Fic: Mok'tal Oz KREE! (01/02)

[erinm_4600]

Title: Mok'tal Oz KREE! (01/02)
Author: Erin (erinm_4600)
Characters, Pairing: Cain/DG and SG-1 (with appearances by Raw, Glitch, the Queen, Landry and Walter, plus a few OCs and mentions of pretty much everyone else...)
Rating: PG-13 barely
Summary: "...I don't think they bought my act. Why? Who'd you say you were? The... ah... Great and Powerful Oz..." -Daniel and Jacob, Tangent
Warning: post-series for Tin Man; post-series and Continuum for Stargate. For purplerhino, by way of demilos_wagon. Looked over by gatechic and any remaining errors are mine.
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and all it's bits and pieces belong to the folks at Gekko, Showtime and Sci-Fi. As for Tin Man, the original characters belong to L. Frank Baum and their respective actors. The current characters belong to Sci-Fi, the movie folks and their respective actors. The OCs are mine.

Part One | Part Two

"Son of a-" Daniel Jackson pushed back from his desk and stared at the computer screen, not actually seeing the dancing hieroglyph screensaver. He had to have read that last part wrong.

Like, really wrong.

Really, REALLY wrong.

Frowning, Daniel glanced back to the pages of the open book and read the passage for a second time. They - okay: he'd - finally had time to sit down with the artifacts they'd found in Merlin's chamber and he'd been pouring through the texts, trying to learn as much as he could about the Ancients.

Well, the stuff he didn't already know, that is.

If Daniel didn't know that Jack O'Neill hadn't been on base for nearly five months, he'd assume that his best friend had something to do with it. But Jack couldn't read Ancient, let alone translate it.

Well, not any more.

As far as Daniel knew.

It had to be some sort of practical joke, Daniel decided. Of course, that would assume that any of the Ancients had a sense of humor.

At all.

Thor would tell him the truth... unfortunately, there was no Thor to talk to. He couldn't ask Selmak, either, which was also unfortunate, as they were two of the four non-humans Daniel trusted.

The other two being Teal'c and Bra'tac.

Teal'c didn't speak Ancient, but maybe he had heard something in his hundred and fifty-plus years. 'Surely he would have mentioned it,' Daniel thought. Especially knowing Jack.

Daniel shook the thought away and reread the passage again.

Many of the ancient races were based on the Ancients: the Norse gods, the Egyptian... Merlin. Why was this development so hard for him to believe?

"Because there's just no way," he said to the empty room while shaking his head. Daniel pushed his chair away from the desk and stood up, using a scrap of paper to mark the page. He'd ask Teal'c first, then - maybe - call Bra'tac.

But he'd never tell Jack.

Never.

As Daniel reached the door, he stopped and stared at the opposite wall for a moment as the memory came rushing back: sitting with Jacob on the bridge of that damn cargo ship. Jacob didn't act like he knew, though...

He'd been channeling smart-ass Jack... and if anyone was going to be anti-Ancient, wouldn't it be the Ori? Not Heru'ur's Jaffa...

He was going to have to tell Jack.

'Aw, crap...'

The Wizard of Freakin' Oz was an Ancient.

"Why are we here again?" DG asked Cain as she stepped up onto the wooden porch. She turned and found herself at just the right height to actually look the man in the eye. A smirk on his face, Cain leaned just close enough to make her twitch and he nodded once.

"Because the Queen of the Outer Zone sent us on a goodwill mission." DG raised her eyebrows slightly and forced a smile. She reached for his hand, not quite touching his, but still making contact.

"I thought," she mumbled through gritted teeth. "-that we were gonna hmm mh mh," she continued, giving him a look. DG pressed her tongue to her cheek and grinned as she leaned against him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"We are," he breathed, closing his eyes as her forehead pressed against his. His hands moved to her sides and her breath caught. "We just have to do this first," Cain informed her, leaning forward just enough let his lips touch her nose.

DG growled slightly and Cain pulled back. "Well, you're the fool who went and decided that you wanted to spend your honeymoon in the Southern Guild," she shrugged, not letting go of him. "Then you had to go and mention it to my mother," she said in exasperation.

"Hmm," was his only response. DG laughed as she watched his eyes narrow slightly. Did he really think that he was going to stare her into submission? That tactic failed not ten minutes after they met, for he caved and followed - or led, depending on one's point of view - her all over the Zone.

"I'll think you'll live," he informed her, nodding again. DG frowned as she let go of him and Cain sighed heavily. "You waited a whole annual, you can wait another hour," he stated, dropping his voice as she turned.

"What kind of calendar are you keeping?" she asked quickly, giving him a look. "A year," she laughed. DG spun back with a finger raised and a fierce look on her face, but she had no words to back it up.

They didn't wait a year.

Maybe five months.

But, it had been a while, and it was their damn honeymoon. Sometimes, DG would rather she had told her family to enjoy the crown and she was going to retire to a fishing hut up at the Northern Island, with nothing but a space heater to keep her company.

Of course, the space heater would probably melt the ice, which would let her hut fall through the ice and she could see what life was life for a fish stick... No space heater; just a blanket.

A blanket named Wyatt Cain.

Of course, that amount of heat would melt the ice twice as fast because there had been no tension there. DG rolled her eyes at her internal monologue's oozing sarcasm as she pushed on the door and stepped into the magistrate's office.

"You're serious?" Samantha Carter asked as she stared over the work table. She gave Daniel a look and shook her head, glancing toward Teal'c, who was - surprise - stoic. "You're telling me that the-" Sam shook her head.

It was too ridiculous to admit out loud. There was no possible way that Oz was a real place.

Of course, Atlantis was real. Camelot was real. She'd been to 1969...

But it was Oz.

They made jokes about Dorothy and Oz and the Yellow Brick Road every chance they got. Hell, she'd been dubbed 'Dorothy' by Jack and Cam.

"Look," Daniel sighed, pointing to the text. "I know how it sounds. But that's what it says." He shrugged and looked up to her. "With everything we've seen, Sam..." She let out a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"So how do we get to Oz, then, Daniel? I highly doubt you can predict a tornado as easily as a solar flare," she chided. "Hijack a rainbow? Do you have ruby slippers?"

Daniel shot her a dirty look. "Those could work," he nodded. "Or we could use the gate address," he snapped, pointing to the page. "And the shoes were silver," he mumbled under his breath as Sam leaned forward to see the coordinates.

Sam glanced up to him with a grin. "Nerd." She looked at the page for a moment then pushed back. "You seriously want to sell this to Landry?" she asked, wondering if they'd cart Daniel back to the psych ward.

"We've sold him on less," Daniel nodded and threw a look to Teal'c, who simply tilted his head. "And weirder," he added, glancing back to Sam. She laughed and shook her head.

General Hammond and her father would have loved to hear this one.

This would definitely be interesting...

"Are we waiting for Vala?" Sam asked a moment later, raising an eyebrow. Daniel snorted.

"I'll invite her and you can invite Jack," he snapped sarcastically. Subjecting anyone to Jack O'Neill and Vala Mal Doran and their combined humor was not something a new planet was ready for.

"Let's not and say we did," she replied, getting nods from both Daniel and Teal'c.

One hour and five minutes later, Cain and DG stepped out of the magistrate's office and back onto the wooden porch. It wasn't afternoon, but it wasn't yet evening. They still had a good half-day's journey before they reached Finaqua.

DG just wanted her honeymoon, and would gladly have taken a pup tent in the garden, which led to a rather awkward silence at dinner.

Cain caught DG's hand - which got a raised eyebrow from her, because he was always so very discreet in public - and he pulled her into the roadway. Nodding across the way, he tugged her hand and gave her a smile.

"We should eat. It'll be late by the time we get there," he explained, which got a nod from DG. As they reached the inn, DG laughed as she read the sign hanging over the door.

"The 'Meddling Dragon'?" she asked slowly. Cain glanced up to the sign and nodded.

'Wow,' she mused.

"Chevron Six, locked," Walter announced as the gate continued to spin. SG-1 had managed to sell General Landry on the mission - after about twenty minutes of trying to convince him that they weren't joking - and there was a MALP on the ramp, ready to go through the gate.

As the gate spun, Walter turned back toward Landry, Carter and Daniel with a frown. "Chevron Seven will not lock." Landry nodded and turned to Sam as Walter shut down the dialing procedure.

Daniel looked at Sam and frowned. Much as he didn't want to admit it, the idea of Oz being real had sunk in and now he wouldn't see it. And if he was upset, Cameron Mitchell was going to be heartbroken.

On cue, Mitchell and Teal'c came into the control room and Cam frowned at the lack of blue shimmer coming from the gate. "What happened?" he asked, motioning to the window.

"No lock," Sam shrugged.

"Could be buried," Daniel offered, sharing a look with Cam.

"Why don't we just gate to the next planet over and take a jumper?" Cam suggested, raising an eyebrow. "We can scan from above and, if it looks like there's no threat..." Daniel turned and both men stared at Landry.

"You're not gonna let this go?" he asked, already knowing the answer. Daniel and Cam shook their heads together, as did Sam. Sighing, Landry shook his head. "Go," he said, raising a hand toward the gate.

"Dude, we're off to see the Wizard," Cam said, clapping a hand to Daniel's shoulder and giving him a shake. Sam shook her head, glared at her friends and moved over to Walter's side to find a planet with a functional gate.

Teal'c watched the men pass and disappear down the steps before moving to her side.

"We could keep traveling, y'know," DG whispered as Cain pulled out a chair for her. Cain let his hand rest on her back for a moment and leaned forward before moving around to his own chair.

"Are you really going to be in the mood for dinner when we get to Finaqua?" he asked in a low tone, grinning slightly. DG raised her eyebrows, considering her answer, and realized that he was right; her pressing interest was not for food.

"Correct as usual, King Friday," she said with a heavy sigh and smiled as the hostess moved over to them.

"We're picking up heavy concentrations of naquadah here and here," Sam said, pointing to the jumper's viewscreen.

Cam nodded and took a hand off the controls to point at a third and fourth dot. "What are these?" Sam pressed a button and checked the readings.

"Also naquadah, but in a much smaller concentration," she said with a nod then glanced back to the readout. "And moving," she added with a confused frown.

"Moving?" Daniel asked, leaning forward to get a look at the screen. Sam shook her head and pressed another button.

"Looks like that one is in a populated area... and so is that one, whereas this one," she said, pointing to the far right dot. "-is... not." Cam and Daniel gave her a look and she shrugged.

"And that one?" Daniel asked, pointing to the upper dot, which was much brighter than the other three.

"By the numbers," Sam shrugged. "-and the location," she added, pointing out the viewscreen toward the mountain range in the far distance. "I'd say it's naturally-occurring and probably under the mountains."

"A mine?" Daniel asked.

"It’s possible," Sam nodded.

"Judging by the landscape here," Cam offered, waving toward the trees. "-I'd say that one's probably the gate," he said with a nod to the far dot.

"Agreed." Sam glanced back to the readout and nodded to herself for a moment. "Gate's a little far from the population," she mused.

"Maybe they are not aware of the Stargate's existence," Teal'c offered from behind Cam.

Sam turned to him and nodded. "You're probably right, Teal'c. Wouldn't be the first time we've come across a civilization that-" The sensor beeped again and Sam went back to the readout. "How are they moving?" she asked, not expecting an answer.

"Well, let's go see," Cam stated and adjusted course. Sam raised an eyebrow and he shrugged. "What? Best to check in with the locals anyway, right. Make sure they haven't been visited by the Ori or the Goa'uld lately..." Sam shrugged and Daniel nodded then returned to his seat.

"Better put us down outside of town, so we don't scare them," Sam added a moment later. Cam threw her a dirty look and shook his head. She simply smiled.

"What are we gonna do if they have seen a Prior?" Daniel asked with a frown.

Cam tried not to smile and dead-panned: "Ding Dong, the witch is dead?" Sam groaned and Daniel rolled his eyes.

DG and Cain had taken to trying to stare each other down across the table, breaking when the hostess came back with two mugs of the local brew, and again when she brought a tray of sliced meat and cheeses.

DG was currently trying to drive him absolutely mad simply by eating a carrot, and he was trying to think of different ways to make her pay later on. Unfortunately, his plotting was interrupted when a young man barreled into the tavern and leaned over the bar.

"Longcoats," he whispered loudly, which caused DG to turn, mid-chew, and Cain to sit up straight. The barman's eyes moved to Cain for a moment before he moved along the bar and headed for the door. DG spun back to look at Cain and noticed his brow was rather creased.

"Stay here," he snapped and pushed him from his seat, following after the barman and the boy. DG made a face and pushed up from her seat. Moving to the doorway, she leaned down to get a look at the intruders.

The four bodies didn't look like any Longcoats she'd ever seen.

"What's your business here?" another man from the small village asked, shotgun in his hand. Cain was on the porch next to the barman, cursing himself for not having his pistol. He'd never seen the kinds of weapons the four of them carried, but he could tell they weren’t Longcoats.

In the middle of the street, SG-1 also had their weapons raised - defensively, the moment the first shotgun was trained on them, Cain noted - and Daniel raised one hand and over-exaggerated the motion of removing his finger from the trigger of his firearm. He took one step forward then jerked back again as those holding shotguns re-aimed.

"Okay," he breathed and nodded once. "My name is Doctor Daniel Jackson and we're peaceful explorers," he rattled off. The crowd on the porch shifted just enough to let DG get a clear view of the visitors.

'Longcoats don't wear glasses... or carry handguns and machine guns,' her brain supplied quickly, taking in Daniel, then the guns in Sam and Cam's hands, then Sam. 'And they aren’t girls,' she realized and shot a look across the roadway to the magistrate, who was stepping out with his own shotgun.

"Crap," she muttered and ducked around Cain and hurried into the middle of the street and threw her hands up, putting herself between SG-1 and most of the village. "All right, time out!" she ordered, knowing that Cain was probably having kittens up on the porch.

"Now," she said calmly and carefully. "-let's, everybody, just take a step back. Not you Team GI Joe," she added, raising a finger to SG-1. Her eyes were still locked on the two shotguns, but she could see Daniel turn to Cam with a look of confusion. Once she was content that no one was going to be shot - 'Yet.' - DG wagged her finger toward Daniel. "Start talkin' and I'd use real simple words."

Daniel was still focused on the two shotguns, while Cam was looking at everyone else, trying to count how many other weapons were trained on them. Sam was watching the white-haired man on the porch, who was staring daggers at the girl in front of them, while keeping one eye on the sensor in her hand.

"Uh...” Daniel stuttered, realizing that he couldn't actually bring himself to say the words. Ignoring the confusion at the girl's comments, he shot a look to Cam, who prodded him with a look and a shrug. "We, uh..." DG turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow, fighting the urge to tell him to 'use his words.'

"We are seeking the Wonderful Wizard of Oz," Teal'c finally replied, getting a rather comedic triple glare from his friends and a simple blink from DG.

DG sighed and dropped her hands. "Thank God," she laughed. "I have been waiting a year for someone else to say that out loud."

DG waved to SG-1 and turned back toward Cain and the porch. "Come on, let's move this inside before the locals revolt," she said, not looking at Cain. Daniel shot a look to Sam and Cam and shrugged, falling into step behind DG.

Sam cocked her head as the dot moved when the girl did. Cain grabbed DG's arm and pulled her away. "What are you-" he started to ask through gritted teeth.

"Chill, Tin Man," she breathed. "I got this," she added with a nod toward the visitors. Cain glanced up to see Sam with a raised eyebrow - she'd heard DG's comment - and he sighed, stepping aside to let them pass.

DG wanted to laugh when she saw Cam poke Daniel and point to the sign. "Think they have ketchup?" Cam asked with a smile. Sam put her sensor back into her pocket after giving DG a look and nodded to Cain as she passed.

DG waved to the table she and Cain had been sitting at when SG-1 arrived and she pointed to the seats. Daniel and Cam looked at each other before sitting, while Sam and Teal'c continued to stand.

"All right," DG said, giving Cain another look. "Let's try this again." She waved to Daniel. "You said something about 'peaceful explorers'?" she offered, cocking her head slightly at the firearms.

"Uh, yeah..." Daniel drawled, looking down to his holstered weapon. "That's a long story."

"I'll bet it doesn't involve a twister," DG said with a forced smile.

SG-1 simply shook their heads.

"We're looking for a big ring," Cam said a moment later, holding his hands up to demonstrate. "Chappa'i... Ring of the Gods... Stargate?" he offered, getting nothing more than a blank look from DG. "Has a bunch of constellations on it. Kinda hard to miss," he said, leaning back.

"We picked up a signal to the south," Daniel offered, pointing toward the door. "Looked like it was behind the tree line, so it might not be out in the open." DG looked to Cain, knowing she hadn't seen the entire Zone. And the only thing she knew about to the south, other than Finaqua, was the cave.

"It seems," Sam started. "-that the legend of the Wizard is based on truth." She nodded to DG and continued: "The Stargate was built by a race known as the Ancients, and they seeded the galaxy with the ancestors of people from Earth." She noticed that the girl seemed more bothered by the term 'Ancients' than 'galaxy' and 'Earth', but said nothing.

"Did you say 'Ancients'?" DG asked, wringing her fingers together and looking at the floor. Sam nodded and Cain took a step toward DG. They were looking for the cave and, possibly, the witch.

"We've come across many civilizations where the locals have-" Daniel started then stopped short. "Have you had any visitors?" he fished. "Besides us, I mean." DG looked up and shook her head.

"I'm not exactly from this part of town," DG shrugged. "If this gate-thing is here, you'll have better luck with the magistrate. Well, I'd leave the firepower behind before I go," she offered. "Folks in these parts are still a little jumpy."

DG could feel Teal'c staring at her the entire time; Cain noticed it as well. "You are not from this planet," Teal'c finally announced, causing everyone to look at him.

"Planet?" DG asked, cocking her head to one side. Teal'c nodded once and DG shook her head.

"I am, actually. I just didn't grow up here, exactly," she added with a shrug. SG-1 looked back to her and she shrugged again. "Claflin, Kansas. Class of two thousand," she said with a nod.

"Auburn, class of eighty-seven," Cam said with a nod.

"Topeka?" DG asked with a half-raised eyebrow.

Cam nodded. "Barton?"

"Part-time," DG shrugged. "Marines?" she asked, nodding to their uniforms.

"Air Force," Cam said, shaking his head.

"Really?" DG asked, leaning back slightly.

"Okay," Cain huffed, stepping up to DG's side. "You're from the Other Side," he stated, raising a hand toward SG-1. Daniel and Sam looked at each other and mouthed 'other side' before looking back to Cain.

"It would appear so," DG replied. Cain leaned closer to her and nodded toward Cam.

"Everyone over there walk around that armed?"

"They're military, Cain."

"So am I, Princess," Cain snapped, holding his arms up.

“Princess?" Daniel asked, ignoring a look from Sam. DG and Cain turned to Daniel and she nodded.

"My mother is the Queen."

"Queen?" Sam asked.

"Like you said," DG nodded to Daniel. "Long story. Okay," she said, waving her hands. "Third time's a charm." Pointing to SG-1, she started pacing slightly. "You're from Earth, but you didn't travel by twister." They all shook their heads. "You're looking for a big, round thing that does what, exactly?"

"It creates a wormhole between two fixed points in space-" Sam rattled off before seeing the look on Daniel and Cain's faces. "It's a way to travel back to Earth," she said simply, not happy that she had to give such a generic description.

"And it has something to do with Ancients?" DG asked.

"They built the gates," Daniel offered.

"Not to mention, generally jacking up people's lives," Cam added under his breath.

"Like locking a wicked witch up in a cave at the beginning of time?" DG asked, sure she already knew the answer. The look of pondering on Daniel's face told DG everything she needed to know.

She was going to have to go back into the cave.

"Well, it's too late to try and head south tonight," Cain informed them, throwing a glance toward the doorway. They'd spent a good hour between DG's explanation of her bloodline and Dorothy being real, as well as a visit with the magistrate regarding Prior and System Lord visits, neither of which they'd experienced in the village.

"We have a ship," Sam replied. "We can be there in under half an hour," she suggested.

"A ship?" DG asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We call it a jumper," Cam offered. "Pretty much a spaceship." DG raised the other eyebrow but said nothing. After everything she'd seen in the last year, nothing would surprise her. Except, of course, for other folks from Earth dropping by to say 'Hi.'

DG glanced to Cain and the two had a silent conversation, culminating in Cain's head shaking side to side as DG's nodded. Cam was going to remind them both that their presence wasn't exactly needed in regard to finding the gate, but he didn't want to come off like a jerk.

"What will it hurt to go along?" DG asked Cain quietly. Cain leaned closer and shook his head.

"These people show up, saying they're from the Other Side and looking for a giant ring in the south, built by Ancients. Only one place that could be and I'm pretty sure you said you didn't want to go back there," he reminded her.

"I know," she nodded and placed a hand on his arm. "But if we can help them..."

"Help them do what, kiddo?" Cain shrugged.

"Get back home. And, if there's an easy way to go back and forth..." she mused, not wanting to sound anxious. "Think of it, Cain: we could bring technology here, trade goods back. You could see where I grew up and learned how to be a rebel," she added with a slight grin.

Cain's jaw clenched, knowing she'd get her way, regardless of his opinion on the matter and the huff let DG know she'd won the battle. She squeezed his arm and smiled, then turned back to SG-1. "Okay, we'll take you south."

"You don't have to-" Cam started, but stopped when DG raised her hands.

"We're headed south anyway," she assured him. "And we're pretty sure we know exactly where this ring-thing is." All of them noticed that her expression wasn't that of excitement, but no one commented on that fact.

"So much for a quiet honeymoon," Cain mumbled as his hand found hers and he gave it a slight squeeze. "We'll go first thing in the morning," he announced to the rest of the group.

"But-" Daniel started to protest.
"Cain," DG groaned.

"No," Cain stated sharply. "I don't want anyone in those woods in the dark," he said, giving a look to the room. He gave another look to DG and she knew better than to argue. He was just being cautious, and she nodded.

"He's right," she said, looking to SG-1. "I'm sure there's plenty of room," she added, throwing a glance over her shoulder to the barman. Sam and Cam gave each other a nod and Cam pushed up from his chair.

"Teal'c and I will take the jumper back, report to Landry." He turned and nodded to Teal'c, who replied with a simple nod. "We'll be back in time for Letterman," he added with a smirk, nodding to DG before moving to the doorway.

Sam and Daniel nodded to their friends as Cain moved over to the bar to arrange for quarters for the lot of them. DG puffed her cheeks and rocked on her heels slightly before giving a smile to Sam.

Sam returned the smile and fingered the sensor again. "DG," she started, wincing slightly as she pulled the sensor from its pouch. "May I-?" she asked, holding the thing up for DG to see.

DG shrugged and watched as Sam pressed a button, raised the device slowly and then held the thing up for Daniel to see. Daniel huffed and looked at Sam, who responded with a shrug before both of them looked to DG.

Sam put the device away and nodded to DG. "The Stargate is made up of an element we call naquadah. It's how we found the gate, actually," she nodded. "We also picked up a large concentration to the east..." Sam added, nodding behind her.

"West," DG corrected. Sam frowned slightly and turned to look at the wall as she tried to figure out which direction she'd just indicated. Daniel raised an eyebrow and they both look up as DG sighed. "Yeah... I live in a damn Jon Lovitz joke," she said with a forced smile.

"We call it Mori-tanium," she trailed off, turning to Cain as he stepped back to her side. "-tamium? -tanium..." DG shook her head and looked back to Sam and Daniel. "The mines are in the west."

Sam nodded; that answered the question about the large concentration. Shaking her head, Sam moved her hand back to the sensor. "We also picked up two other signals: one, between here and the... mine," she indicated with the slightest wave of her hand. She threw a tentative look to Daniel and his head tiled slightly.

"And the other, here," Sam said carefully, looking at DG.

"You mean me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Cain grumbled slightly as Sam nodded. "Well, I don't know about the mines," DG shrugged. "-but if it's got something to do with the cave and me, then the other one is probably my sister."

"Or Glitch or me or Raw," Cain offered. They'd all been in the cave, after all.

"It's been a year, Cain," DG offered with a kind smile. "Annual," she corrected. "More likely it's something to do with the witch," she said quietly.

"Witch?" Daniel asked, not intending to eavesdrop and suddenly looking rather guilty.

DG nodded and moved over to lean against the back of the chair. "Yeah... there was a witch locked up in the cave. I kinda let her out and she possessed my sister," she said with a forced grin. Cain put a hand on DG's shoulder and she nodded.

"When you say 'possessed'," Daniel asked, giving Sam a quick look.

"She was there one minute, and then inside my sister, the next," DG shrugged.

Daniel didn't want to ask, but he had to know. "Did her eyes glow after?"

DG reared back slightly and shook her head. "No." Daniel shrugged and looked to Sam, knowing she'd been thinking the same thing.

Only the Goa'uld and the Tok'ra 'possessed' people, but there was always a symbiote involved. The Ori had the whole 'looking into the fire'-thing and the Ancients didn't possess, so much as go corporeal at will.

Well, not so much 'at will'...

About an hour later, Cain was listening to DG and Daniel discuss the differences between the history of the Zone she'd picked up over the last year versus what he'd learned from the books in the cave.

Mitchell and Teal'c came back into the tavern and nodded to Sam and Daniel. "Landry said to avoid the poppy fields," he announced.

"Papay," DG and Cain corrected him, which got a look from everyone and a smile from Sam. "Anyway," Cam continued, shaking his head slightly. "-told him we'd call back in twenty-four, unless we find the gate first."

Sam nodded and fought a yawn, which prompted Cain to stand. "I wasn't sure how many rooms you needed," he said, motioning to the four visitors. "If you need a third," he nodded to Cam, Daniel and Teal'c. "-just let him know." Sam smiled and nodded to Daniel and Cam before taking a step toward DG and Cain.

"I've been up for three days, so I'm taking the offer," she said with a grin. Teal'c gave her a half-smile and nodded as she passed, joining Cain and DG at the end of the stairs.

"I could sleep," Cam announced, rolling his eyes at Daniel, who most definitely looked like he wanted to continue comparing legends. DG stepped over and put a hand on Daniel's arm.

"Tell you what, Doctor... you get some sleep now, and when we find your gate," she smiled. "You can come back and stay as long as you want. I'll take you to the library in Central City and we'll tour the whole Zone, see the sights." She grinned again and raised her eyebrows as she nodded.

"Really?" Daniel asked, ignoring the snicker from Sam as his eyes lit up. DG smiled again and held out her hand.

"Swear on the silver shoes." Daniel gave Sam a dirty look and took DG's hand.

"Deal."

Cain pushed into the room he and DG had been assigned by the barman and dropped the travel bag on the chair. DG pushed the door shut and leaned against it, saying nothing as she looked at him.

"Yes?" he asked, not turning to face her.

"Sorry," she said with a slight smile.

"It's not your fault," he breathed, turning finally to look at her. DG rested her head against the heavy wooden door and held a hand out to him. Cain stepped closer and took her hand as he leaned against her, pressing her against the door. His lips rested against her temple for a moment and his eyes closed.

DG stuck her head into the crook of Cain's neck and pressed light kisses to his skin, trailing along the collar of his shirt. His breath caught for a moment, but Cain wasn't going to let her get the best of him. "That was a stupid thing you did today, kiddo."

"What?" DG asked, assuming he meant throwing herself into the middle of a standoff, continuing to kiss his neck, moving up to his jaw.

"I told you to stay put and you just-" Cain's hands moved to her waist as DG's kisses traced his cheekbone and then caught the edge of his mouth.

"I didn't want anyone to get hurt," she mumbled between kisses starting to move up the other side of his face.

"You had no way of knowing-" he started, trying to remind himself that she wasn't going to win this argument by distracting him. He was furious and she was pushing every single button he had.

Problem was: she knew that.

"No one got hurt," DG whispered as her hands moved to his chest and started undoing his buttons. As the fabric separated, DG pressed light kisses to his chest. Cain was busy trying to work DG out of her dress, knowing that neither of them would be getting much sleep that evening.

"You trust these people?" Cain asked a moment later, after pushing DG away and locking his gaze on hers. DG's hand moved to his cheek, then down to his chest.

"Yes, I do," she assured him. He trusted her, so if she trusted them, he would, too. He gave her a nod and then raised his hand to the back of her head, pulling him toward her so he could kiss her.

They stumbled back to the bed together and spent the rest of the night wrapped in each other's arms, thinking of nothing but what was happening right then and there between the two of them.

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I picked Claflin, KS for a few reasons... but I won't go into them here, for it's really only funny to me and mom... Anyway... Barton County CC is a few miles south of Claflin.

In case you were wondering.