Young Writers Society

He returned the smile. "I guess we have a plan."

Then his gaze returned once again to the group gathered a short distance away, and he felt his essence twist and churn in his chest as his gaze briefly met Teal'c's. If it had been Daniel's, it would have been easy to read - the archeologist was terrible at hiding his stronger emotions. Teal'c, on the other hand, was far better at concealing his feelings. One look could be interpreted multiple ways, and the only way that Maahes's worried mind could interpret that one was as a bad look.

He quickly looked away.

"I think they're almost done talking," he said to James. "They'll probably be coming over to where we are soon."

James nodded. "Okay."

He was tempted to say something along the lines of 'good, and if they don't accept you, I'll grill some sense into them,' but he very quickly held back the thought. Regardless of how they responded to Maahes's true identity, they were still Maahes's friends, and they were still people that needed help getting back to their homes and spaceships, or whatever else they had waiting for them.

So instead, to express his support, he drew closer to Maahes and held his hand again.

Maahes gave James's hand a tight squeeze in a poor attempt to comfort himself as the group broke apart and started heading over to where they were standing. His essence was twisting and churning in his gut, fear likely clearly written across his guise's face as they came to a stop a short distance away.

But then he saw the smile on Vala's face, and he realized that the conversation had gone perfectly fine. He would have to thank both Vala and Cameron later - he doubted it would have gone as well if he had been the one doing the talking.

"I am sorry for doubting you, Maahes of Altera," Teal'c said. Hearing his own name instead of the alias he had become so used to using threw him off, but then he realized that Vala and Cameron must have mentioned just how long he had been around. "You are my teammate, and I should have trusted that you had a good reason to be the Scarlet Lord."

He nervously rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "It's okay," he said. "And, uh, just Maahes works."

Teal'c gave a slow nod of the head to show that he understood.

Maahes turned his gaze to Daniel. They stared at each other for a moment, and then Daniel gave an apology as well. "I'm also sorry for doubting you," he said. There was an awkward pause, and then he added, "No wonder you're so good at archeology and understanding the Ancients' language."

"I do have a bit of an unfair advantage," Maahes admitted, giving a small smile.

James was relieved that Maahes was so positively received. He gave a grateful glance to Vala and Cameron, then grinned up warmly at Maahes. He was happy for him.

But, there still was the issue of them being on Nye when they... weren't really supposed to be. His smile faded as he looked to the others.

"So... we're good now?" he asked.

"Yes," Teal'c said, giving James a smile and a slow nod of the head. Daniel also nodded in agreement.

Vala suddenly crossed her arms and looked over the two members of SG-1. "You really should get changed now," she pointed out, gesturing at their uniforms. "Those stick out like a sore thumb, and we do have those clothes that I got you."

She turned to Maahes, James and Cameron. "I'm guessing you three have some idea of how we're going to get back? We tried finding a device like the one that brought us here when we arrived, but we haven't made much luck."

Maahes gave a small smile. "We do," he confirmed. "At least, I think we do. James and I were talking about trying to find Mickey like we did the last time we were here?"

"Mickey?" Cameron asked; Maahes suddenly realized that he had never come in conversation during the time his team leader had spent with him and James. "Who's Mickey?"

"He's, uh, a dragon."

"A dragon?" Daniel repeated. "I've never heard of a title like that before-"

"It's not exactly a title..." Maahes admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's what he is. He's a magical dragon that runs a secret underground base of mages, since magic is outlawed here."

Teal'c blinked. "But magic does not exist, Maahes."

He thought for a second.

And then he made a flame appear in the palm of his hand, startling Daniel and Teal'c so much that both took steps back in surprise. "It's definitely on the rarer side," he admitted, "but it exists."

"Magic is commonplace, here in Nye," James explained briefly, before turning to Maahes. "Though because it is outlawed," he said in hushed tones. "Let's not speak too loudly of it. We're still not far from the town. It'd be best to focus on moving away from here. As far as finding Mickey goes, it is... difficult. He's not an easy person to find. In most cases, he finds you, not the other way around. I suggest you all get dressed, and we retreat further into the forest. The farther we are from civilization, the better. Mickey's never close to it anyway."

He extinguished the flame, feeling foolish for not thinking of the possibility of people overhearing what they were talking about. Teal'c and Daniel quickly decided to follow through with the plan of changing clothes, and quickly found trees to change behind. Cameron waited a short distance away from the two. And Vala, who had never been quite as close to the rest of SG-1 as she was with him, walked over to him and slung her arm around his shoulder.

"So how's your search been going, Maahes?" she asked. Her face was only a very short distance away from his ear, and his essence began to twist and churn as he remembered the conversation with Cameron and James. This wasn't a sign that she liked him, right? This was just being Vala. She flirted with people all the time, and her invading people's personal space was a given. The other day he had walked into Daniel's office and she had been laying across his work table while he tried - and failed - to focus on the artifact he had been trying to study.

(Then again, Daniel did seem to be one of her favorite targets, given how easy it was to upset him lately.)

"I haven't found much," he admitted, knowing that his guise's cheeks were furiously blushing. "How's, uh...um...how's the SGC doing?"

"Eh," Vala said, shrugging. "Same as usual, I guess. By the way, you really do make a good cowboy - I almost didn't recognize you at first."

The blush only deepened. "Oh, um, thanks," he managed to get out. "You look really good, too."

James watched Vala and Maahes quietly, observing. He grinned, but turned his face away and rid himself of it, not wanting to make Maahes more flustered. When he turned back, however, Maahes's whole face was flushed. Oh well.

"He was fun to dress up," he commented. "His hair is a standout piece in itself, so I tried to pick something quieter an unassuming. It makes the red pop."

"You didn't strike me as the type who liked fashion," Vala said. She gave James a smile before turning back to Maahes, once again looking him over with a scrutinous gaze. "It really does suit you. It's too bad I don't get to see more of you like this in different outfits. 'Leo' does look good, but the Scarlet Lord is your favorite."

He stared. "How did you...?"

Her grin grew. "You keep using that guise every chance you get, Maahes. Like at the masquerade - you could have changed your guise, but you kept with that one."

"It does suit you," James confirmed with a small grin.

Maahes was far too flustered by the conversation to come up with a good response to the comments from both Vala and James, but he thankfully didn't have to. Daniel and Teal'c had finished getting changed. The clothes looked more than a little strange on them, but he was sure he could use to it - there had been very few times where he had seen them wear anything that wasn't part of their uniform or their casual outfits.

"We are ready to go," Teal'c said, confirming what Maahes already knew. The djinni glanced over in James's direction. This was his world; he was the one who should be doing the leading, though Maahes would happily have done it if he had better knowledge of its geography.