"That was really impressive."

Peter rolled his eye's as Neal complimented Jackson and Lorne. Of course Neal would find the ability to bullshit a bureaucrat into a state of complacent confusion to be an admirable skill. Though he'd never admit it to anyone, Peter might have been a bit impressed himself.

A combination of rapid babble that careened unexpectedly from language to language from Jackson and subtle glares, flashes of ID and mumbles about National Security form Lorne had the nervous Museum curator pulling out some forms for them to sign and surrendered the artifact to their custody, though he did ask they return it as soon as possible.

Lorne had just eyeballed him and offered an ominous, "Once the threat, or lack there of, has been established."

The vase was carefully paced and sealed into a box and after piling into the SUV, Cruz said, "So, break it out. Tell us what it means."

Jackson, who was holding the wooden packing crate on his knees, blanched and actually hugged the box to his chest. "In the car?"

"Yes."

"No."

"This isn't the place to study an artifact, Lauren," Neal offered, turning in his seat as though to lean over the partition.

Peter grabbed his arm and pushed him back into the proper passengers seat. "Buckle up."

With a slight grumble, Neal subsided, but soon continued speaking to Cruz. "You need the proper environment to handle something that old."

"I thought you said it was alien technology?" she said with a sigh, glancing at Jones who shrugged.

"Just alien writing on a very, very old, very Earth made vase," Jackson said, then quiet as Lorne's active phone started buzzing.

"Lone." The major's voice was clipped but calm as he answered the phone. "Yes, sir."

Peter mentally cursed himself for not at least asking the man to put the phone on speaker. He'd like to know what was being said.

"What!…No, no, Sir, I really don't think…."

There had been surprise in Lorne's voice and an uncomfortable tinge of nervousness.

"Yes, Sir…When are they arriving?…They're here. Lovely…Yes, Sir, I was being sarcastic."

Huh.

"Who're we to meet?"

A long pause, then a sigh. "Thank you, General."

Lorne hung up his phone before allowing his head to drop against the window beside him with a thud. He did it a few more times before Jackson asked, "Jack's sending back up?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"Ronon, Teal'c, Vala and Teyla…oh and Radek and Carson for science and medical back up." The majors tone was bleak and that made Peter wary, but before anyone could express an opinion, Lorne was up and nearly lunging over the seat to grab a fistful of Neal's jacket. "You and Vala? Are never allowed to be alone together. Is that understood?"

Neal gave his cousin an odd look and, while trying to peel Evan's fingers off his clothing, said, "Uh, okay…."

"Why?" Jackson asked unhappily. "If she's harassing him, she'll leave me alone."

The major rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Daniel, Neal just got out of prison. He's, among his other skills, an art thief."

"Hey!" Neal said, mock insulted. "You know the only thing they got me on was those forged bonds."

"Only," Lorne mumbled, but there was no malice in his tone.

Jackson however looked increasingly perturbed. "Oh…and they're going to be loose together in the city…I think we should have someone monitor her tracking implant. Warn us if she visits…or steals a museum."

"Not a bad idea," Lorne said, already tapping at his Blackberry.

"Tracking implant?" Jones asked from his seat, making Jackson nod.

Tapping his forearm, the archaeologist said, "We tend to go on dangerous off world missions, so these let one of the ships transport us up if we get into trouble…or if we get kidnapped here on Earth, which happens way more often than I like to think about."

"Can I see?" Neal peered over his shoulder and, with a shrug, Jackson pulled an arm out of his jacket and extended his forearm. Neal inspected the smooth, tan skin, noting the tiny blemish only when Jackson pointed it out. "Peter, can we look into these? I'd go for having one stuck in my arm instead of the ankle bracelet."

"You want to be tagged like Satchmo?" As far as Peter knew, the only common use for such chips was to find lost dogs.

Neal frowned. "Well, when you put it that way."

Then Neal's own phone beeped and he glanced at the screen and smiled. "Elizabeth's trying a new recipe tonight. She want's me to come over later. Says I'm too skinny."

"You are." This was a chorus from Peter, Jones and Lorne. Cruz just smirked and Jackson looked at him like he'd not really take a good look at Neal before. That, Peter found very funny, because everyone looked at Neal. It was just a fact of life…A fact Neal seemed to enjoy.

"I'm not skinny," Neal pouted. "I'm compact."

"No," Lorne disagreed, tucking his phone away. "I'm compact. You're skinny."

"Lean."

"Skinny."

Peter sighed and tried to will the traffic to move faster. Once they got to the office, at least this inanity would be put on hold for work.

He hoped….

TBC…