot Jack a quick intense look from beneath hooded eyes.

The look zinged straight to the core of Jack's being, bringing to mind sharp images of Danny, heaving beneath him, eyes heavy-lidded with passion. Jack found himself reduced to gaping as Daniel was escorted out of the room. Shit! He closed his mouth with an audible snap, thankful that both Teal'c and Sam were studiously ignoring him. He scrubbed at his face with one hand. It was going to be a long day.

~~~

Farran of the Dalamis was a handsome man, Samantha Carter thought as she and Teal'c trotted along behind him. It was no trial to watch him closely, he was reed-slim, with broad shoulders and a fine ass. Sam practically had to keep herself from licking her lips in appreciation as he guided them on their tour of the palace grounds. It seemed, however, that Farran and his cat had their eyes on Daniel's ass. And Jack had his eye (and hands, if she was any judge of the matter) on Daniel's ass. The whole world was seemingly obsessed with Daniel Jackson. All except for one Major Sam Carter, that is. Of course, there had been a time when she had been obsessed with the colonel's ass, but her feelings had been all tangled up in an uneasy hero worship of her C.O. and now she was just as glad to be beyond it. Besides, two members of a SG team being in love was plenty. Sam gave a little snort of mirth.

Daniel has looked so cute when he'd appeared out in the courtyard this morning. All mussed and.....sated, that was the only word for it.

Of course, Jack had ended up staying behind, ostensibly in order to contact General Hammond and tell him of their intent to stay at least another day on the planet, but in reality to keep an eye on Daniel. How the colonel had managed to convince Farran that he, too, should be allowed into Bast's presence, Carter had no idea. But when she'd come back from getting her gear, Jack had somehow managed it.

Carter curtailed her musings as Farran led them onto the roof area that held the palace gardens. It was a beautiful place brimming with lush flowering plants, butterflies and birds. She hadn't been paying very close attention to the tour, only murmuring occasional hmmms of feigned interest, so she was startled when Teal'c came to a halt near the edge of the roof and leaned over the stone wall to point out large empty enclosure below and to the east.

"And how is that area used?" the Jaffa asked gravely.

"That is where the young cats come to play," Farran explained, gesturing toward the empty area. "Alas, there are no young ones at this time, though Suri's Naura is due in a matter of days."

Carter let her gaze shift from the enclosure to Farran, and then to the wild cat at his side. Graysalas looked at her with unblinking eyes, and, suddenly, Sam had a weird feeling about what she was seeing. The feeling rolled about in her gut as her mind raced a mile a minute, assessing various possibilities. Then, with a reverberating "thunk," the pieces of the puzzle fell into place her head.

"Farran, the palace grounds are exquisite, but the heat's really getting to me. May we go back to our rooms for a bit?" Carter ignored the puzzled look Teal'c shot at her.

"Of course," their cordial host said with a touch of sympathy on his face. "I am sorry. You are not acclimated to our weather. I should have realized."

Sam inclined her head in agreement, and was relieved when Farran turned back the way they had come. When they arrived at their chambers, Jack and Daniel were nowhere to be seen.

"You are not the type to be debilitated by the heat, MajorCarter." Teal'c intoned the moment they were left alone with a promise of servants arriving shortly with cooling beverages. "Are you ill?"

Carter shook her head. "Nooo. I just got a little flash of insight into what's going on here. I think there is a reason they've peeled Daniel off from the rest of us."

"I have noted DanielJackson is often a target of lascivious thoughts by those we encounter."

"Well, yes, there is that," Sam said as she fought not to laugh at the Jaffa's phraseology. "But this is something else, and I need to talk to Daniel about it."

Just then the heavy door to their suite swung open and Daniel breezed in, all ruffled and out of breath.

"Oh hey, just who I needed to see," he exclaimed. "Sam, you said the cats gave you the heebee jeebees. I think...," Daniel gulped in a quick breath, "I think they're the ones!"

"The ones?" Carter raised her eyebrows in query, but she knew she'd come to the same conclusion during the tour of the palace and the grounds

"The ones who host the Goa'uld."

"DanielJackson, are you certain?" The Jaffa's face held a look of disbelief. "I do not sense such a thing."

"But I do." Sam announced. "It took me a bit to figure it out because the feeling is different from that of other Goa'uld, or even the Tok Ra."

"Hey, where's Jack? He said he was heading back this way," Daniel said, looking around the room distractedly. "Did he get through to Hammond?"

"Yes, he did," Jack intoned from the opening to the courtyard, making the other three team members jump. "The general's given the go ahead for further investigation. So, kids, what have we investigated so far today?"

"Daniel and I think the cats are the hosts for the Goa'ulds." Sam said at the same time Daniel said, "Jack, I think the cat's are playing host for the Goa'uld."

"Ya know, this talking at the same time has got to stop. It's getting really old," Jack groused. "What makes you think that, Dannyboy?"

Daniel blanched visibly over the nickname, and Jack wanted to kick himself for using it so casually. It had become too personal all of a sudden, reminding them both of the extra component to their relationship.

"Okay, listen to this," Daniel said after an almost imperceptible beat. "Renata is the speaker of Bast because she telecommunicates with her cat. Well, it's not her wild cat, exactly, it's Bast's. Or rather Bast is the Goa'uld that inhabits the cat."

"Whoa, whoa. If what you are saying is true... " Jack stopped himself with a slight shake of his head. "How did you come by this information, anyway? None of this was mentioned while I was there."

"Nooo, they were waiting for you to leave. When I told Renata..." Daniel was interrupted by a commotion at the door.

Several of the palace guards burst in and one of them went straight for Daniel. "You must come. She commands it," the man said harshly, while the three brawniest of the guards closed in around the archaeologist before his own team could react offensively. As they weren't hurting Daniel, merely herding him along, Jack signaled the others to follow with a nod. Teal'c had drawn a zat gun, but held it inoffensively. Thankfully, it was not recognized as a weapon by this culture.

They arrived at the audience chamber to find the huge brass bound doors flung open and most of the inhabitants of the keep gathered within.

An old woman sat on the dias, and Daniel recognized her as the one who had spoken to Farran in the hall shortly after their arrival at the palace. Beside her, a big cat lay panting; the animal was gaunt with age, its muzzle flecked with white.

"Grenneth dies,"the elderly woman told the newcomers, her face a mask of sorrow. "But Hansha need not die. It has occurred to us that one of you might wish to take Grenneth's place as host."

"Huh," Jack cleared his throat and tried for a better response, but Carter beat him to it.

"We don't understand. Who is Grenneth and who is Hansha?"

"Grenneth is the beast you see," the old woman said simply, as she stroked the flank of the cat. "Hansha is the speaker within. Bast has long told us it is best that the speaker within take a human host, but to our sorrow the sands of our world do not allow it. The host dies within hours."

"But this isn't true when the wild cats take in the host?" Teal'c asked.

"No," this time it was Renata who spoke, "they are not of this world, and so the dark sands do not steal from them in the same way they do from us. But it is not as Bast wishes."

"But it's all Bast is gonna get," Sam was heard to mutter under her breath.

"What makes you think we would be fit as hosts," Jack brought himself to say.

"Bast tells me this one," Renata gave that little bow to Carter, "has been a host before. But it is the young man, " and here the speaker inclined her body toward Daniel, "Bast truly favors."

"Why am I not surprised." Jack muttered darkly as he watched Daniel blanch and say "No," in a strangled voice.

Instinctively, Jack stepped up to guard Daniel's right side. Teal'c moved quickly into place on the left. Carter gave a tiny smile as she watched the two men bracket the third.

Daniel turned and took in Jack standing on one side and Teal'c on the other. "No," he said more firmly.

There was a commotion in the back of the room near the doors and the crowd parted as a child dressed in the robes of a house servant made his way to the dias.

"Suri says it has begun, Naura will give birth today. If Grenneth lasts only a few days more, one of the kits can be the host," the boy said breathlessly.

"Now there we may be able to be of some help," Carter said quickly. "Colonel, don't you think Dr. Frasier could do something to help Grenneth?"

"Ummm, well, we can always ask her," O'Neill gave a small nod of his head. It was a long shot, but if it got that haunted look off Danny's face it was worth a try. "Let me contact the general and see what he says."

~~~

"We brought back more samples of the sands of Per-Bast to study. " Daniel overheard Carter tell Janet Frasier as the two women walked past the open door to his office. "If we can figure out what component keeps the natives from being suitable hosts for the Goa'uld, maybe we can use it to protect ourselves."

"God, wouldn't that be fantastic." Frasier commented. "So what do you think the...." The womens' voices faded along with their footsteps.

Daniel sighed as he slouched back in his desk chair and sipped at his coffee. In the end it had gone rather well, he thought. Dr. Frasier had arrived and saved the day, not to mention the ancient wild cat, and everyone was happy at Per-Bast. As for himself, Daniel was happy to be back on earth, with no Goa'uld lusting after him to be its host. He allowed himself one shudder of distaste at the thought, then closed his eyes in an effort to banish it from his head. He opened them to find he'd sloshed coffee all over the papers on his desk top, and Teal 'c was watching him from the door of his office.

"Are you all right, Daniel?" Teal'c dark eyes were full of concern.

"Yes," Daniel said sharply. "Nothing really happened, Teal'c. Don't worry about me."

"On the contrary," Teal'c intoned, "a great deal happened on PX 4-222. You were..."

"Teal'c, no." Daniel got up abruptly, knocking his chair back into the wall behind him with the violence of his action. "No, please. Not here, not now. Please." He moved his hands in counterpoint to his words.

Teal'c observed him for a moment more, obviously assessing what he'd said. "I will honor your request, DanielJackson. But if you decide you need someone with whom to talk..."

"I know who to call," Daniel finished for the other man. He walked over to a bookcase pretending to look for something, and when he glanced up again Teal'c was gone. Heaving a sigh of relief, Daniel went back to his desk. He gazed down at his half written report, knowing there was no way he would be able to finish it tonight, his brain was just too muddled.

With another, longer, sigh, he picked up a small object off his desk. It was a small statue of Bast in the form of a wild cat, give to him by Renata just before the team left Per-Bast. The speaker had handed it to him solemnly, saying "As she watched over the pharaohs of old, may she also watch over you." And the wild cat by her side, well, Daniel could have sworn it winked at him.

Daniel gazed at the little figurine, ran a finger from its tiny ears down its sleek back. Suddenly, everything became very clear in his mind. He needed to talk to someone about what had happened at Per-Bast, that was sure, but the someone was not Teal'c.

A short time later, Daniel found himself hovering in the hall not far from Jack's office, remembering the first time he'd waited for Jack in the underbelly of the complex. It had been shortly after he'd had to leave Abydos. "They don't know what to do with me." He'd told the other man when he walked up. "And to tell the truth, I don't know what to do with myself."

He heard Jack before he saw him. The colonel came marching around the corner and stopped short when he saw Daniel waiting there.

"Daniel," Jack breathed. "Danny, I..."

"Jack," Daniel cut the older man off abruptly, "can I go home with you tonight?"

"Yes," Jack said promptly, not needing any time to think about it. He gave Daniel a wide smile and the two made their way to the elevators, walking side by side.

~~~

"Do you like that, baby? Do ya?" Jack, with one hand on Daniel's rampant cock, the other cupping his balls, stopped his firm stroking as he waited for a reply.

"Jaaaaaccck," Daniel dragged the word out. They'd talked for hours, he was tired of talking, he'd rather just float on this blissful feeling. But it hadn't taken him long to catch on to the fact that Jack liked to hear him talk, and that his lover wouldn't do what he wanted until he'd responded aloud. "Thought... you weren't... gonna call... me baby," he managed to huff out as Jack's hands took up where they had left off.

Jack leered down at Daniel, a delicious smile curling his lips. "Thought you said it was okay."

"Just not... At the complex." Like Jack would. Daniel knew he was safe, Jack wouldn't do anything to embarrass him. He would try hard not to call his younger lover "spacemonkey" or Dannyboy" in the presence of others. Okay, he might forget with those first two, but he wouldn't call him "baby." Not in front of others, Daniel was sure. Beyond a shadow of a doubt.

"I...," he began, but Jack had slipped a finger inside him and began moving it slowly, delightfully slowly, in and out and..., and then he started probing gently up... up... and... "Oh, God, Jack..." Daniel shot hard and long in arcs that splattered Jack's bare chest.

"Come here..." he said finally, when he could. Jack laughed, deep and sensual in his belly, as Daniel wrapped an arm round his lover's neck and pulled him down beside him. He began by cleaning his own come from Jack's body with his tongue, long, broad licks as he made his way down to Jack's cock. He laved the head first, where it wept pre-come, then began an all out offensive, deep throating the older man, who gasped in surprise.

"Wooo, Dannyboy, " Jack crooned, "You have... unexpected talents." Daniel managed not to giggle, only kept at it studiously until Jack jerked and groaned and came in spurts down his throat.

Later, much later, when Daniel teetered on the edge of sleep, Jack spoke again. "I love you, baby."

And Daniel didn't mind at all.

In the night, the cat was there again. It smiled with its feral lips and walked around the lovers on the bed, once, twice, a protective circle. Because it had all begun on her planet. As she had known it would.