Of course Sam had heard the base rumors which implied O'Neill didn't exactly have his own head together on that mission. She had later discovered, the accidental death of Jack's only child, killed by a bullet from the colonel's own handgun had almost pushed the man permanently over the edge. Although Daniel never commented on it, Carter suspected it had been Daniel, the very man O'Neill would rather have left sitting at the SGC computers who had saved not only the colonel's life but also his very soul.

Taking a long swallow of her beer, Carter's gaze drifted to her young teammate. She had always thought Daniel was like an enormous room full of secrets, each one more fascinating and delightful than the next. Even knowing they may never see everything, a person couldn't stop searching until they'd discovered all of the hidden treasures.

Knowing a little of his history, she sometimes thought life seemed determined to beat down Daniel Jackson, hell bent on breaking his spirit. As a child of eight, he'd witnessed the tragic accident that claimed the lives of his parents. Shuffled from one foster home to another, abused, bullied and misunderstood, Daniel had grown into the most compassionate human being she had ever met. As an adult, he was laughed at by his peers, his reputation ruined, yet the young scientist never lost faith in his theories. Despite it all he remained good natured, stubbornly optimistic, enthusiastic and quick to forgive.

Sam knew that for a while, life had been good to Daniel. Meeting Sha'uri and finding a home on Abydos, it seemed as if Daniel had finally found the happiness he'd searched for all his life. Then the fates had seen fit to rain their cruelty down on the young man yet again, and he had come back from Abydos a year later, heartbroken. Not only had he lost his home and adopted family, his wife had been taken as a Goa'uld host. Such circumstances would have crushed a weaker person, but Daniel not only persevered but still managed to look past the evil to find the goodness he believed existed. There was a childlike naivety, a vulnerability about the young scholar which people instinctively responded to, wanting to protect him, yet these very qualities hid a bottomless well of inner strength.

Most of the changes in Daniel over the past four years were so subtle only his closest friends would have noticed. She knew in the beginning, it had irked O'Neill that Daniel rarely glanced at his watch, if he even remembered he was wearing one, which had constantly made the scientist late for briefings, hurrying in at the last moment, his papers bundled haphazardly under his arm. The young anthropologist always managed to arrive in the gateroom just seconds before they were to depart on a mission buttoning this or fastening that. On duty, he had worn the military fatigues assigned to him but had always managed to resemble a little boy playing soldier and Carter had often wondered if the requisition officer had purposely given Daniel a slightly larger uniform than his slender frame required. Now on base, he still allowed the outer green shirt to hang open, but offworld he slipped into the required uniform and equipment, looking as military as his teammates. Aware he was uncomfortable with the sidearm Jack insisted he wear (Daniel couldn't return it to the arsenal fast enough), Carter was pleased to know the normally passive scientist would not hesitate to protect and defend his teammates.

She was aware when Daniel had first joined the SGC, when he wasn't offworld, he had locked himself away in his small office, lost in translations and artifacts searching for any clue that might lead SG-1 to his missing wife and brother-in-law. Holding onto the hope he could somehow find a way to rescue them from the enemies who had stolen their bodies, Daniel worked endless hours, often forgetting to eat and more often than not, avoiding sleep and the nightmares that accompanied it.

Except for herself, Daniel had very little in common with anyone else on the base. Surrounded by military personnel with their own particular way of doing things and their own cliques, Carter knew the scientist often felt as if he were on the outside looking in, yet was always willing to help whenever he was needed. It had taken time, but Daniel had adjusted to the fact, the red tape and polite protocol of the academic world he'd left behind was minute, compared to the world he now found himself in. He had quickly learned the correct procedure and chain of command for every request, or suggestion...then ignored them. Silently suffering the inevitable reprimand, didn't seem to bother him, if a shortcut would achieve the same goals. As he had the bullying of his childhood, Daniel turned inward, tuning out the subtle and not so subtle innuendos constantly made by the hardnosed gung ho career personnel who believed being a civilian was a crime.