"What’s Teal’c doing?" Sam leant against the pickup next to her CO who was sitting on its hood.

"Dunno." Jack automatically draped an arm around her shoulder and they watched the Jaffa curiously.

Teal’c had twice circled Daniel’s former residence and was currently examining the front porch.

"Lost something, T?"

"I have not, O’Neill."

If the couple expected a more in depth reply then they were to be disappointed. The dark man continued on with his inspection, by tapping the support beam of the porch, his head tilted, listening intently to the sound his knuckles made on the wood.

"Must be a Jaffa thing," Jack shrugged. The bizarre actions of his teammate weren’t exactly a top priority in the colonel’s mind. It was the civilian members of his team that had him uneasy.

"I wonder what they saw," Sam said softly, casting an anxious glance at the Jackson’s home.

Another shrug. "We’ll know soon enough."

After Daniel and Annika had woken up from the extended premonition dream, the others had left them alone to shower and dress. Though the newly wed couple had joked about certain aspects of the vision, there was an underlying tension gripping them. Jack had wanted to ask for some details but Daniel’s quiet voice had stopped him. "Please, Jack, we can only do this once." Jack had never heard such anguish from his friend before, not even when Sha’re had died, and the colonel had respected his wish. It made sense really, no point in telling them here and then having to rehash it for Hammond.

Daniel and Annika appeared from the side of the house. They’d had to use the backdoor since the front was currently nailed shut thanks to Teal’c’s temporary repair job. To the casual observer nothing was amiss, that is until one saw the way their hands were gripping the other’s.

"Ready to go?" Jack slid off the hood.

They gave a single curt nod and Daniel dug his keys out of his pocket. "We’ll follow you." Singling out the car key the archaeologist noticed a slight tremble to his fingers. "Ah…Teal’c? Feel like practicing your driving skills?"

If the Jaffa was surprised at the suggestion he didn’t show it. "Indeed I do, Daniel Jackson," he replied, his long legs easily stepping over the picket fence between the properties and catching the keys tossed towards him.

Daniel helped Annika into the backseat of his jeep and then climbed in beside her. A few seconds later, Teal’c was carefully reversing out of the driveway following Jack’s truck.

"I think I could get used to being chauffeured around," Annika quipped lightly, resting her hand on Daniel’s thigh. His hand closed over the top of hers entwining their fingers.

Violet eyes glanced up at her husband’s blues ones, reading a novel of communication in a few seconds. They needed to talk. Alone. There simply hadn’t been the time. Though they had had some privacy while getting ready, neither had known what to say. The vision was still too raw, too real, too much of a shock, that they hadn’t been able to form any words. She had been hoping that the drive to the base would give them a few precious minutes, but realized that neither of them was in any fit state to be behind the wheel.

For the first time in his life, Daniel wished that his brain would shut off. The image of Annika dying, the agony of having their precious bond severed, the torture of his grief, not to mention the other horrific scenes of the SGC destroyed and the repercussions on their friends, was pounding his mind like a sledge hammer. He needed a distraction, needed something else to focus on to box that vision away, so he could get through the debrief with a smidgen of objectivity. His gaze settled on the back of Teal’c’s bald head in front of him. Aha! When Annika and he had been walking up the side of the house, Teal’c had been intently studying the overhang of his old house. "Teal’c, what was so interesting about my gutters?"

"I was inspecting them for evidence of leakage." The Jaffa flicked on the indicator just as he had been shown and applied pressure to the brakes to turn the corner.

Husband and wife mirrored quirked eyebrows.

"Um…why?"

"I am seeking to purchase a residence off-base and I was ensuring that your former house was structurally sound."

"You’re moving out of the SGC?" It surprised Daniel. Teal’c had always seemed content living in his assigned quarters. He had figured that the military regime of the base had suited the warrior’s nature.

"Indeed, I am," he confirmed with a nod. "General Hammond has approved my request."

"Why?" Annika’s curiosity was just as piqued, and like the man sitting beside her, she was grateful for the distraction that this interesting conversation created.

"I grow weary of the klaxons sounding at any given time, and I would like to experience residing in a place that is my own," he paused for a second to shift down gears for a red light. "A place that has windows to allow natural light to enter rather than fluorescent light bulbs."

"And you want to buy my place?"

"You were intending on selling it, were you not?"

"Well, yes."

"How much financial remuneration are you requesting?"

"I…er…haven’t decided yet." Daniel pushed his glasses almost absently up his nose then leaned over to whisper in Annika’s ear. "Are we sure we’re awake?"

Annika felt an amused tickle beneath her heart and some of the tension that had been curdling her stomach for the last half hour eased up. If Daniel was able to joke about the vision, then he was starting to ‘deal’ in the only way SG-1 knew how, with humor. "The real estate agent was coming around next week to give an evaluation."

"You want my house?" The concept of Teal’c living off-base was barely sinking in, let alone having the Jaffa as a neighbor.

Teal’c heard the bewilderment in his friend’s tone. "Is there a reason that I should not? Termites? Water damage? Wood rot? Shalakian helminths?"

Daniel had no idea what Shalakian helminths were but he was pretty sure that his house didn't have them. "No, none of those things," he quickly assured him.

"Then if I find your house suitable I shall make an offer for your deliberation."

"Teal’c, you’ve been to the house many times before," Annika tried not to smile. "You know what it’s like."

"I visited as a guest, not as a potential buyer," he pointed out seriously. "I have much research to conduct before making a final decision. Such as the facilities of the area and any potential difficulty with the surrounding neighbors."

"Um…Teal’c, we will be your neighbors."

"Of that I am well aware, Daniel Jackson," the Jaffa’s lips twitched.

It took a second for both Daniel and Annika to comprehend that Teal’c, the usually stoic member of their team, was actually teasing them and then laughter burst from their mouths.

They were still chuckling as they pulled into their allotted parking space at the mountain.

When Teal’c handed back the keys to Daniel, the archaeologist unhooked two from the keychain and held them out to his friend. "Here, try before you buy. If you find you can put up with us as neighbors, then we’ll settle on a price later."

Annika linked one arm with Daniel and hooked the other around Teal’c as they headed for the first series of check points. "This is going to be sooooo cool! Teal’c, you’ve got to let me help decorate, regardless of where you choose. I can picture you with a tribal African theme with a few splashes of color here and there."

"I shall not attempt to lift a paintbrush without your opinion, Annika Jackson," Teal’c promised.

"Just as well, because you’d get Annika’s opinion whether you like it or not," Daniel teased, earning a playful elbow jab from his wife.

Jack and Sam were waiting for them at the elevator and for a few moments were buoyed by their lighthearted approach. Yet as they traveled down into the belly of the mountain, Daniel and Annika both fell silent. Nobody commented when Daniel detoured them to the control room. They trusted that the side trip was important.

Sergeant Harriman looked up from his place at the console.

"Walter, please contact General Carter. We need him to bring us all the original research data the Tok’ra have and a sample if possible, on the radioactive isotope that hides body signatures from Goa’uld sensors."

The sergeant took one look at the grim face of the archaeologist and didn’t bother to get confirmation from Colonel O’Neill. He just began the dial up sequence and hoped that the Tok’ra were in an agreeable mood. The rare times when Doctor Jackson used that tone it was best for all concerned to simply get out his way and pray that you weren’t the focus of his ire.

"Can you also page SG-2 to the briefing room?" Annika asked.

Walter nodded. Ooooh, boy. Annika wasn’t mad, but there was something seriously wrong with the normally bubbly psychic. He sent up a silent plea that the Tok’ra would play nicely today, rather than be in their usual evasive mentality.

The now solemn team clambered down the stairs heading for the briefing room. Coffees were poured out of habit while they waited for SG-2 and the general to arrive.

Ferretti sauntered into the room. "Howdy, chickadees, what’s up?"

Annika couldn’t stop herself, she sprang to her feet and hugged the team leader in a tight bear hug, then extended her embrace to include Brooklyn and Nyan who were only a step behind.

"New briefing protocol?" Ferretti was stunned by the psychic’s greeting.

"You must have missed the memo," Annika half-choked, battling to control her emotions at seeing Whistler, the wiseass of the base, alive and sane.

"What’s going on?" The major swept the room for an explanation, paused a moment at the haunted look on Rock Doc’s face, then shifted to the colonel.

"Hey, that’s my line," Jack smirked, though his heart wasn’t in it.

Dodger arrived being pushed in a wheelchair by Janet. He was dressed in BDUs though his arm was in a sling to keep the pressure off his injured shoulder. The doctor had allowed him to participate in the spy investigation on the condition that he remain off his feet and not use his arm.

Hammond strode in a second later, frowning at the presence of SG-2. "I intended for this to be a closed debrief."

"This involves them, sir," Annika sighed. "They have a right to be here."

"SG-2 can also be eliminated," Daniel winced at his choice of words. "Removed from the mole list."

Janet was about to take her leave but Annika stopped her, looking towards the general. "Sir, I think Janet should remain as well. There are some medical test issues that she will need to know about."

The general took his place at the head of the table, taking in their demeanor. "Very well." He gestured to the doctor to take a seat. "Shall we begin?"

All heads turned to the newlyweds, who exchanged glances, both wondering where to start.

Annika teed off, explaining the basics for the benefit of the bewildered SG-2 and Janet. "I had a premonition while I was sleeping, which I simultaneously transferred to Daniel. It was shown to me…us… in reverse order, starting off with a funeral…" her throat closed up.

"Whose funeral was it?" Hammond wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

"Mine," Daniel answered, amazed at how calm he sounded. "I was being buried next to my wife who had died four months earlier."

There were sharp intakes of breath at his quiet statement and in the silence that followed you could have heard a pin drop.

Eventually Jack cleared his throat, though when he spoke he was hoarse. "How far into the future was this?"

"About five months," Annika was barely audible. "But the catalyst will take place in a month. March twelfth to be precise."

"What happened?" Sam finally found her voice, as shaky as it was.

Hesitantly Daniel and Annika began to outline what they had witnessed, starting at the end of the vision, since as far as the ‘facts’ went, that segment was of the utmost importance.

Daniel found it was easier to speak if he didn’t look at anyone, so he focused on the untouched coffee mug in front of him. He explained about the revenge attack of Qebehsenuef’s brothers, how they managed to infiltrate the SGC using the three members of SG-2 as hosts.

When he got to the part of the radioactive isotope Janet interrupted him. "But the isotope didn’t affect your or Jonas’s x-rays when we took shots of you before that mission." The doctor had been, and still was, wary of any Tok’ra intervention. They had the nasty habit of forgetting to mention the side effects of their experimental treatments, and Janet had allayed her medical worries by giving Daniel and Jonas a full medical workup after they’d been injected.

"The Tok’ra version was a hybrid of an isotope the Goa’uld were working on." Annika clarified what she’d seen of Imesty’s aura and the revelation that had bombarded her brain. "The original serum hid the symbiote completely, including the mind print that I see as an aura, but it didn’t give the Goa’uld full control of the host."

"General, we’ve got to get a sample of the isotope in its original form," Janet turned to the base CO. "If it’s undetectable to our scans we need to find another way to test for it."

Before the general could respond, Daniel spoke up. "I’ve already sent a message to Jacob to bring us what information they have."

Hammond nodded. Though Doctor Jackson had acted without authorization, in this instance he would overlook it. He couldn’t really blame the man. He’d taken the liberty not to be insubordinate, rather because time was of the essence. The quicker they had the information, the more time they’d have to work on a way to detect the drug. It had been done to protect the base, his colleagues and his wife, not necessarily in that order.

"How is it that you survived so long after…" Teal’c couldn’t finish the sentence, his dark eyes troubled for having to ask the question. He hadn’t meant to be callous, however it had been established from the beginning of his teammates’ relationship that their invisible connection was a physical life bond.

The others shifted uncomfortably in their seats, indicating that they too wanted an explanation even if they hadn’t had the nerve to ask.

"It’s okay." Annika gave a weak smile at the Jaffa trying to relieve his guilt. "I discovered a way to sever our bond." She tried not to wince at the spat of emotion that hit beneath her heart from Daniel. Gods, would he ever forgive her for that? She hesitantly let her love for him trickle back down their link, unsure of how it would be received. Feeling him accept it she took a deep breath and added a few more details to what Daniel had already said, elaborating on the insight into Imesty’s mind, confirming that none of SG-2 were the spy they were investigating.

Though the secondary team had turned white upon hearing their part in the vision, they heaved a sigh of relief at having their names formally cleared.

"Is there anything else that you saw that is relevant?" the general asked.

For a moment the couple was silent, considering what they had left out. Simultaneously they shook their heads.

"Anything else we saw was of a…personal nature," Annika squeezed Daniel’s hand beneath the table. They had skipped over the second scene of the vision. Nobody needed to know the intimate details of Daniel’s grief, although Annika was pretty sure that Daniel would discuss it with Jack when they had a private moment.

Jack shifted his legs under the table, inadvertently bumping Daniel’s boots. His friend’s gaze automatically flickered up. Jack wasn’t sure if Daniel was even aware of the silent plea his eyes were sending. Don’t let the briefing end this way. He understood what he was being asked, but for the life of him, the colonel couldn’t think of anything to be flip about, not with the bombshell that two of his kids were gonna die, half of SG-2 would die as Goa’uld destroying the SGC, and Ferretti would end up in the nuthouse. Think, O’Neill, think! There’s humor in every situation. He dismissed what had been said in the last hour. Nuthin’ funny there. Instead he latched on to the conversation back at the couple’s bedroom. He heaved a dramatic sigh. "Nope, you have left out a vital piece of Intel."

"We have?" Annika frowned. They’d given all the facts, only leaving out the emotional references.

"Yep," the colonel wagged a finger at her. "My fish. I want it on the record that there is a fish in my lake. What kind it was, how big…so spill."

The feeling of the tension dropping away was tangible to all in the room.

Annika’s lips twitched. "I don’t know a bass from a guppy."

The colonel ‘seriously’ turned his attention to Daniel. "Details, Space Monkey."

"Couldn’t tell you, Jack." The chuckle that slipped from the archaeologist’s lips was only half forced. "You fell into the lake before you could land it."

"Fell?" Sam grabbed the opening with both hands, metaphorically speaking. She like everyone else, wanted the briefing to end on a light note. "This I have to hear."

"Indeed, please elaborate," Teal’c intoned.

"Now wait a minute," Jack protested. "You didn’t say anything about falling back at the house. I don’t want that in the official report!"

"It is you, O’Neill, who opened this can of worms." Teal’c was quite proud of his correct use of the slang.

"Yeah, you’ve hooked us, Doc." Though still deathly pale, Ferretti leaned forward in his chair.

"Reel us in!" Janet joined in the banter.

"Oh, stop with the puns already!" Jack grumbled.

With a grin, Daniel began recounting in intimate and exaggerated detail, how Jack, ‘Master Fisherman’ was so stunned at hooking that lone fish that he tripped over his own feet and belly flopped into the lake. Annika added a few snippets like the slimy weed decorating the colonel’s head and precisely how many times Jack tried to regain his footing only to land face down in the water again. Nobody asked why Daniel had been at the cabin, and the ‘witnesses’ didn’t volunteer the information. By the time the newlyweds had finished, the laughter and teasing wasn’t forced, and even Hammond’s Texan chuckle joined in.

They had just stood up to leave when the general’s assistant appeared with Jacob in tow.

"Doh!" Jack dropped back into his seat with a huff. "And we were so close!"

There were a few resigned snorts and they all followed suit.

"Sorry to bring the party down." The Tok’ra hesitantly stepped in.

The General waved his concern away. "Not your fault, Jacob."

Sam gave her dad a hug then resumed her seat.

"That was quick." Daniel did his best to ignore the rush of resentment at seeing the Tok’ra. He hadn’t expected an ‘emissary’ until this afternoon at the earliest.

"I was already coming to see you when I got your message." The former general produced a half a dozen data crystals from his pocket.

"Social visit?" Sam asked.

"Not exactly." He absently spun one of the crystals on the table. "We’ve recently received word from one of our operatives about Ba’al that would be of interest to you."

"Wait, the Tok’ra are volunteering information?" Jack didn’t try to hide his skepticism.

"What is it that you want us to do that you won’t?"

Jacob wasn’t the only one to raise an eyebrow at Daniel’s unusually aggressive tone.

"Actually, it was a courtesy," Jacob stressed the word, "visit to warn you that Ba’al believes you have information regarding a piece of Ancient technology he’s acquired. He’s planning a strike attack."

"Dad, you’re three days too late." Sam gave him a wane smile.

"Ba’al’s already hit?" Jacob let his surprise show.

"Sent one of his snake flunkies," Ferretti confirmed.

"Did he get what he came for?" The Tok’ra frowned in concern. If Ba’al had, then it would explain the heavy atmosphere of the SGC.

"He came, we conga-ed, he met his maker," Jack quipped.

"No, he didn’t," Hammond translated for the benefit of Selmak who he knew wasn’t fluent in Jack’s idioms. "Not that we don’t appreciate the warning, belated as it is," he continued. "But Colonel O’Neill is right. Yourself and Selmak aside, the Tok’ra haven’t been forthcoming in the past."

"Why now?" Jacob asked the question he knew was coming. He let Selmak take over. "We believe the technology is a weapon, more powerful than anything the Goa’uld have used in the past. If Ba’al masters this weapon it may give him the upper hand against the other System Lords."

"Sweet," Jack flapped his hand like he was batting away a fly. "Let Ba’al use it and wipe his snake buddies out."

"What’s more likely to happen is that the other System Lords will band together against Ba’al," Selmak corrected.

"And if they unite once, then they may do so again, against their other adversaries," Teal’c finished the train of thought.

"Same old argument," Daniel sighed bitterly. He caught the warning look from Hammond. A look that was normally reserved for Jack who was typically the negative voice in the room when the Tok’ra were involved. Abruptly he got to his feet. "Excuse me, SG-11 are waiting on a translation." He had to get away before he said something, something else, he corrected, that he’d regret. The backwards vision dream was still too fresh in his mind. He hadn’t had a chance to sort through the jumble of emotions that it had awakened.

Puzzled glances were exchanged by the military people. Annika, however, watched her retreating husband’s back with a worried frown.

"Have we done something to offend Doctor Jackson?" Selmak asked concerned.

Annika sighed. "Not yet."

"There’s more to that vision than what you told in the debrief, wasn’t there?" Sam wasn’t the only one to have noticed that the tension floating around her friends during the debrief hadn’t dissipated one iota.

"Not the vision itself. We told you all the facts," the psychic promised. "The way it was done…" How could she put it in perspective for them to understand? "When Daniel Ascended you had a funeral, right?"

They nodded.

"Big turn out?"

Another round of nods.

"Imagine feeling every person’s grief who was there, all at the same time. ‘Cause that’s how my visions work. I witness it from one individual’s perspective but I feel all the…er…character’s emotions that are there. Everyone’s," she emphasized, then paused, letting down the defensive shield from her eyes she automatically set in place when discussing her visions, letting her friends catch a glimpse of what she was feeling. "And the funeral is only the tip of the iceberg of what we saw, what we felt. I’ve had over ten years to learn how to process my visions and this one shook me to the core. Daniel’s been king hit with the mother of all horrors as his first direct vision. He…we…need time to sort it out, we just haven’t had the time yet."

There was no recrimination in her voice but the SGC personnel, especially SG-1, became slightly shamefaced. They knew that the premonition had been difficult. It had been difficult to just hear about it, but they had been so relieved to find their teammates okay, they hadn’t fully considered what Daniel and Annika had been through. They’d hustled the couple from their bed to the base and directly into the briefing room, giving them no real chance to compose themselves.

"Go be with your husband, Annika Jackson," Teal’c’s voice was uncharacteristically soft.

"Yeah, take all the time ya’ need," Jack waved her away. "Selmak will keep us entertained with Tok’ra gossip."

"We’ll explain about the isotope," Sam added.

She threw them a grateful smile then tilted her head at the general remembering to seek his permission to leave. He gave an understanding nod and she hurried after her troubled husband. It wasn’t exactly difficult to determine where he’d gone; it was where he always retreated to think.

Daniel was leaning over his main worktable a frown creasing his brow, not really seeing the photos scattered on top. God, how did Annika cope with her ability, day in day out, never knowing if picking up something as simple as a pencil would result in an emotional tsunami? Annika had transferred many visions to him, but the dream had been the first he’d experienced first hand. Pushing the content of this particular vision aside, he hadn’t realized the strain her visions subjected her to. She always made it seem so easy when she discussed what she’d seen, never mentioning the upheaval to herself. Daniel was dealing, well was trying to deal, with two separate sets of emotions. What was experienced in the vision and his reaction to what he’d witnessed. And it was far from easy since both sets were swirling around each other in a tangled heap. When Jacob had arrived he’d had to fight down the anger he felt towards the Tok’ra because of his inadvertent role in the vision, while at the same time knowing he was angry at something that hadn’t happened yet. The grief and pain had been real, he remembered the agony that had tortured him when he broke down in Jack’s kitchen…yet it hadn’t happened. He was so confused and he’d had to distance himself from the others until he could trust that his feelings were his own current emotions and not a residue of the dream. His respect for his wife jumped up a notch. She had a fiery personality, which he loved, yet it was only now that he realized how tight a rein she actually had on her emotions, or rather other people’s emotions.

Annika hovered in the office doorway, unsure whether or not to approach. She could feel the battle being waged through their bond. With so many different emotions it was impossible for her to determine if he wanted to work this out by himself or with her help. She wouldn’t blame him if it was the former. After all it was her fault that he was going through this. Her premonitions were useful, however she wouldn’t wish her ability on anyone. People without the gift, had romanticized the idea of visions of the future, not comprehending what the reality entailed. If she had been given the choice she wouldn’t have shown the dream to Daniel, even if he had begged her to transfer it from her mind to his. It made her heart ache that Daniel had been thrown into the deep end of ‘Hocus Pocus 101’. He had to hate that she had done this to him.

He must have sensed her silent presence because he looked up at her. Blue orbs reflected that confusing collage of emotions but the frown disappeared and he beckoned her in with weak smile. She hesitated only long enough to close the door behind her so they wouldn’t be interrupted and moved towards him.

Daniel could see the wariness in her stance and he inwardly cursed himself for making her feel that way. He snagged his office chair with his foot and sat down, drawing his wife onto his lap. As his arms encircled her he felt her relax somewhat.

"I-"

He stopped her words with a gentle finger to her lips. "Please," his voice was shaky. "Just let me hold you for a bit." He felt her nod against his shoulder and she made herself comfortable on her favorite ‘seat’, her legs dangling over the arm rest, arm tucked beneath his, around his back. He used every one of his senses to reassure himself that she was there; his arms tightened around her warm, soft body; his eyes focused on her torso, for once more interested in the steady rise and fall of her chest rather than the voluptuous mounds that usually occupied his attention; heard her breath as she breathed in and out. Resting his cheek against the fiery top of her head, his nose was rewarded with the sugary scent of her. He didn’t try to block the scattered mess of his feelings through their bond. He wanted her to know, wanted to work through them with her, needed her help to do so.

Annika accepted the barrage, felt his unspoken plea for help. Gently she identified and separated them, then returned them so he could know which were vision versus his own emotions.

Daniel felt some of the tension ease from himself as he accepted the grouped emotions that Annika sent back with a lot more finesse than he had managed when he sent them. He gave a gentle caress of gratitude and she smiled in response. "Do you go through this every time you have a vision?" Her slight pause confirmed that she had filtered down the intensity of what she’d previously shown him.

"Not every time. Some don’t have emotional content at all. But this one wasn’t a normal vision."

Her hold around him grew tighter, the gesture an indication to Daniel that she wasn’t as calm as she’d like him to believe.

"I’ve had dreams before, but usually they’re over within a few minutes. This was a new one for me…I’m sorry to do that to you."

"Don’t be." He placed a reassuring kiss to her temple. "I’m glad you didn’t go through that alone, that I was there to share it."

"But you’re angry too." Annika lifted her head to see his face. ‘Angry’ didn’t quite fit, however for now it was the best description she could come up with. For a moment he looked like he was going to deny it, but then he gave a reluctant nod. "At me?"

Another pause. "A little," he admitted.

"I didn’t examine the Tok’ra blending to find a way to break our bond." She desperately needed him to believe that.

"I know." Annika’s motives had only been to help any Goa’uld hosts they’d encounter in the future. "But that doesn’t change the outcome." He let out a sigh. "I know you feel guilty about the consequences of our bond, but for me…" He stopped, trying to find the right words. For a linguist he really wasn’t very good at self -expression. "I haven’t had many constants in my life. Our bond, I thought it was one of the few things that I could rely on not to change. I’d taken comfort in knowing that if you died, I wouldn’t have to go on living without you, the results had already been established. You die, I die. A coward’s way out perhaps, but that how I felt.

Annika picked up on his use of past tense. "And now?"

"That dream showed me that I could survive. I was barely the shell of who I used to be, but even in that state I was able to help people…" he tapered off.

"You feel guilty for wanting to live?" she asked softly.

He nodded.

"Daniel, that’s nothing to feel ashamed about. I want to live too. Excluding Fate, how we live and die should be up to us as individuals. As much as I love our bond, I hate it too. Your death shouldn’t be the byproduct of mine."

"And vice versa," he added, relieved that she understood. "I thought about how I’d react if our situations had been reversed and I was the one dying. If I could, I would have done what you did, to save you."

"So my breaking our bond isn’t what you’re angry about?"

"No. Actually even though it wasn’t real, I dealt with my anger in the dream." He gave his head a bewildered shake. "Now that’s a confusing concept."

"Welcome to my world," she said with a teasing smile.

His lips tilted up in response then he became serious again. "It’s more frustration than anger. In reality I won’t be able to do what you did. I can’t return the favor and give you the gift of life."

"Why not?" Violet eyes were puzzled.

His expression mirrored hers at the question. "You control our bond."

"Is that what you think?" Annika didn’t try to hide her astonishment.

"Well, don’t you?"

"Only as much as you do. I may have created it, but you’ve been able to manipulate what you send through…"

He frowned. "Manipulate?"

"I don’t mean in a malicious way," she quickly assured him. "For example, you were able to hide learning the tango for our wedding dance, even though in the beginning the steps frustrated you."

"If I was so good at hiding it, how’d you know that?" he asked suspiciously.

"Sam told me," she shrugged. "You controlled it only a few minutes ago when you sent me what you were feeling from the dream. You send me waves of your love at least a half a dozen times a day. The codes we worked out for missions, you send them just as easily as I do-"

"Okay, I get the point," he grinned. "But I don’t know how to physically go about severing our bond."

"But the dream…" She broke off at the haunted look in his eyes.

"I was paying more attention to why and what rather than how," he rasped quietly.

Annika’s hugged her husband closer, comforting him while trying to think of a way to show him what he needed to know. Transferring the vision a second time wasn’t possible, and even if she could, she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t put Daniel or herself through that again. "We could ask Jacob and Selmak if they’d be willing to let us examine their blending," she hesitantly suggested. "It is what gave me the idea in the first place."

Daniel heaved a reluctant sigh. "And I suppose this has to happen so that you can get the knowledge."

"But I already have the knowledge." Now it was Annika who gave a confused shake of her head. "Time paradoxes give me a headache."

"You and me both."

"We can change this vision, right?" The fact that they had to go through with the study of the host/symbiote relationship had her worried. How much more would they have to allow to happen before they started changing Fate?

"We already are," Daniel pointed out. "We know about the isotope, and hopefully the Tok’ra can supply us with what information they have so we can find a way to detect it. If SG-2 do go to that planet it’ll be as part of a trap to get Qeb’s avenging brothers."

"I wish we had been shown who the spy is," she sighed. "It would have made what we went through more bearable. A reason, you know?"

"Maybe getting the SGC details wasn’t the sole purpose of the vision," Daniel speculated. The tumult of emotions he’d been battling was lifting like a fog in the sunshine. However that had only started when they had made the decision to see Jacob and Selmak, not when they were discussing the emotions, nor at the briefing retelling the events. "Perhaps they were just there to set a time line to put the rest of the vision in perspective."

"What do you mean?"

"Over half of that dream had nothing to do with the SGC, it had to do with us."

Annika tried to recount if there were any details from the earlier scenes that were of military significance. She couldn’t think of any.

"It’s my understanding that once you discuss your visions out loud, the intensity dissipates."

"That’s right," she confirmed.

"So why was I more of mess after the briefing than before?" he asked. "Did it start to breakdown for you while we were relaying the facts?"

Annika eyes widened. She had become so used to her ‘vision dealing’ process that she hadn’t given much thought to when she’d gained control of her emotions, just knew that it was already fading. Not to be forgotten, but a memory that she could speak of rationally. "I didn’t calm down until we started discussing our bond."

"Our bond, that you have felt guilty over since Lya explained the unintentional consequences of. That I thought I relied on as a quick fix, an excuse to give up living. This vision highlighted that we were both seeking a way for the other to survive. Before this, had you even considered that breaking our bond was possible?"

"No." She shook her head. "So it gave us a solution to the one demon of our bond."

"Only to be used in the most dire of circumstances," he hastened to add. "When there’s no hope of…recovery."

"Agreed."

With the pact made there was an immediate lifting of their spirits, confirming that their theory was correct.

"Jeez, there had to have been an easier way to tell us," Annika groused. "One of these days I’m going to have a long and serious chat with the Powers That Be and run over some of the ground rules of downloading information."

"In all honesty, I don’t think we would have listened any other way." He placed a lingering kiss to her forehead a genuine smile on his lips. "We do have the reputation of being a bit stubborn."

"We’re not stubborn," she denied. "Just firm in our convictions."

"Even if we’re wrong?" he teased.

"Hey, whose side are you on?" she huffed. "I was working on a good old fashioned rant!"

"Come on," he scooped her up in his arms and headed for the door. "You can rant all you want later. We need to talk to Jacob and Selmak and then we have work to do."

"I can walk you know," Annika twisted the door handle then linked her arms around his neck.

"I’m getting in practice to carry you over the threshold." Daniel strode down the corridor, to the elevator.

"There’s that Daniel Jackson warped time clock," she playfully rolled her eyes. "You are a couple days too late."

"Better late than never." The doors slid open and Daniel stepped in, still carrying his bride. "But technically our wedding day hasn’t been completed," he pointed out. "There’s just been a really long delay between the reception and the conclusion of the night." With all that had been going on, they hadn’t yet celebrated their new marital status in the traditional way. For three days they had only managed to catch a couple of hours sleep on base, and neither had wanted to rush making love their first time as husband and wife. Last night they had been too exhausted to do the special act justice and before collapsing into bed, they had decided that come hell or high water tonight was the night.

"You mean saying goodbye to our guests?" she asked innocently. "Opening our gifts?" Despite their insistence that gifts weren’t necessary, over the last few days brightly wrapped presents had begun mysteriously appearing in their office.

"There’s only one gift I plan to unwrap tonight," he murmured. "And it’s not wrapped up in paper." His lips captured hers and Annika melted against him, that wonderful fire racing through their bodies.

Neither noticed their arrival on level twenty-eight until there was a discreet cough. Without breaking their lip lock, blue and violet eyes swung to the now open doors to see Siler and Harriman waiting to go up to the mess hall for their break.

Indulging in another quick kiss, Daniel grinned at the sergeants. "Beautiful morning, isn’t it?"

"So it would seem," Walter smiled back, relieved to see Doctor Jackson and Annika acting like their usual selves. Whatever had plagued the couple earlier had clearly been resolved.

The men stepped aside to make room for Daniel to exit. Ignoring the startled looks of the rest of the personnel Daniel carried on his way with his wife in his arms.

"Oh, Siler," Annika called over her husband’s shoulder. "You might want to check out the temperature controls, the elevator seemed to be a little hotter than normal."

"Will do, Mrs Jackson," the tech sergeant replied seriously, though the doors closed on his chuckle.