Most of their guests had barely noticed that the bride and groom had gone AWOL for a short time. Those who did, assumed they had slipped away for a private moment as new husbands and wives were prone to do and their beaming faces upon their return only added confirmation. That Lya, equally as happy, reemerged with them was put down to them simply meeting up at the doorway at the same time. The wedding ‘formalities’ out of the way, they had returned to the important business of partying and the hosts were taking the opportunity to mingle with their friends.

"How’s Keelah settling in?" Annika asked.

Janet took a sip of wine. "She’s a little overwhelmed at the moment."

Daniel grinned. "The SGC can do that to the best of us."

"She’s refused counseling, and is still skittish around the male personnel, but that’s only to be expected considering what she’s been through." The doctor paused when she saw Teal’c across the way. Her tone became intrigued. "Except when she’s around our resident Jaffa."

Annika couldn’t mask her surprise. Of everyone on the base, the former First Prime was the most intimidating with just his mere presence. "Really?"

The sequined hat bobbed up and down. "He’s been helping Keelah find her way around the base. I even saw the two of them sharing a couple of meals together."

"They probably feel an affinity for each other," Daniel surmised. "They were both raised into slavery and both escaped."

"Hmmm, probably," Annika agreed absently, her violet eyes were speculatively focused on the dark man.

"Uh oh." Daniel had seen that look on his bride’s face once before. It was just prior to her finding the non-fraternization loophole in the Protected Planet’s Treaty. He nudged Jack beside him.

When the colonel looked up, Daniel motioned with his head towards Annika, who was too lost in thought to notice. He recognized that gleam. "Oy." Jack elbowed Sam.

"Oooh, boy," Sam grinned. "Who’s she got her sights set on?" she whispered.

"Teal’c," Janet whispered back.

"Oh, Teal’c!" Annika ignored the comments from the others and called the unsuspecting man over.

"How can I be of assistance, Annika Jackson?"

Not even the first official use of her new name could distract the redhead from her ‘mission’. "I was just wondering how are things between you and Ishta?" She already suspected, but she needed confirmation before moving forward.

Though surprised at the unexpected question, he answered. "Our relationship has not progressed as I had planned."

"Oh?"

"Our different beliefs on how the rebellion should proceed have strained our social meetings."

"I’m sorry to hear that," she commiserated. "So, you have broken up?"

He nodded. "However we were not officially involved to begin with."

"Hmm."

When Annika didn’t say anything else, he looked towards his teammates for an explanation.

Sam tried to help out. "Teal’c, do you want a summer wedding or did you want to wait until autumn?"

He frowned beneath his Vadar mask at the unusually illogical response from the major. "I have no plans to enter into matrimony, Major Carter."

"You might not," Jack smirked. "But Mrs. Jackson needs a new project."

The warrior realized that he was now under the matchmaking radar of Annika. "I have not yet met a woman who has made me desire such a commitment."

Daniel grinned. "Oh, give her time. She’ll open your eyes to who’s around."

"Do I not have a say in the matter?" They couldn’t see his face but there was a touch of desperation in his voice.

Jack, Sam, Daniel and Janet simultaneously looked again at Annika, who’d retreated back into her own little world, and then back at each other. "Nope," they chorused.

Now there was true alarm in the deep baritone. "Annika Jackson, I have no wish to marry."

"Okay, Teal’c," Annika placated.

"My focus must be on defeating the Goa’uld. I have no time for romance."

The others were unsuccessfully trying to hold back their mirth. In all the years they had known the Jaffa, this was the closest to panicking that they had ever seen him.

"Okay." The psychic was as unconvincing as before.

Teal’c sought the support of his comrades only to find them almost rolling on the floor with laughter.

"June wedding?" Jack gasped

"September at the latest," Janet confirmed, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Daniel took pity on his friend and decided that as his first husbandly duty he had better distract his wife before there were reports of Darth Vadar running screaming for the hills. Still laughing he cleared his throat. "If I could have everyone’s attention please."

The chatter died down and the DJ lowered the music so the groom could be heard.

"While Annika and I were planning our unconventional wedding, there was one tradition we did want to uphold…"

"Yeah, the wedding night!" Jack quipped causing a round of chuckles.

"Well, there is that too," Daniel grinned. "But I was referring to our first dance." He paused for a second to slip off the blue robe from his shoulders.

"Hey, what kinda dance you gonna do, Doc?" Ferretti called out to more good-natured laughter.

Annika was looking at him curiously. They had planned to actually stick to tradition this time and dance the waltz. Removing robes wasn’t necessary.

Daniel smiled mysteriously at her but continued addressing their friends. "Now all of you know me, and unlike my wife, I’m not the most graceful when it comes to dancing." He loosened the gold cord from around his waist. "But when a little birdie informed me that a childhood wish of a certain redhead was to dance a particular dance at her wedding, well, who am I to deny her?" He tugged the cream under-robe over his head, to reveal a crisp white shirt and black dress pants. "So after weeks of careful tutelage and many squashed toes…for which I humbly apologize." He bowed his head towards Sam in thanks, plus it was her cue to help his bride remove her wizard’s coat, so she was just in her wedding dress. Smiling widely at Annika’s bemused expression he led her out to the center of the floor and everyone cleared the area to give them room. "Sam helped me prepare this gift for my beautiful wife." Daniel lifted his hand to his lips, placing a light kiss to her knuckles. "Annika," Blue eye focused on her. "Will you dance the tango with me?"

Annika’s eyes widened. "You learnt the tango for me?"

"I’ll do anything for you," he murmured. His lips descended on hers, loving the way she keenly responded.

"Hey, save that for later!" Jack wisecracked

They broke off their kiss, and Daniel whispered, "Love you, My Angel."

"Love you, My Love."

Daniel nodded to the DJ. The opening strains of La Paloma echoed through the speakers and husband and wife began the first steps of the dance of Love, their guests bearing witness to the melding of their hearts and souls.

The groom’s choice of melody may have seemed an odd selection to many of their friends, but not to Annika. The origin of the century old song had come up in conversation one day when Daniel had caught her singing along to Elvis Presley’s interpretation. Daniel had thought the lyrics to ‘No More’ sad. Annika had disagreed explaining that the original song was about love conquering all, even death. For her it was a perfect choice for their first dance. The couple seduced each other with every step, guests forgotten, their eyes only seeing their soul mate. Their invisible bond sent an ardent tide of love and desire beneath their hearts, rippling through their bodies with every spin and touch.

Thor watched the dance with curiosity, taking note of the passion that flared between them like a heat wave. He squirmed within the confines of his costume. He noticed that some of the men were loosening collars and pushing up sleeves of their own attire and some of the women were fanning themselves with napkins and various pieces of card.

"O’Neill." He leant close to the military man, who was watching his dancing friends with an unusually soft smile. "Have the atmospheric conditions suddenly elevated by several degrees?"

Jack gave the Asgard a smirk. "Buddy, those two generate enough heat to power a city."

After the song finished, Bryan Adams’s ‘Everything I do’ started up and the rest of the bridal party joined in. Sam and Jack waltzed cheek to cheek, while Teal’c invited Janet to partner him, followed by General Hammond and his wife and then the rest of the guests. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson then split apart, encouraging their two alien guests to dance with them. Lya seemed to pick up the steps quite easily as Daniel glided her around the floor. Thor on the other hand was a bit stilted to begin with, but under Annika’s quiet direction was able to manage a passable waltz by the end of the next song.

"That was most enjoyable, Annika." He gave a sight head bow at the conclusion. "Have you many other choreographed melodic customs?"

She nodded. "Just about every culture on Earth has traditional dances, and each generation creates new ones that aren’t so…um…traditional. Some tell a story or express feelings…"

"Like the ‘tango’," the alien sounded out the new word, "that you and your husband just completed. It was a very emotive routine."

"Yes," Annika nodded, trying to stop her cheeks from burning up. Though she had felt the passion between Daniel and herself, it had after all been the point of their first dance, she wasn’t quite prepared to have the asexual being comment on it. "But there are a lot of dances that are just for fun."

"Hey, Thor," Ferretti had overheard the conversation and rescued the blushing bride. "Have you heard of ‘The Time Warp’?"

The Yoda head tilted quizzically. "You wish to discuss temporal anomalies?"

To his credit the major didn’t laugh. "Nope, it’s the signature dance from the movie my team and Janet are dressed up from." He gestured to his costume. "Has a huge following."

"Peculiar that a movie about a man in female underclothes has a huge following."

Annika grinned. "Yep, we’re an odd bunch."

"Indeed," Thor agreed. "I would be honored to be instructed in this ‘Time Warp’."

Ferretti organized with the DJ to play the song from cult movie. SG-2 and Janet were immediately on the dance floor and to the delight of Annika, the rest of the guests fell into line behind them. She took a moment from a ‘jump to the left and a step to the right’, to make sure that the photographer got shots of not only Thor and Lya ‘bring their knees in tight’, but of General Hammond doing the ‘pelvic thrust’.

The action song gave way to a series of other dances ranging from everything from the two-step and jive, to the more modern freestyle dances. The ‘generation’ of the guests determined who danced what. Joyce and Margie laid claim to Thor, and the little alien barely had the chance to catch his breath before being whisked out onto the floor again. Lya was shown equal attention by the SG teams, not because it was anyone’s ‘diplomatic’ duty, but because they wanted the alien woman to enjoy herself as much as they were.

When a Latin salsa started up, someone yelled out ‘Conga!’ and before the bride and groom knew it, they found themselves leading a weaving rope of bouncing humans, with a few aliens thrown in, around the floor. The laughter and merriment of the evening echoed in their ears, while their shared bond exchanged their own happiness and exhilaration. It wasn’t often their friends gathered together just to have fun, managing to forget for a few hours the seriousness of their jobs.

They were in the middle of a second circuit of the tables when a shrill cascade of beeping and ringing drowned out the music.

All the SGC personnel ground to an immediate halt, reaching for pagers and cell phones. The silence that descended as they glanced at the instant message was ominous.

Jack tugged his pager from a pocket of his fishing vest. "Crap." His gaze instantly searched for the base CO.

Rather than run upstairs to check her own pager, Annika plucked the device from the colonel’s tense fingers and read the screen. "Holy fucking shit!"

Her exclamation echoed over the crowd, drawing a couple of smiles despite the circumstances.

"Eloquently put." Daniel peeked over her shoulder.

"But an appropriate sentiment," Teal’c intoned, also reading one of the communication devices.

The text message was short but to the point.

A Goa’uld had somehow managed to infiltrate the SGC.

"Doctor Jackson," General Hammond’s voice was solemn. "Is there somewhere we could talk?"

Daniel nodded. "My old house has been emptied out." It was the only place large enough and private enough to hold an emergency meeting with all the base personnel.

"Okay, people, let’s move."

"Sorry to break up the party folks," Annika addressed the non-military guests. "You’re welcome to stay and finish up the food and drink. DJ’s paid up until midnight."

Joyce caught her eye and gave a nod. "Margie and I will take care of the house."

The husbands and wives were accustomed to their partners being called out at odd and usually inconvenient times. Though their eyes were worried, they gave quick kisses and hugs before letting them get to their jobs. Mrs. Hammond assured Janet that she’d see Cassie and her boyfriend safely home and the doctor hurried after the rest of her coworkers.

After the door was shut, the general got down to business. "First things first. We need to get to the base as quickly as possible and find out what’s going on…"

Walter was already trying to phone the complex on the slim chance that one of the night crew would pick up. When all he got was static he tried topside, with the same results. "Sir, the phones aren’t working."

The general nodded in acknowledgement though he didn’t break off what he was saying. "…Who is sober enough to drive? Scrap that, Colonel, call in the spec ops teams stationed outside…" He fished out a radio from his chaps.

Jack gave the order and within a few seconds, Daniel was opening his old front door to allow the commando teams inside.

"Okay, we’ll take the largest cars…"

While it was being decided which cars would be the most useful, Jack’s gaze landed on Thor and Lya standing off to one corner. "Thor, buddy," he strode over to the Asgard. "You know I would never, ever ask you to break the Protected Planets Treaty, no matter how ridiculous the rules are."

Through the mask, big black eyes blinked at him. "On numerous occasions, O’Neill, I have heard you say ‘screw the treaty’."

Jack shrugged, "Okay, bad example."

"I cannot transport you to the mountain if the reason is to launch an attack on the Goa’uld." The alien had guessed what the colonel was leading up to.

"Even if the Goa’uld is already breaking the treaty by invading our base?" Daniel jumped in.

"We do not yet know if the Goa’uld who is in control of the SGC is one of the System Lords bound by the treaty." He sounded regretful. "However, I can beam you to my ship for a different reason."

The sound of a pin dropping could have been heard in the silence that descended at the alien’s calm statement. Every head swiveled toward the short figure of Yoda.

"Such as?" Sam asked hesitantly.

Thor didn’t miss a beat. "Due to Replicator damage I have recently had my ship remodeled. After a stimulating conversation with Margie this evening, it appears that the reconstruction of one’s home is of great interest to you as a species. Would anyone be inclined to view the new layout of my bridge?"

Forty odd pairs of eyes blinked as military minds comprehended the domestic invitation, then they all spoke at once.

"Love too!"

"Just call me Susie Homemaker!"

"Could use some decorating tips, Martha Stewart’s so clichéd!"

Hammond beckoned everyone to quiet down. "In the interest of diplomatic relations we accept your invitation, Thor."

The alien nodded and a second later all of them were engulfed by the white light of the transport beam.

The guests still left at the neighboring house who happened to see the bright flash of light exchanged looks with each other, but knew better than to speculate on what had happened.

When the SG people rematerialized on the deck of the Asgard bridge, Jack was the first to speak.

"Thor, love what you’ve done to the place. It’s a fabulous new shade of grey."

"Thank you, O’Neill."

Sam had sidled up to the console. "Um…Are they new control discs?"

"Indeed they are, Major Carter." Thor trotted over to stand next to her. "The format of the scanning sensors has also been altered."

"We’d love a demonstration."

The conversation was becoming a series of carefully worded questions and responses. Thor had set the ‘rules’, and as long as the Earth people didn’t openly mention the foothold situation, he would be able to help them in a limited capacity.

"Perhaps you could show us how the SGC shows up with these upgrades?"

The alien was already tapping at the console.

The main view screen changed from the black of space to a real time schematic of the underground base. It showed a 3D image of the basic structure of all the levels and a series of blips indicated body heat signatures. The military group immediately started assessing the situation.

"Oh, you’ve changed the human blips from green to blue," Annika commented, keeping up the charade.

"And the…" Teal’c hesitated, searching for a suitable description of the Goa’uld and Jaffa. "…My former associates are now black."

"It is more aesthetically pleasing, is it not?"

"Absolutely," Daniel agreed.

"What are they doing?" Hammond was frowning at the screen.

There were clusters of blue, where the night shift had obviously been rounded up in the brig or locked in their quarters. However it was the positioning of the fifty black dots that had prompted the general’s question. From level nineteen down, there were single dots stationed at the manual hatches and main elevator shaft and one group of four were on guard in the ‘gate room (with another quad of blue huddled in a corner,) but the rest of them were roaming the lower levels. They weren’t taking up defensive positions to block the inevitable retaliation response to their invasion. They weren’t even in the computer rooms, where the knowledge the Goa’uld usually ‘demanded’ from any captured teams was housed. In fact the majority of the black dots were spread out on level twenty-six.

"What is so fascinating in my office?" Daniel was racking his brain to figure out what was so valuable. Most of the artifacts had been discovered on planets long abandoned by the Goa’uld and were only of importance to archaeologists and anthropologists. There weren’t any weapons or devices of power. At least not that he knew of.

"Hey, one of us is in your office, General." Ferretti pointed down a level where there was one lone blue dot. They all watched as two black dots approached the office. For the moment it didn’t seem like they knew someone had eluded capture. That would change if they happened to enter the office. There was nowhere for the person to hide, no exits except the door.

"Wonder who it is?" Janet mused. While the soldiers had begun with identifying how many intruders were in the base, she had scanned the infirmary. It worried her that there were no blue blips indicating life. She hoped the Jaffa had merely taken her patients to the brig to keep all the prisoners together. Knew that there was a fifty-fifty chance dead bodies were in those hospital beds.

"Captain Rogers," Thor informed the doctor.

"You can tell?" Jack raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, O’Neill. Have you not wondered how I am able to beam you specifically out of a crowded room on a regular basis?"

From the blank blink the alien received he surmised the colonel had not.

"Thor," Teal’c was monitoring the shrinking distance between the black dots and the blue. "I believe Captain Rogers would also like to see your bridge reconstruction."

The Asgard gave a slight nod. A twist of a smooth oval disc and a second later the captain dressed in his hospital gown appeared. He was in a crouched position, a large kitchen knife gripped in his hand.

"Welcome to the party, Dodger," his team leader wisecracked. "Nice costume."

Dodger’s eyes widened in surprise to find himself on the Asgard ship surrounded by the character dressed people. Though he wore boxer shorts, he hastily stood up, trying to close the gaping flap of his gown from his unexpected audience. "You got the alert." He sounded relieved. "I wasn’t sure it got through before they cut off communication."

"Who are they, Captain?" Hammond asked.

"I don’t know, sir. I haven’t seen the symbols before." He gestured to his forehead indicating the tattoo of the Jaffa, wincing when he mistakenly used his injured arm.

There was a red smudge seeping through the cotton and Janet immediately stepped forward to inspect it.

"I know it’s a she-Goa’uld, but no one’s said her name that I heard." Dodger tried not to flinch at the doctor’s ministrations. "Must have busted the stitches open when climbing down the hatch."

"What happened?" Jack demanded. "How’d they get in?"

His good shoulder lifted up and down. "I don’t know. I was making a midnight run to the mess hall…" he shot the woman at his side a sheepish look. "Sorry, Doc, but your hospital food is crap."

Janet’s lips twitched. "The mess isn’t much better." Being so close to her patient she caught a faint whiff stale smoke. "Midnight snack, huh?"

"So I took a little side trip topside first," Dodger flashed that model smile at her and continued on. "I was fixing a sandwich when I heard the sound of gunfire in the hall. Two marines were down before I could blink, didn’t see who took them out. I hit the emergency switch, went looking for whoever had done it. The marine’s guns had been taken so I was skulking to the armory to arm up when I saw the Jaffa. Three of them were roaming the floor. I ducked into the first hatch I could, figured I had to get word off base about what was happening. Managed to make it to one of the offices and sent out the foothold page, but when I started to dial out to give more Intel, the line went dead. The hatches were all guarded by then, so I crawled down an air conditioning duct to your office."

"Why there, son?" the general interrupted.

"I know the red phone has its own line. I was hoping it had been missed."

The captain’s report created more questions than it answered. Hammond exchanged quick glances at his premier team giving them a silent order not to ask those questions. Right now there wasn’t time to dissect the anomalies of the recon report. They could do that after they reclaimed their base. The general didn’t doubt the man’s account, but he sure as hell did not like the conclusions he was drawing. He pushed the thoughts aside. "Captain, did you get any idea of this Goa’uld’s motives?"

Dodger nodded. "She’s tearing the place apart searching for something."

"So this is a robbery not a foothold?" Annika whispered to Daniel, not wanting to interrupt the conversation. Still relatively new to military strategy, the revelation surprised her.

Daniel explained quietly how the rest of them had already drawn that conclusion. "If she was planning on staying she would have posted more guards at the entry points from above. She knows that we will launch a counter attack in short time."

"Any clue to what she’s trying to snatch?" Jack asked their only witness.

"I think it may be the data pad that Doctor Jackson found a few days ago. Pretty sure they mentioned something about a ‘manual’, but my Goa’uld isn’t that hot."

Daniel butted in. "If that’s what she’s after she’s going to be sorely disappointed."

"Yep," Ferretti sounded confident. "We will stop the bitch before she can find it."

"No, that’s not what I meant," he contradicted. "The device isn’t on base."

"Where is it, Doctor Jackson?" Hammond demanded to know.

"At our home," he admitted. "I took it hoping to start on the translation."

Jack couldn’t help but chuckle. How very typical of Daniel to have taken work home during down time. "Gotta love your work ethic, Space Monkey."

A little of the urgency eased off, knowing that the Goa’uld wouldn’t get her hands on the device. The military officers huddled together throwing around different battle tactics and responses.

Annika stood off to one side with Lya and Thor until the final attack plan had been determined. She didn’t have a military mind and figured that she’d be more of a hindrance than a help at the moment.

"This is a most inconvenient interruption of your nuptial celebration," Thor commented.

"Yes, well, this isn’t precisely how I pictured spending my wedding night," she sighed.

Lya gave a commiserating smile. "You did desire an unconventional wedding."

"Not quite this unconventional." Two arms embraced her from behind and Daniel rested his chin on her shoulder. "But at least the official bit was over."

Annika quirked an eyebrow. "Nuh uh," she denied. "There’s still the matter of consummating our marriage. And I had plans for that."

Daniel grinned, placing a light kiss to her neck. "Hmmm, so did I."

Lya was helping Thor off with his costume. "Do you think your guests realized something was amiss?" The Asgard was indicating the Yoda mask.

The redhead shook her head with a grin. "Nope. Margie and Joyce thought you were a very eloquent midg…" she stopped in mid thought.

"Annika? What is it?" Daniel frowned, expecting her to say she had some sort of premonition.

"The Goa’uld, she’s expecting a military response," she murmured.

"And we’re gonna give her one." Jack had heard her comment.

"Shouldn’t we try something she doesn’t expect," she hesitantly suggested.

"Like?" The colonel was giving her his full attention.

"Well," the redhead shrugged. "We’re dressed for a party…"