Title: BrigaDOH!

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Author's Notes: Full disclaimer in Part 1. This is part 2 of my St. Patrick's Day fic. Sam figures out that, inevitably, something funky is going on, Jack gets domestic. Daniel might just get lucky. Teal'c finds a friend.

Part 2/6

The village could have easily doubled as a movie set. Snug-looking cottages with thatched roofs ringed an open plaza in which crude wooden benches were clustered around a well so quaint it bordered on kitschy. They passed through a low wooden gate swinging jauntily from a stone wall just crumbling enough to make it picturesque.

The trek to the village had started off tense. Teal'c had taken point, walking silently alongside Oscar, the serious-looking boy who had approached him earlier. By unspoken agreement, they Cara was kept to the center of the group. She and Daniel had easily fallen into a harmless conversation about the Celtic dialect spoken by her people. She'd had to interrupt their discussion repeatedly to remind the others to keep the children from bombarding the rest of them, particularly Sam and Jack, with dangerous questions.

Jack, clearly chagrined at his unwilling role in the incessant scolding, had saved the day by initiating a game of I Spy. The children had run in circles around him, laughing continuously as he made a great show of mispronouncing the native terms.

As they reached the gate, Danann tugged on Sam's shirt tail, watching carefully as the rest of the group, save Jack, who lingered just on the other side of the stone wall, moved into the village proper.

"Sam!" She called in the loudest whisper possible.

"What is it, Danann?" She asked matching the young girl's serious tone.

"Is there another baby in there yet?" Danann asked hopefully, pointing to Sam's stomach.

"No!" Sam yelped, more loudly than she had intended, instinctively shielding her abdomen with her P-90. She looked up to find Jack listening in, amusement mixing with something unnamable in his expression. She gave him one of her more murderous glares. "Danann, I don't think we can talk about this. Cara is worried . . ."

"Seanmháthair doesn't want me to have any fun," Danann pouted and flounced off.

Sam stalked hastily through the gate without a glance Jack's way, annoyed as he easily caught up with her. He leaned close, murmuring into her ear, "Another baby, Carter? That would explain the . . ." he traced a cartoon silhouette of a woman in the air in front of him.

Furious, she grabbed his lapel and spun toward him, planting herself in his path, "When I figure out how to get us home . . ." she held up a warning finger as he opened his mouth to speak, " . . . and we both know I will, I am leaving you here."

"No, you're not," he laughed, mimicking her by grabbing a fistful of her jacket.

Sam's angry retort never made it past her lips as she suddenly seemed surprised and disconcerted to find his face just inches away from her own.

"You'd miss me, Carter," he said more softly. He seemed to consider something for a moment, then added a bit nervously, "And those kids are gonna need their Uncle Jack."

"Kids," she repeated, unable to quite suppress the proud, foolish grin that threatened to break out on her face.

Jack nodded silently, a lop-sided smile forming to match hers. He released her lapel, his hand drifting to touch her shoulder briefly, "Hey, we're not . . ."

" . . . supposed to be talking about this," Sam finished, her eyes sliding away from his.

"Right." He caught her hand in his as she uncurled her fingers from his jacket.

"O'Neill!" Teal'c called from the plaza, his deep voice slicing through the air.

"Right," Jack whispered again, dropping her hand and gesturing for her to lead the way.

Sam met his eyes again briefly, turning away with a reluctant smile as they headed to join the group. The wooden benches had filled up quickly with children showing signs of weariness from the long walk. The adults and teens dragged barrels and other makeshift seats into a semicircle within the plaza and began settling in.

Daniel and Colin emerged from the nearest cottage struggling with a massive rocking chair. Jack hurried to lend a hand as they wrestled it through the crowd, finally setting it down directly in front of the well. Sam took Cara's arm and helped her into the chair.

"So . . . where's the guy? Wizard. Person." Jack said, glancing around for anyone that might fit the bill of ‘wizard.' The adults and older children burst into laughter. "What? What?" he asked.

"Your impatience is famous, sir," Colin smiled from his post behind Cara's chair. "The draoi will be along soon."

"One hopes," Danann's mother said skeptically. "In the mean time, our friends must be hungry and thirsty. And it is a day of celebration. Surely there can be no harm in sharing a meal, seanmháthair?"

"Bridget, we must take care until the draoi can assure us that all will be well." Cara found her serious frown impossible to maintain against the sea of eager faces suddenly turned her way.

"We need not speak of the past," Bridget insisted, the stubborn set to her jaw bringing to mind Danann's features. "Good friends can surely find much in the present to enjoy."

"Very well," she said, feigning reluctance. "But keep the beor uaine, away from Daniel."

"Green beer?" Daniel said, pulling a face. "No thanks!"

"Green beer!" Jack repeated in reverent tones, crouching in front of Cara, "Grandmother, I could kiss you."

"Shoo, boy! You help Oscar with that table before he kills himself trying to impress Teal'c," She said with a laugh, menacing him with her staff.

"Sam!" Danann called to her, "You must help the women bring out the feast!"

"Hey! I'm not . . ." Sam began loudly, trying to drown out three all-too-familiar chuckles. She was about to relent in the face of Danann's big, tear-filled eyes when Jack laid a hand on the little girl's head.

He stooped to speak in her ear, "You don't want Carter anywhere near the feast. Trust me on this one." He winked up at Sam. "So what if I helped out in there?"

Danann looked at him skeptically for a moment, "You shall need an apron. You shall have my red one." Sam laughed at the horror-stricken expression on Jack's face, doubling over helplessly when the girl added, "But only to borrow!"

"Yes, ma'am," Jack said solemnly. "Carter, go do something manly, will ya?"

"Will do, sir," she said with a grateful smile as Danann led him into a cottage.


So much gaiety accompanied the setting of the feast that almost before anyone knew it, they were shouldering in at the tables, good naturedly snatching food from one another. The green beer was neither pleasant to look at nor appealing to taste. Jack alone said he enjoyed it and everyone seemed to agree that the claim was made purely on principle.

"After all, sir," Oscar said, laughing for the first time that day, "You are the one who first brought it here!"

The table quieted at his slip, all eyes shifting to Cara, who looked stern. "Oscar . . ."

"I am sorry, seanmháthair." The boy flushed bright red and made as if to leave the table.

"Oscar has revealed nothing of consequence," Teal'c said, laying a hand on his shoulder, "O'Neill's poor taste and affinity for strangely colored foodstuffs are well-known throughout the galaxy."

The table erupted in laughter. Even Oscar smiled as the men near him thumped him cheerfully on the back.

"That hurts, T, it really does," Jack called from his seat at the head of the table. "And if it wouldn't mess up my apron, I'd show you who has bad taste," he added making a show of smoothing the tiny swath of fabric he still wore about his waist.

"Speaking of aprons," Bridget said, rising from her feet. "We should clear the table. There is music to make," as she passed behind Daniel, she whispered to him, "I claim you for the first dance!"

"Dance?" Daniel blanched. "Uh, I don't . . ."

"You can't fool these people, Daniel," Jack chided. "They know us better than we know ourselves. He'd love to Bridget."

"The firewood must be brought from outside the village wall," Cara said, hauling herself to her feet. "The hearth must remain lit from dusk until dawn on this night."

Sam steadied the older woman, glancing at her watch in confusion. Her eyes widened as she realized that it was already late afternoon. "We can gather that, Cara," she said with a significant look toward Jack.

"Yes, I think I'm done with my womanly duties for the day," Jack said untying his apron and pressing it into Danann's hand. Taking Daniel by the elbow, Jack glanced down the length of the table at Teal'c who nodded. Sam led them quickly away from the villagers, pausing to be sure they were alone when they reached the wall.

"Carter, if something bad's about to happen I just don't want to hear it." Jack warned her. "Can't we just . . . take this crisis off?"

"I think we already have, sir. Do you realize that we've been here for over 9 hours?"

"What? We just had breakfast," O'Neill scoffed as he peeled the flap off the face of his watch. It read 15:55, "Ho----ly . .." he held it up for Daniel and Teal'c to see.

"How is that possible? We got here at . . . what . . . 6:00?" Daniel shook his own watch next to his ear.

"We have traveled some distance into the future," Teal'c replied. "Surely a difference of some hours should not be surprising."

"But it was early morning when we arrived. I just don't see how it's possible that it's almost evening now," Sam argued.

"Time flies, etc., etc.?" Jack suggested, bracing himself for the glare he was sure to get from Carter.

"Not literally. But it does behave differently here."

As one, they turned rapidly to see a man just stepping clear of the nearest copse of trees. He smiled as Teal'c leveled his staff weapon at his chest.

"It's that time, is it?" He moved slowly towards them,. hands carefully raised in plain sight.

"Bad day to ask us that. Who're you?" Jack asked,

"Sitchean. One day you'll call me Sid. And, unfortunately, so will everyone else," he replied with a wry smile. Here, the man reached the wall and stopped, folding his arms over his chest. Teal'c shifted tensely as his hands disappeared into the voluminous sleeves of the robe he wore.

"It's ok, Teal'c." Daniel said calmly. "You know us."

"I do," he quirked an eyebrow at Jack, "You're about to say that I don't look like I'm from around here. I don't. But I am."

O'Neill's mouth snapped shut in surprise, provoking an amused snort from Sam.

"Well, he doesn't!" Jack said defensively.

Sid's shaggy, jet-black hair and pale, unfreckled skin contrasted sharply with Cara's people in whom family resemblances could be easily traced. Likewise, his embroidered robe, although simple, was a far cry from the sturdy work clothes favored by the villagers.

"You're the draoi!" Daniel exclaimed suddenly.

"That's me. Sorry I'm late. Time has a way of . . . slipping away from you around here," he flashed a smile at Sam.

"So you're the one who's gonna tell us what the heck's goin' on around here?" Jack said looking him over skeptically.

"Eventually. I need to talk to Cara first. She'll be worried about doing the wrong thing." Sid said, swinging the gate open and walking through. Sensing that Jack was about to protest, he turned and held up a hand. "What I can tell you now is that everything is going to be just fine. In the mean time, enjoy yourselves. All of you. This is your day."

He started off in the direction of the village without glance backward. Jack shouldered his bundle of firewood with a shrug, motioning for them to follow.


Continue on to Part 3