Me stay out all night? Never!

Daniel ran a hand through his hair as he received yet another funny look.

Gee, do I have a giant zit on my nose or something? he wondered, straightening his slightly crumpled shirt and running his hand through his hair again.

"Hey Danny... Whoah, what happened to you?" Jack looked more than slightly amused at Daniel's appearance - Lord only knew why.

"Nothing," the archaeologist replied in a mildly cranky tone.

"Nothing? You look like the wild man of Borneo," Jack commented as he fell into step with his friend.

Daniel gave him a quizzical look and scratched his chin.

Ah, stubble.

"Oh, sorry." He smiled sheepishly and ran his fingers along his scratchy jawline. "Haven't had the chance to say good morning to my razor yet."

"So I gathered. You gonna tell me why?"

"Maybe," Daniel replied non-commitally as he opened the door and walked into his office.

Jack walked in behind him and leant up against some shelves on the wall. "What do you mean 'may-'" He was interrupted by Sam literally bursting into the room.

"Daniel! SG-5 came back with something and they want you to... Did you sleep in your clothes?" she interrupted herself, giving him a curious look.

"No, I didn't sleep in my clothes. But thank you for your concern." He shifted some files from his desk to a filing cabinet before dropping into a chair and propping his legs against the desktop.

"You're welcome," she replied slowly. "Uh, where were you last night? I tried to call-"

"I was out," he said simply, not bothering to elaborate on where he'd been. "Did you try to-"

"Page you? Yeah, that was me. Then I couldn't get your pager after a while for some reason."

"Really? Must've died on me," Daniel said with a shrug.

"Oh, well when you didn't answer anything I was..." she trailed off.

"What the major is trying to say is that its rather unusual for you to go out on the night before we head off-world without us," Jack elaborated.

"My entire world doesn't revolve around you guys you know," Daniel drawled, indulging in a perverse fit of amusement. He was rather enjoying watching his friends just about imploding trying to contain their curiosity.

"Well its good to see you're finally getting a life outside your books and... stuff." Jack paused and screwed up his nose as he inspected an artefact they'd brought back from P2Y 862. He slanted a look at Daniel. "You were getting a life, weren't you?"

"Maybe." Daniel took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. Ugh, maybe I should have a nap before we leave.

"You didn't go out someplace with that woman I say you talking to in the parking lot yesterday did you?" Sam asked suspiciously. "I heard she's mentally unbalanced or something."

Daniel gave her a chiding look. "Sam, resorting to spying and spreading gossip," he said in mock severity. "Besides, she's got a name."

"And it would be...?" Jack prompted.

"Langdon, Dan Langdon," a female voice replied in a passable interpretation of Sean Connery's accent.

Even though they were part of a top military squad, Jack and Sam just about jumped through the ceiling at the closeness of the voice.

"Hello again," Jack said when his feet finally touched the ground.

"G'day colonel. How are ya?" Dan drawled in a perfect 'Paul Hogan' accent as she slipped into the room.

"Fine. You?" Jack crossed his arms and took something of a defensive stance. He wasn't thrilled that his best friend had chosen to consort with someone he would normally class... well, a nutbag.

"You two have met?" Sam asked incredulously.

"Day before yesterday," the other woman replied in a pleasant tone. "And to answer your question colonel, I'm juuuust peachy." She grinned impishly and fished something from her pocket. "I thought you might need these," she said, dumping two batteries onto Daniel's desk.

"Thanks," he replied as he tried to retrieve his pager from his back pocket without having to stand up. "I forgot you had them."

"I thought your pager was broken," Jack shot back.

"It was functionally after I took the batteries out. And I nearly forgot I had them too, 'cept I haven't had a chance to change yet and they were in the same pocket as I normally stick my keys." Dan ran a hand through her newly cropped hair and straightened her shirt. "Anyway, I'd better get a wriggle on. SG-something-or-other brought back some lovely germies for me to work on instead of piss-farting around." She moved towards the door.

"We still on for when I get back?" Daniel enquired as he slid the battery cover on his pager back into place.

"'Course. You should know by now that I don't renege on my promises." She flashed Jack an enigmatic grin. "Have fun on P3X-whatever-it-is." With another smile, she was gone.

There was silence in the room as Jack and Sam wondered what she'd promised him.

"I guess I'd better have a shower. I reek," Daniel said, taking his feet off the desk and standing up.

"Right..." Jack replied. "How did you meet her?"

"Well, she didn't grab me by the collar and abuse me if that's what you're thinking." Daniel moved around the corner of his desk and shooed the others out of his office.

"Then how did you?" Sam reiterated.

"You pair are nosey today aren't you?" Daniel said with a grin. "And to answer your question, she raced me." Without another word, he waltzed off down the corridor - whistling some tune that the other two had never heard before.

"Sir, what just happened?" Sam asked, watching after the archaeologist.

"I haven't got a clue Carter," Jack replied, digging his hands into his trouser pockets and slouching off down the hallway. "But if it makes you feel any better, he'll crack and tell us everything."

Sam pursed her lips in mild frustration. "He'd better not take too long."

The End

Onto Dan's Fifth Day

Feedback to Dan