Breaking the Curse

Chapter Four: What Passes for Education

Sam woke with that terrible feeling that followed drinking too much, doing something incredibly stupid, and forgetting about it. She wasn’t sure what she’d forgotten, but she knew that she hadn’t been drinking. She’d bemoaned her decision not to have any margaritas at the restaurant, and even if she had, she wouldn’t have drunk that much. It couldn’t be drinking, that was impossible, but she still had that horrible feeling that she’d done something or said something that she shouldn’t have. She sighed. She couldn’t do anything about it until she knew what it was, but she wasn’t sure that she wanted to know.

She forced herself to think logically. She’d been alone last night. After she and Daniel parted company last night, she’d tried to sleep, eventually reading for a while and catching up on the latest scientific journals, and then finally fallen asleep. She couldn’t remember anything that should cause her this much discomfort. She reached for the phone and hit redial. Please tell me I did not call the colonel.

Daniel picked up at the other end, sounding groggy. “Hello?”

“Daniel, it’s Sam. Did I do something…inappropriate last night?”

“You mean besides calling me at three a.m.?” Daniel teased. “No. Why?”

Sam sighed, feeling relieved but still uneasy. Daniel wouldn’t lie, would he? He wouldn’t lie about this. They were good enough friends that he could tell her anything, and they could move past it. He would tell her. She should trust him.

“I just have this feeling… It’s stupid,” she told him, running her fingers through her hair.

“Sam, I told you last night, and I’ll tell you again, it was not stupid to call me because you had a nightmare. And I was only teasing about the three a.m. bit. I was not awake. You didn’t bother me.” He was silent for a few minutes, and she heard him moving around at the other end. “Seven-fifteen? Sam, couldn’t you have slept in a little bit later?”

“I didn’t intend to wake up this early, but it’s kind of a good thing. We have a busy day planned and a long drive ahead of us. We can use the early start.”

“Ugh. No, we can’t. Call me tomorrow,” Daniel moaned, and she could picture him covering his head with a pillow. She smiled at the thought.

“Daniel, come on. I’ll buy you coffee,” she coaxed, still smiling. “A very big coffee.”

“How big?” Daniel asked suspiciously.

“As big as you want. The biggest I can get. Maybe one of those travel containers from Starbucks—”

“Two,” he corrected.

“Okay, two of those—”

“Three.”

“Daniel,” she said, shaking her head. She would promise him anything if he agreed to get up and go. She needed to talk to him about Pete’s funeral and Mesa Verde, and she’d rather do it at the museum, where his enjoyment would soften the blow. She knew that Daniel would agree once he was awake. He was just too tired to think in his normal, unselfish Daniel way. She was surprised that he was even this coherent after what little sleep he’d gotten. She must have kept him up for a while after three, and it was only seven-fifteen now. He was going to be exhausted. “You can sleep on the way to the museum.”

“If you wake me up now, I won’t sleep until much, much later. Especially if you get me the coffee that you promised,” he told her, yawning. “And I’m not getting up before I get coffee.”

“Daniel, you have a coffeemaker,” Sam shot back irritably.

“It’s broken,” he muttered sleepily. “And I’m out of coffee right now.”

Sam sat up and put her legs over the edge of her bed. She rested her elbow on her knee and rubbed her forehead. “How did you break your coffeemaker?”

“Apparently, there’s a limit to how many times you can make coffee before you wear that model out,” he mumbled, sounding all cute and sleepy.

She smiled to herself, getting to her feet. She stretched, yawning. “Okay, you can sleep until I get there with the coffee.”

“Thank you, Sam.”

Daniel opened his door distractedly and let Sam into the house. He waved her into the kitchen and went back into his bedroom, searching for something to wear. He ended up with a pair of khakis and one of his t-shirts underneath a button down shirt. He supposed that it wasn’t all that much different than what he wore the day after Sarah died; different colors, but the same. Only he’d learned a valuable lesson that day, and he was leaving the button down shirt open. If he spilled his coffee today, it would get all over the t-shirt and leave the other one alone.

He pulled the shirt over his shoulder and made his way into the kitchen to meet Sam. He accepted the coffee she held out to him with a smile. “Thank you, Sam.”

“I didn’t really expect you to be awake,” she commented, returning his smile. “I did agree to let you sleep until I got here.”

“I’m not really awake,” he told her. “But I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I got up and showered.”

“I noticed,” Sam said with amusement in her voice. “Do you always open your door in a towel or am I just lucky?”

Daniel felt his face growing red. He put a hand to his forehead and muttered, “I’m really not awake.”

He couldn’t be awake. Sam would not have said what he thought she said. Lucky to see him in a towel? She’d seen him in a towel before; there wasn’t much that they hadn’t seen over their years together. Besides, she thought of him like a brother. No woman considered herself lucky to see her brother in a towel.

“It’s okay, Daniel. I don’t think any of your neighbors noticed,” she teased. He closed his eyes and groaned. He knew that his neighbors were paying special attention to his house after the incident with Osiris, and some of them, the nosy, retired ones, would have seen him. He really needed to move.

“So, are you packed?” Sam asked. She didn’t sound like she thought that he would be. He frowned, unsure that he liked the implication of her words. He remembered being the last one ready for missions, always thinking of something else he needed at the last minute, but he thought that he had overcome that. He had worked hard to make sure that he carried his own weight on the team.

He tried and failed not to feel hurt by her words. “Yeah, I packed everything last night.”

She smiled at him. Maybe there wasn’t anything to her comment earlier. He was not awake—he should try to avoid talking or thinking until he was more awake. “Good. Shall we?”

Daniel nodded. “Sure. I’ll grab my stuff and meet you at the car.”

“How many bags do you have?” Sam asked. “I can help you with them.”

He laughed. “Only one. We’re only going to be gone for three days, Sam. I don’t need that much for three days.”

“Where’s the Daniel Jackson I know?” She was teasing him, or at least he was pretty sure that she was. “Where’s the second bag stuffed full of book and notes?”

He was stunned by her question. She was right. Normally, he would have had at least one, if not more, bags of books, notes on his latest translations, and reference materials. He hadn’t even thought about it this time. He’d been prepared to leave today without anything. He’d been prepared to forget completely about work and just go. It wasn’t like him. It was so unlike him that it almost frightened him. He turned away from Sam and fiddled with his coffee cup. He couldn’t face her, knowing that he’d been betrayed by his subconscious.

He didn’t pack any books or anything work related because he was going with Sam. Even though his subconscious knew—it had to—that this was not at all a romantic getaway; it was still planning on spending every possible moment with Sam. But she probably had something to work on despite the ban they’d been placed under, and she would probably think it was odd that he didn’t.

“Daniel?” Sam’s concerned voice broke into his thoughts.

He tried to collect himself and turned. “I’m fine. I guess I’d forgotten that I don’t really have anything to work on. I have some books that I’ve been meaning to read, but I figured that our days would be rather full, so I wouldn’t have much opportunity for that anyway.”

She smiled, nodding her head in agreement. “Almost all of my projects are back at the base. They’re not really portable. I’m kind of glad that you don’t have anything to bring with you. I’d be jealous. Besides, I’m sure that we can figure out someway to occupy our time when we’re not doing our geeky stuff.”

He smiled back at her. “I’ll just get my bag, and we’ll head out.”

Sam parked the Volvo in front of a bronze sculpture of four leaping wolves. They had arrived here early, about five minutes before the museum’s nine o’clock opening time. Daniel had surprised her by being ready when she got there, and the traffic on their way to Denver hadn’t been that bad, with the exception of that accident that had backed up traffic just before I-70. She’d slammed on her brakes, and Daniel had spilled coffee on himself. He had smiled, like he’d expected that to happen.

She supposed that he had, she mused, as she’d seen him pull off the long-sleeved shirt as soon as she’d done it. Now that the car had stopped, he took off the t-shirt and put the other one back on. Sam found herself feeling disappointed that he’d covered the view, but she knew that he couldn’t go into the museum shirtless. If he did, she probably wouldn’t be looking at the exhibits.

Holy Hannah. Where did that thought come from?

“Sam, are you okay?” Daniel asked, looking at her. He was concerned, and those eyes were looking at her like he could see right through her. She felt herself getting hot and knew that she was blushing.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said. “Look at us, Daniel. We’re at a museum before it opens.”

He laughed. “And Jack wanted us to get a life. Want to go wait by the doors?”

Daniel had her laughing now. Yes, the colonel would love that, hearing about them waiting at the doors to a museum. Daniel was right; they should do it. She smiled at him and grabbed her purse. She heard him opening his door and did the same. She got out and locked the doors. Daniel waited for her on the sidewalk in front of her car. She thought it was rather silly that he wouldn’t go up to the doors without her when it was his idea. Of course, he could have been being chivalrous. She smiled and linked her arm in his.

They walked towards the glass half-pyramid that formed the general entrance to the museum. Daniel would probably be a member of the museum if he had ever gotten the chance to come before today. She was sure that was something that he would enjoy. But neither of them were members, so they went to the public entrance. They reached the door just as a museum employee unlocked it.

“Perfect timing,” she commented, and he smiled at her. He opened the door and held it for her. She smiled a thank you and went inside.

The first thing she saw was the T-Rex skeleton next to the information desk. She suddenly stopped to look at it, and Daniel walked into her back. She pointed to the skeleton. “Look.”

He laughed softly, right in her ear. “Sam, we just got in the door.”

“So?” she asked defensively. “It’s neat.”

“Let’s get our tickets,” he said, prodding her towards the counter. She walked through the empty queue and up to the counter. She and Daniel got their tickets for the museum, an IMAX show, and a planetarium show. They discussed going to the special exhibit, Body Worlds, but neither of them really felt like looking at bodies in various states, preserved by plastination. They saw enough mutilation, carnage, and death in their line of work. Intellectually, the process was fascinating, but Sam had already had plenty of images that she wanted to forget.

She picked up a map from the counter. “Oh, let’s go to the Space Odyssey exhibit first, please?”

Daniel smiled at her indulgently. She realized that she must have sounded like a little kid, as eager as she was to do this, but he didn’t seem to mind too much. She smiled at Daniel as she walked past the ticket taker, who welcomed them both to the museum. Daniel stopped just after the ticket booth, looking up at the ceiling. Sam saw the banners hanging down and then the skeleton of another dinosaur. “Wow.”

He looked at her. “Okay, Sam, we can go to the Space Odyssey now.”

She hadn’t meant it to sound like the way that the museum had hung the dinosaur skeleton from the ceiling wasn’t interesting. It was a neat idea, though not necessarily a unique one. She took him by the hand and led him into the hall that led to the Space Odyssey.

She pointed to the pictures of various space phenomena and was relieved to see him smile.

It never ceased to amaze Daniel how at home Sam was in so many different environments. She was a trained soldier, fluid in motion, unhesitating in combat. She was a scientist, fascinated by new discoveries, new technologies, and learning new things. She was also a speed queen; she dressed in leather, owned a motorcycle. She was also feminine, just as comfortable in delicate, flattering clothing as she was in baggy fatigues. The trouble was that she looked just as beautiful in whatever she wore.

Like now, as she studied the images from the satellites, dressed in a teal blue tank top and a pair of tight but not too tight black pants. Her familiar jean jacket had been left behind in the car, so her shoulders were almost completely bare and the constantly changing blue and green light in the hallway gave a unique tint to her skin. She looked at him and smiled, finally moving into the exhibit.

They paused at the dedication sign. This particular exhibit was named after Coors, who had evidently been responsible for a large portion of the donations that made it possible. Sam turned to their left and made her way towards an interactive station. He joined her.

“Dock the space shuttle, huh?”

She grinned. “Piece of cake.”

He didn’t say anything, just stood back and watched her work. The space shuttle model’s cargo doors were open, and it was controlled by a laser that fed it information from the two joysticks on the user console. Sam moved her joystick and sent the shuttle into a spin, frowning. He thought about saying something about her astronauts being dizzy, but he quickly decided not to, not wanting to distract her. She got the shuttle under control and moved it inch by inch towards the dock. It was a good thing in theory, but the shuttle didn’t really move like that. The sign next to their user station said, “In space, there’s nothing to slow you down.” The way the model shuttle moved seemed like an exaggeration of that fact.

Sam’s shuttle ran out of fuel before she could dock it. She pounded the console once in frustration. He tried not to laugh. It was funny to see the talented Air Force Major outdone by a simple simulation. “Aren’t Air Force pilots supposed to be trained?”

She swatted him. He grinned. “Guess you’re spoiled by the inertial dampeners on the 302s.”

She laughed. “I’d like to see you try.”

He looked at her. “Sam, I don’t even get to drive the car.”

“You’re just saying that because you know you can’t do it, either, and you don’t want to try because then you can’t tease me.”

Daniel rolled his eyes, restarted the simulation and maneuvered the shuttle into place, watching the green light come on to signal a good lock and envy in Sam’s eyes. She looked at him. He shrugged. “You did the hard part. The rest was easy.”

She made a face and walked over to a three-sided table with computer monitors attached. “Make your own star. You first, Daniel.”

He smiled at her and chose a star one-tenth the size of the sun. He watched his star form and then saw the “life” of it. His star’s life span was practically infinite. He turned to Sam, proud of his choice, and motioned for her to take her turn. She chose a star eighty times the mass of the sun that quickly went into a supernova, collapsing into a black hole.

He looked at her, unable to stop a smile. “Sam, you blew up another star. How many does that make?”

“Just two,” she said with mock indignation. They looked at each other and laughed. Sam sighed with contentment and looked around. “Astrolounge. I wonder what’s in there.”

“Let’s go look,” he suggested, leading her over to the small room. A video was playing and science magazines filled the rack. “Hmm. Those look familiar.”

Sam looked at him. “Daniel, I don’t have subscriptions to all of those magazines.”

“Just most of them,” he teased. She shook her head, laughing. They watched the movie for a while and then wandered around some more, looking at the light prism display and watching themselves on infrared television. Sam laughed when she caught him rolling up his sleeve to test what the plaque said about clothes trapping body head. He knew about it, of course. Way back when they’d first started gong on missions, someone—probably Sam—had explained to him that the fabric used for their uniforms was selected to help reduce the chances of body heat being detected by infrared. Still, he’d been curious to see how it worked.

They went over to where they could simulate an impact crater on Mars. Amazing that someone had actually found a practical use for a pinball machine—at least, that was what it looked like it had been, before sand had been added to suggest the Martian surface. They could even watch the impact again on a small television screen. Daniel was impressed by the hands on nature of the exhibit. Kids must love it, he thought.

Down a ramp and closer to the diorama of Mars’ surface was a station where they could search for metal beneath the sand, and Sam did it briefly, joking that it was kind of like a MALP, but less fun to maneuver. Since he knew that she was just pretending to be interested in it, he pointed to the diorama. “Is that realistic?”

“Well, it’s close,” Sam answered, coming closer to where he stood next to the glass. “We have more powerful telescopes than what is available to the public, and they show more detail.”

He nodded, watching a couple of boys run into the chamber off the side of the diorama. He smiled at Sam and followed them, curious to see what game was inside. He took a seat on the fake metal counter behind the boys, joined by Sam, and watched the boys attempt to navigate the Mars rover. They bickered over the direction and distance and had to try several times before the cheering and high-fives broke out.

The boys ran off to tell their mother about their accomplishment. Daniel nudged Sam towards the computer. She hopped the counter and went to the screen. She made a couple of quick calculations and sent the rover on its way. It reached its destination on the first try.

He hopped down and looked at her. “Doesn’t that take the fun out of it?”

“No.”

“And do you want to try again?” He persisted.

She looked at him like he’d asked her the dumbest question ever. It wasn’t a look that she gave him often—it seemed reserved for Jack—but it still hurt. “No.”

“My point exactly,” he said and looked out the doorway that the boys had disappeared through. “They had more fun in their trial and error than you did in your precise calculation.”

She made a face and then picked up his hand and looked at his watch. “O935. We got tickets for the planetarium show at 1030.”

Daniel gave her a look. Despite years of working for the military, he had never converted to military time. He had gotten used to changing it in his head, and he’d done so without thinking. He consulted the map of the museum. “You want to go to the gems and minerals exhibit next?”

“Sounds good.”

Geology was a shared love. Sam loved it because it allowed her to gain a greater understanding of the earth and its makeup in order to understand the natural laws behind her great love, physics. For Daniel, understanding the earth was key to understanding the history of its culture and people. Gems and minerals were only a part of geology, but they played an important role in both Sam and Daniel’s fields. Sam ran a mineral analysis on each planet they visited, always searching for new minerals that could lead to new developments in healthcare or technology, and of course, without naquadah, none of their advanced technology was possible. For Daniel, the gems and minerals of a culture had important significance, different stones had different meanings, different “powers.” Like their own dependence on naquadah, the minerals available to a society helped determine what kind of society it was. Tonane’s people used trinium, but no other Native American culture did because it wasn’t available to them.

Sam looked at Daniel, wondering if similar thoughts were running through his head as they stepped through the entrance to the exhibit, which was fashioned to look like the entrance to a mineshaft. The windows showed rhodochrosite, a manganese carbonate mineral, the manganese the source of its rose color, that usually occurred as a hydrothermal vein mineral with other manganese minerals in low temperature ore deposits, first found in silver mines in Romania around the early 1800s. Sam thought that was also found in Argentina as banded rhodochrosite. She knew that it was mainly used as an ore of manganese, but it was also used for jewelry. These pieces on display were found in Colorado at the Sweet Home Mine in Alamosa.

She touched a finger to the glass, and Daniel leaned over her shoulder. “Rhodochrosite… from the Greek for ‘rose-colored.’ It is said to have powers that drawing love to the person who wears it andhelp release past psychological issues.”

“Really?” she asked, smiling. It was nice how Daniel’s knowledge complemented hers. Sure, she could tell you how it was formed, where it came from, but he could tell you how people used it, not the industrial use, but the personal one.

She took his hand, feeling a need to be close to him in some way. He squeezed her hand and moved on to the next display. They passed by quartz, copper, and amethyst. She and Daniel discussed each one briefly, enjoying the fact that most of them were found somewhere in Colorado.

“Wow, look at that,” she exclaimed, catching sight of a boulder-sized amethyst quartz.

“It’s really beautiful, isn’t it?” he asked.

She nodded. “Incredible.”

They continued into the next section of the exhibit, gems. Sam wasn’t normally a girl who gushed over precious stones, she appreciated them as much as anyone, but this one stopped her in her tracks. “That’s…huge.”

Daniel looked at the topaz. “Yeah. Look, this once belonged to Salvador Dali.”

Sam was intrigued by the history of the gem. She wondered just how it had ended up here. She doubted that she would ever know, since she wouldn’t have a chance to research it and there wasn’t someone standing around for her to ask. She moved on, pointing to some of the showcase gems, including yellow sapphires and reproductions of famous diamonds, like the Hope diamond. “That’s neat.”

“I think she’s hinting at something, young man,” an older, grandmotherly woman said with a smile.

Daniel blinked in surprise, reddening a little. “Uh…”

“I wasn’t hinting at anything, Daniel,” Sam said as he tried to pull his hand free. She didn’t let go. They didn’t need a nosy lady—no matter how friendly—telling them what to do. Daniel was her friend, and he didn’t have to buy her anything. He knew that, but she’d tell him anyway. “You don’t have to buy me anything.”

“See, she is a special lady,” the older woman pronounced. “You must buy her something.”

Sam laughed and pointed to the topaz. “Okay, Daniel. I want that one.”

“I’ll buy it right now,” he laughed and pulled Sam along like he really meant to buy it that minute. He led her into the next part of the exhibit, into the room in the middle of the circle. They leaned against the wall and tried to control their laughter.

Sam smiled at Daniel. “That was close. I don’t think that she would have taken no for an answer.”

“She was determined,” Daniel agreed.

“I don’t think she would have believed us if we told her we were only friends,” Sam continued thoughtfully.

He looked up at the ceiling, muttering softly to himself. He lowered his head and smiled at her. “You know, I think that’s how Janet will be when she gets older.”

Sam nodded affectionately. She thought so, too. It was like Janet to make suggestions to complete strangers. It was one of the things that made Janet Janet, and no one would change it. Sam rested her head against Daniel for a moment. She closed her eyes and sighed.

Daniel moved, turning towards the display. “This is a part of the largest gold nugget ever found in Colorado.”

She looked at the nugget. It was rather unimpressive. She caught Daniel’s smile and knew that he was thinking the same thing. Daniel looked at his watch. “It’s about ten o’clock. Want to go check out the insects?”

“Sure,” she agreed. They’d more or less finished the gems and minerals. “And after that, we’ll head over to the planetarium.”

The insect exhibit wasn’t very large, just a small recess of three walls that displayed information and specimens of local insect life.

He turned to her. “There would be more to see at the Butterfly Pavilion.”

“Yeah,” she agreed. She wondered briefly if he was thinking of going there, but he didn’t say anything else about it, just waited until she was ready to head to the planetarium.

The museum employees took their tickets. Sam watched the spinning globe as she and Daniel waited to go inside the theater. Once they did, they settled in a place in the lower half of the room, right in the middle. She relaxed in her chair, looking at the small, engraved plaque on the armrest. “I’m sitting in your chair.”

Daniel examined the plaque. Sam’s chair was dedicated to “Daniel L. Parker.” He laughed a little and smiled. “It’s okay. You can keep it.”

“Thanks,” she grinned at him just before the lights went out.

Daniel’s head had begun to ache during the show. He didn’t know if it was the lights or the way that he sat, but afterwards, he could have used an aspirin or painkiller of some kind. Nothing seemed to mar Sam’s enjoyment, though. If she had a headache, she certainly didn’t show it. She was happy, smiling radiantly. She had loved the show, and he was grateful for that because she had missed out on the museum of her choice yesterday. He was glad that she had found such joy in the Space Odyssey exhibit and the planetarium show. He had felt horrible about the way that their plans had fallen through since she had sounded excited about the Museum of Space Exploration. The Museum of Nature and Science was not as focused, but all of the exhibits they had visited so far had delighted Sam. They had shared interesting conversation and discussion, and a smile was never far from Sam’s face.

Underneath all that, though, something was bothering her, something that she wouldn’t say, he thought as he trailed after her on the stairs. Her quick pace ran counter to that relaxed, happy image that she projected. She was pushing herself past something, involving her mind wherever she could to forget it. He knew that he should ask her what was bothering her, but every time he started to ask, she changed the subject.

“Edge of the Wild?” Sam observed, looking at the entrance to the exhibit. “Hmm. Wonder what we’ll find in there.”

“Jack’s idea of salsa,” Daniel answered. “It’s evolved into a horrible, mindless zombie just like those movies that you like so much.”

Sam snorted with laughter. She smiled at him and headed into the exhibit. He followed her, finding her reading about the trails left by animals, print or otherwise. He smiled at her and wandered further along, looking at the many relatives of deer on display. He continued in the same direction until he reached the grizzly bear diorama. He stopped to read, frowning.

“Last grizzly in Colorado was in 1979,” Sam remarked sadly, startling him. He hadn’t heard her approach. She touched his arm. “I hope that the Stargate will make it possible for us to stop the destruction of natural habitat like this.”

“Me, too,” Daniel agreed. He put an arm around her. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Sam sighed, and he led her along into the Bears and Sea Mammals section. She was still quiet, like she’d been reminded of whatever was bothering her. He pointed to the diorama in front of them. “Nice brown bear.”

She looked at the stuffed bears and smiled. “Brown bears do come in a variety of colors.”

“Yes, but they’re white. Brown bears should be brown,” Daniel said in a fair impression of Jack.

Sam shook her head and moved onto the polar bears. Daniel looked at the dead sea lion they were eating. “Not exactly like those Coca-Cola ads, is it?”

She considered. “Tempts you to rearrange the bears so that they’re smiling and holding Coke bottles, doesn’t it?”

He nodded, turning to look at more of the exhibit. “Wow. That’s a huge walrus.”

“Goo goo a’ joob?” Sam added with a grin. They returned to the Edge of the Wild and its various deer relations. They passed the video station where a video advocating proper wildlife management ran on a continuous loop, and went to a kid’s activity station where they had deer ears for the kids to try on. He held them up to Sam’s head.

She couldn’t help her giggles. “How do I look?”

“Very cute,” he told her. He choked a bit, realizing what he’d said. “Uh, did you bring a camera?”

“Yes, but you can only take a picture of me like this if you let me take a picture of you with the ears on, too,” she told him.

Daniel thought about it. A picture of Sam like she looked right now would be worth almost anything. “Okay, but only if you promise never to show it to Jack.”

Sam’s eyes widened. “You…I mean, I would never show that picture to the colonel. It’s not like I want him to see me like this.”

Daniel smiled, still teasing. “Are you sure? You are cute like that.”

Sam blushed five times over, and Daniel cursed his stupidity. He’d said that she was cute twice now and to make matters worse, he’d actually teased her about showing a “cute” picture to her superior officer for whom she felt things that people said that she shouldn’t feel. Sam gave Daniel the camera, and he took a picture of her with the deer ears. He started to walk away, pretending to renege on his promise.

“Wait a minute, Daniel Jackson. You owe me a picture with deer ears.”

He turned back with a smile. “I do?”

She forced the ears into his hands. “Oh, yes, you do, Daniel. Now show me your ears.”

He couldn’t help his laughter. There was no way that he would have a straight face in the picture. He held up the ears, biting his lip. He was cracking up too badly to hold still, and she ended up taking the picture while he was bent double with laughter.

“Want another?” he asked when he was able to speak again.

Sam shook her head. “Trust me, that one is priceless. Do you want to go straight or to the right? Straight is more Edge of the Wild, the right is South Pacific Islands and Australia.”

Daniel replaced the deer ears and leaned over the map. “It looks like this wing of the museum goes in a semi-circle. Let’s go to the Australian exhibit, then the South Pacific Islands, go around the corner—”

“Let’s just make it up as we go along, hmm? Starting with Australia,” she told him. He smiled at her and followed her into the next exhibit.

For the second time in two days, Sam found herself sliding towards depression over a future that would never be. It had started innocently enough. She’d been looking at the kangaroo diorama, at the cute joeys, thinking about how safe they were in their mother’s pouch. She wasn’t sure how that led to her fear that she would never find a man who would love her and want to have children with her. She’d never have a chance to be a mother. What if Pete was her last chance for the things that she wanted and now he was gone?

She turned to Daniel, who was reading about the two large pots in the hall. She leaned over his arm. “Sounds like the colonel’s kind of party.”

Daniel looked up at her, frowning. “Sam, are you okay?”

Sam didn’t know how he had picked up on that so quickly. She’d managed to sound rather upbeat and unaffected. She supposed that Daniel knew her too well to be fooled, but she didn’t want to tell him what was bothering her. It just seemed so wrong to discuss with Daniel, even if he was her best friend. She nodded. “I’m fine, Daniel.”

“I don’t believe you,” he said softly. He smiled a little. “They have a library here. I’ve never shown you the thesis that got me kicked out of the archaeological community. Maybe they have it here, and reading that will cheer you up.”

She laughed. She was pretty sure that she had read Daniel’s theories, since Catherine had used them to recruit him, but Sam would humor him about this. “And what if they don’t?”

“Um,” he fished for a moment and then smiled devilishly. “I’ll tickle you until you beg for mercy.”

“You wouldn’t,” Sam exclaimed, and she truly didn’t believe that he would. He had looked at her feet like he was thinking about tickling them the other night, but this was Daniel. Daniel didn’t tickle.

“I would,” Daniel said to spite her. He made a show of grabbing for her, and she found herself stumbling away from him and laughing. He’d distracted her rather well by the time that he caught her against the rail in the atrium. He didn’t hold her for long, just the briefest moment. Letting her go, he settled next to her against the rail.

“You going to tell me what’s bothering you now?” he asked, turning his head to look at her.

She smiled a little and shook her head. “No. I don’t want to talk about it.”

He shrugged. “Okay. But you know that I’m here for you, right? You don’t have to do this alone.”

She looked at him. She’d never forgotten those words he’d said to her, not in all the years in between, and she felt a comforting, familiar feeling of warmth wash over her again. He’d said those words to her when she was feeling hopeless, when she wanted to help Cassie, when she felt so alone. He was saying it again now, erasing those lingering feelings of doubt. “I know I’m not alone.”

“Good,” Daniel told her. “You never have to be, Sam. I hope you know that.”

She nodded, but she felt the lie pulling at her. She did feel alone when he ascended. The colonel was too angry to discuss it—He’s gone. We’ve got work to do—those words had hurt more than the colonel could ever know. Teal’c had viewed Daniel’s ascension as a great accomplishment, and it was, but Daniel was gone. Sam had felt alone in her grief.

Daniel’s eyes pierced through her. “Sam, what is wrong?”

“It’s stupid,” she began slowly. She was not going to talk about Daniel’s death and ascension, not here, not now. It was not the place for it. She should do that when they were alone, some place secure.

“Not if it’s bothering you,” he countered. He took her hand. “It’s never stupid if it’s bothering you.”

She smiled a little. She squeezed his hand back as she contemplated what to say. She should tell him about Mark’s call and the change to their plans. She should have told him already, and this way she wouldn’t have to talk about her fears, about losing Pete, and never being a mother. She opened her mouth, but what stumbled out was not Daniel, Mark called, but “Do you ever worry that you missed your chance?”

“What chance?” Daniel asked, frowning again.

“My chance… I keep feeling that Pete might have been my last chance to have a family. My last chance for—”

“You weren’t listening last night,” he chided. “I don’t remember exactly what I said, so I guess I’ll make it up as I go along. You are an incredibly smart, capable, and brave woman. You’re talented and funny and beautiful. You haven’t missed your chance, Sam. Any man would be lucky to have you, fortunate beyond his wildest dreams.”

Sam hugged him. “Thank you, Daniel.”

He smiled at her. “You’re welcome. Feel better now, or should we try and find my thesis?”

She laughed, shaking her head. “No, we don’t need to do that. I feel much better, thank you. Besides, your theories were right. But I don’t need to read them when I have the source with me right here.”

She thought she saw a faint blush before he turned his head. “And now, my dear source, I would love to hear your lecture on the North American Indian Culture exhibit.”

Despite Sam’s words, Daniel was hesitant to expound too much on the exhibit. He could have gone into much more detail than any of the small displays, but he didn’t want to bore her. He knew what she was doing—trying to distract herself from what was really bothering her. He knew that he was just as guilty of it, but he sensed that what Sam had told him only scratched the surface of what was bothering her, so he kept his comments light, explaining very little more than what was already on display.

He read the totem pole for her and had her laughing at what he figured was the carver’s inside joke. Very few people who visited the museum would have any idea what it said, and that was for the best.

For a small exhibit, it was rather comprehensive, with descriptions of plains and nomadic tribes, cave and pueblo dwellers, as well as Eskimo ways of life. Basket making, weaving, buffalo and seal hunting, jewelry making, and reservation life all had their place in the exhibit. Sam asked thoughtful questions, and they had a lively discussion as they made their way through the circle.

“This is kind of a neat little house,” Sam said when they ducked into the hut, a model of a reservation home. “Not exactly the most comfortable place, not full of all those modern niceties, but it’s cozy.”

She sat down on one of the log benches covered with fur. Daniel made no comment. This roundhouse was a replica of reservation life, it showed how people lived, but it was not the way chosen and preferred by the tribe. It was not their way.

She looked at him. “Thinking unkind thoughts about the U.S. government and military because of their treatment of Native American people?”

He sat next to her with a sigh. “It’s not a piece of our history that we should be proud of, Sam. I think about what we did then, and I fear what could happen with the Stargate.”

She squeezed his hand. “That is why you are so important to the SGC, Daniel. You are our conscience. You are our moral guide, the person who is not afraid to tell us when we’re doing wrong.”

He nodded. “I know I’m not afraid to tell people what they’re doing is wrong, but what happens when my voice is not enough? There have been times when it almost wasn’t, when we almost destroyed innocent lives in pursuit of our goals.”

Sam started to say something and then stopped. She looked at him. “I wanted to say that we would always be there for you, but that hasn’t been true, either.”

He shrugged. “You have been there when it mattered.”

Daniel wasn’t sure why they were doing this now, why he’d even brought it up. Had he thought that Sam would open up about what was bothering her if he told her something that was bothering him? He didn’t think that was his reason for doing it, thought he didn’t know what was.

Sam put her hand on his arm. “Are you okay, Daniel?”

He looked at her, forcing a faint smile. “I’m fine, Sam. Why don’t we finish the exhibits on this wing and then get some lunch?”

Sam checked his watch again. He didn’t know why she wasn’t wearing her own, thought there was no rule that said that she had to have her own watch. He wouldn’t mind so much if he weren’t so aware of the touch. He closed his eyes. This was getting ridiculous. He had to find a way to gain control of himself, of these thoughts and feelings that he shouldn’t have. He didn’t know how to stop himself from reacting.

She nudged him. “You should be awake after all that coffee you drank.”

“Nope. Not enough,” he whispered softly. “I hope their café has coffee.”

“I’m sure they do,” she said, pulling him to his feet. “Maybe you’ll get lucky, and they’ll have an espresso machine.”

“And I’ll die a happy man,” he joked as they finished the North American Indian Cultures exhibit. They crossed the Leprino Family Atrium, quietly admiring the artwork and view, and into the North American Wildlife section.

Sam eagerly approached the encased dioramas. Daniel followed her, not paying attention to the exhibits, but to her. Silently, he cursed himself. He couldn’t seem to stop. He couldn’t fix this. Sooner or later, she was going to find out.

Again.

He shouldn’t be here, and he knows it. He’s not really sure why he came, but he’s here.

No, he thinks to himself, an enlightened being should not lie to himself. He knows exactly why he is here. She’s here. He came to see her. She doesn’t need him, not like Jack or Teal’c needed him, but he wants to be here. He’s been wanting to do this, to visit her since he left, wanting to know if she had said all that she meant to say in his last moments. He knows that he’s not going to ask, not even if he is here, if he came to see her and ask that question. He’s afraid of the answer.

It isn’t exactly enjoyable, being unable to lie to himself. The truth will set you free. Truth is the foundation of enlightenment. But the truth hurts.

When he told Jack that he couldn’t imagine being anything other than he was, he was telling the truth, what had been the truth at the time. He possessed knowledge beyond anything that he’d ever dreamed. He knows things; he can do thing that he never dreamed of before. But now he’s beginning to have his doubts. It all comes back to her. Part of the reason—No, not the only reason or the main reason—that he made this choice was to leave behind his love for her. He’d thought enlightenment would fill that empty place in his heart.

He was wrong. The infinite secrets of the universe mean nothing without someone to share them with. And the only person he wants is her.

She’s alone now, and he takes advantage of this, assuming a form solid enough to touch her bandages, to comb her hair. It’s so short now. She’d worn it long before her feelings for Jack were revealed, before she felt the need to cut it all off. He’d wondered if she was punishing herself, if she was denying her feminity and reaffirming her loyalty to the military as a way to deny her feelings for Jack.

“Daniel?” she asks, and he freezes. He hadn’t meant to stay so long. He hadn’t meant for her to see him.

He pulled his hand back and faded away. He should just leave. He shouldn’t stay, not even for a minute.

Sam sits up. Her voice is breaking as she repeats, “Daniel?”

He sees the tears in her eyes and can’t turn his back on her. He can’t leave. He stepped towards her, visible again. “I’m here, Sam. Well, here in the sense that my consciousness is here.”

She shakes her head. “I felt you touch me.”

“I don’t have a physical body anymore. I can’t really touch you,” he says with a small, sad smile. “I may have moved the air a little…”

She looks at him. “Why are you here, Daniel? Why now? Why not—”

“When you were grieving? When you were sick in Antarctica? When you were captured by Nirriti?” He supplied and then shrugged. “I’m not supposed to be here, Sam. I came because I wanted to, but I shouldn’t be here because I was supposed to put all of this behind me, all of my prior human existence.”

She shivered. “God, Daniel, could you really do that? Forget all this?”

He shakes his head. “No. Why do you think I’m here?”

Sam thinks about this. She manages a smile. “Jonas thinks he has precognitive abilities. I wonder if he saw this.”

Daniel looks at her. “I don’t think so, Sam. But you’d better make sure he has the surgery that Janet wants him to have.”

Sam swallowed hard. “Is he dying, Daniel?”

Daniel knows that he shouldn’t say anything. He’s already said too much. He’s interfering in a lower plane of existence, and one of the others will find out about this. “Sam, I can’t. There are rules. Just being here is breaking them. Well, bending them. But if I tell you anymore, I’d really be breaking them, and—”

“You’re leaving again, aren’t you?” Sam demands angrily. “You’re going away again.”

“I’d stay if I could, Sam,” he tells her. She doesn’t know how much he wants to, how a few words from her would keep him by her side forever. “I have to go.”

“To do what, Daniel? To contemplate enlightenment? You have to be aware of what we’re up against. We need you,” she tells him, pleads with him. “I need you.”

“I wish I believed that, Sam,” he answers softly, knowing they are talking about two different things. “But you’re so strong. And you have Jack and Teal’c. I’d just be in the way. I can do more…out there.”

“Daniel,” she only says the one word, and tears are spilling down her cheeks. He’s torn between knowing that he should go and wanting to stay and comfort her.

He reaches out to her and knows this is a mistake. But it is controlled by his subconscious, and his subconscious wants this more than he himself knows. The light envelops them both, and he should have stopped it because sharing is not what she wants, not what she needs. He only wanted to comfort her, but even enlightened beings make mistakes.

When it is over, she stares at him. “You really love me, don’t you?”

“Of course I do,” Daniel answers. “We’re friends, remember? That hasn’t changed.”

“No,” she corrects, as he was afraid she would. “You love me, and not just as friend.”

Non-corporeal beings should not be able to feel pain. But this hurt, worse than anything else he had ever known. “Yes.”

“Oh, Daniel,” she whispers, and it’s in her face. She doesn’t love him like that. The idea seems almost repulsive to her.

“It’s okay, Sam. I understand,” he assures her. “I know, and I’ve always known that you don’t feel the same way. I—”

She is no longer looking at him. His heart is broken in a thousand pieces, but he doesn’t have to fight a physical body to be able to speak. “Sam, would it be better if you never knew?”

“You can’t take it back,” she is speaking so softly that he wouldn’t be able to hear her if he was physically here. “I shouldn’t… You shouldn’t… Oh, Daniel, I’m sorry.”

“Sam,” he begins gently. “I can help you forget.”

And he does before she can protest.

“Daniel, are you okay?” Sam asked, touching his shoulder. He’d gotten awfully quiet after they left the North American Indian Cultures exhibit, and he’d seemed distracted all through the North American Wildlife exhibit. Sam had pointed a few things out to him, and he would mumble or nod absently until he finally stopped moving and stared at the diorama in front of him. Still, he wasn’t looking at the display but beyond it, staring at somewhere deep in his mind.

She touched his arm. “Daniel?”

Startled, he shook off whatever had taken hold of him and looked at her. “Sam?”

“Are you okay?” she repeated.

He looked around, studying his surroundings as though he had never seen them before, which wasn’t that impossible because he’d been so out of it. His eyes met hers, and she saw the pain in them before he buried it deep again. “I’m fine, Sam. I guess I was just thinking.”

“About Sarah?”

He turned away, walking towards the cloth-covered bench. He sat down and closed his eyes. Sam joined him, resting her head against his shoulder. “It’s okay, Daniel.”

“I know,” he said in a tone that did not sound at all like he believed it. She took his hand. “Daniel, you can tell me. Or not. But I’m here for you, too.”

He closed his eyes again and took a few deep breaths. She smiled a little, turning to him. “You know, we’re quite the pair. We’re supposed to be enjoying ourselves, having a truly geeky day, and we’re emotional wrecks.”

He laughed briefly, giving her a fleeting smile. “That’s okay. I mean, shouldn’t we be?”

Sam looked at him for a moment. They had both recently lost people that they cared about. They should be grieving. In a way, they weren’t. Yet, at the same time, they were. It was no surprise that they were emotional yo-yos, going up and down over and over again. Finally, she nodded.

“It makes sense. But why don’t we head down to the café and get some lunch? I think we need a bit of a pick me up,” she smiled at him. Daniel just looked at her. “Oh, come on, Daniel. Aren’t you curious as to whether or not they have an espresso machine?”

He smiled a little. “Sure. Let’s go.”

They left the exhibit and took the escalator down to the first floor, walking over to the open area, almost a simulation of a sidewalk café in the middle of the museum. Back further was a more cafeteria-like area, but he didn’t let her go over there.

“Just a light lunch,” he told her rather sternly, pointing his finger at her so that it almost touched her nose. She laughed and left him at the espresso cart to pick up a sandwich and diet soda from the T-Rex Deli. She figured that Daniel’s coffee would take a while, so she went ahead and picked out a sandwich for him and paid for it. She met him at the cart and gave him the sandwich.

He smiled at her, pleasantly surprised. “Thank you, Sam.”

She smiled back. “Just making sure that you actually eat something, Daniel.”

He made a face as they took a seat at one of the canopied tables. Silently, they unwrapped their sandwiches and started eating. They didn’t really talk, supposedly because they were eating, but Sam knew better. Daniel wasn’t talking because he had retreated into his thoughts again, and Sam wasn’t talking because he wasn’t talking. She needed to tell him about Mark’s call and the change to their plans, but she didn’t want to add to his burden.

She finished her sandwich and drank her soda. “Daniel, we need—”

“To go to the theater for our IMAX show, I know,” he completed her sentence, though not as she had intended. He waded up the plastic wrapping from his sandwich and took a large sip of his coffee.

What he’d said hadn’t been what she meant at all, but she supposed that he must be right. She grabbed his wrist again and checked his watch. She’d known that she was forgetting something when she left her house this morning, but she hadn’t thought that it could be her watch. Daniel was going to get sick of her checking his all the time. “Ten to one. I guess we’d better get in line.”

Daniel nodded and finished his coffee.

After the IMAX, Daniel and Sam returned to their tour of the second floor, looking at all the exhibits. They walked through the Discovery Zone, not stopping for any significant period of time. The hands-on area was neat, but clearly directed towards children. Puppets, storybooks, a stage, and a place to uncover dinosaur bones entertained the younger visitors to the museum. Sam smiled sadly at the children, and Daniel wanted more than anything to assure her that she would have a chance for a child, that he would love to be the father of that child, but all he could do was squeeze her shoulder reassuringly. She put her hand over his briefly and then moved on, crossing back in front of the IMAX over to the Hall of Life.

The first section of the exhibit was about the beginning of life: pregnancy. Daniel looked at Sam and offered her his hand. She took it, gripped it tightly, and made her way through the pregnancy section slowly, inflicting pain in the name of intellectual curiosity. When they went by the display showing the fetus in different stages of development, Daniel drew the line and pulled her away, dragging her over to the DNA sequencing section. Sam pretended to enjoy the forensic mystery, and he let her get by with pretending. He was just grateful to get her away from the things that he knew would upset her.

They took their life cards over to register them, filling out a brief questionnaire of name, age, sex, and ability to participate in activities. When they went to the height and weight station, he frowned.

“Sam, we have to take a physical every three months, not to mention an examination before and after each mission, so why are we doing this?”

She smiled at him as they went over to the BMI. His was fine, but Sam’s showed her as slightly underweight. He frowned at her, but she turned away quickly, nudging him towards the next station. Due to the amount of coffee he drank, the computer told him that he needed to change his diet. He looked at it and laughed. He had no intention of doing that.

Sam saw his look and laughed. They passed over the machines that told people what was in their food, since neither Sam nor Daniel really wanted to know what was in their food.

They had their blood pressure, heart rate, and flexibility tested, and then moved on to see how high they could jump and create a fitness plan. Neither of them really needed to have one, but Daniel needed a break after the step exercise that tested his heart rate and the jump test. His leg was on fire, and Sam made him do several of the activities where sitting was possible before they went to stand in line for the most popular part of the exhibit, the drunk driving test.

“Stress test?” Daniel asked as he sat down where Sam had prodded him. “Sam, you know that we’re both going to fail.”

“This test isn’t like that,” Sam told him. “This tests your skin.”

Daniel took the test, finding that he was able to relax fairly well, but Sam’s stress level was higher during relaxation than it was during stress. He smiled at her, and it quickly turned into affectionate laughter. She swatted him, but smiled back.

“I bet I’ll do better at the drunk driving test,” she said defensively.

He shrugged. “It wouldn’t surprise me.”

Daniel had never been very good at video games, so even during the “sober” part of the test, he crashed and ran off the road a few times. The “drunk” part was worse. Sam, on the other hand, was pretty good at video games—probably from spending time with her brother’s kids, so her sober performance was excellent, if a little fast. Her drunk driving wasn’t quite as good. She kept her speed down and was careful, only encountering problems when the machine simulated the driver closing their eyes. He watched her with a frown.

She grinned at him. “I’m used to the G forces of an F-16, Daniel. That was easy.”

He knew she was getting back at him for his teasing comments in the Space Odyssey section, so he ignored it. “Ready to check out?”

She nodded, and they got their printouts. They looked them over for a minute, comparing them. Sam looked at him. “Are you up to doing the last floor, Daniel?”

He looked at her. “I am not missing the mummies exhibit, Sam.”

She smiled at him. “That’s what I thought you’d say.”

Daniel was a stubborn, stubborn man, Sam thought as she walked through the exhibit. Instead of heading straight to the Mummy exhibit that he had his heart set on seeing, he crossed to the other wing of the third floor and into the Explore Colorado exhibit. Sam did her best to get him to rest his leg—forcing him to sit on the benches to look at the dioramas whenever possible and keeping their pace slow without making him stand in any one spot for very long. He greeted all of her efforts with irritation disguised by long-suffering patience, but she didn’t stop, wouldn’t stop.

Not even after he told her she was worse than Janet and almost as bad as the colonel. She smacked him playfully before moving on to the next section.

In the Northern and Rare Birds exhibit, Sam and Daniel stopped to read about a woodpecker that was believed to be extinct, but scientists had discovered a live one. A look passed between them as they heard a family discussing how wonderful that was. Sam and Daniel, however, knew that the woodpecker was a part of the Global Repopulation Initiative that located species that were extinct or endangered on earth on other planets and reintroduced them to their native habitats on earth. It was a small part of the Stargate program, one full of ethical debate, as well as practical use obstacles, but eventually, the International Oversight Committee had agreed to some trials, one of which was the woodpecker on display

Smiling with their secret knowledge, they headed into the South America exhibit, looking at the depictions of the rainforest. Given Daniel’s recent unpleasant experiences in the jungle, Sam did not blame him for his unwillingness to linger in the section. He escorted her into the Konovalenko Gem Carving exhibit.

The gem carvings made of jade, opal, jet, and other gems depicted Russian folk life, from life as prisoners to spa treatments. Some of the carvings seemed ridiculous caricatures. Sam pointed to the overly buxom woman in the too small bathing suit. “I think I need a swimming suit just like that.”

Daniel coughed, and his cheeks were red. Sam looked at him. “Daniel, are you all right?”

He coughed again and tried to nod. She stared at him, a smile creeping over her face. “Daniel Jackson, did you just picture me in that bathing suit?”

He looked away, choking on laughter. “I’m sorry, Sam. I guess I put your face on the carving, and I couldn’t help it. I’m—”

“Don’t say sorry again,” Sam warned him, giving him another smack. She wasn’t sure if she was amused or insulted. Daniel pretended to cower from her, so she laughed. It was better to be amused. She didn’t want to spoil the light mood again. She thought about chasing after him, but they were in a museum. He caught the look in her eyes and disappeared around the corner into the atrium. Sam caught him against the rail and leaned him over it.

“I surrender, I surrender,” Daniel said, holding up his hands. He looked at her pleadingly. “Can’t we talk about this?”

His response was so very typical of him that she laughed and relented, helping him to stand straight up again. He turned and looked down at the atrium. “The view is even better up here.”

Sam surveyed the overlook and nodded. “Yes, it is. Did you want to go up to the terrace and see the best view of Denver?”

He looked at her. “Sure, sounds good.”

They took the elevator up to the roof and stepped out onto the scenic overlook. Crossing to the rail, they stood next to each other, enjoying the view and the warm but not unpleasant breeze. Trees surrounded an artificial lake, forming an isolated world around the lake center that seemed out of place with the cityscape beyond it.

“Think it’s really the best view in Denver?” Sam asked.

“I guess it would depend on what someone was looking for in their view. Here we see the gold dome of the state capitol above those trees surrounding the artificial lake, some beautiful skyscrapers, behind them the Rocky Mountains. It is a great view, though I am sure it could be argued that it is not the best view,” Daniel said thoughtfully. He looked at the vista again. “I wonder what the view will be like from the hotel.”

“Now I’m curious,” Sam told him. “Where is the hotel?”

“Denver,” Daniel answered with a smile. Sam frowned. He was holding his secrets very close to him, and she was not going to get him to crack.

She, however, cracked too easily. “Daniel, Pete’s funeral is on Saturday. I’m sorry. We’ll have to reschedule our trip to Mesa Verde. Mark’s flying in, he wants to stay with me—”

“Okay,” Daniel said.

“I didn’t mean to make you—What?” Sam stopped when she realized that he had spoken.

He smiled at her. “I said, ‘okay,’ Sam. It’s fine. Mesa Verde isn’t going anywhere. We can go there anytime. It’s not like I haven’t been there before. Pete’s funeral is more important. I’m sure I can find something—”

“Daniel, I know that you didn’t know Pete, but…”

Sam turned, fighting unexpected tears. She hadn’t meant to say that. She did not know why she’d even started to ask Daniel to come with her. She wouldn’t be alone—Mark was going to be there, though with the way that he’d treated her, how angry he was, she may as well be alone. Still, she didn’t need to have Daniel with her.

“Sam do you want me to come with you?” Daniel asked softly, touching her shoulder. She found herself relaxing into his arms as he stood behind her. She hated how weak and dependent she felt. She was ready to refuse his offer, just so she could maintain her independence.

“I’m coming, then,” he told her, squeezing her shoulder. “You ready to survey Africa now?”

She looked back at him. He smiled at her, and she couldn’t help smiling back. He had taken the decision out of her hands, and that should upset her, but he had allowed her to have what she wanted without seeming dependent. He had even made it easier by changing the subject. She accepted this willingly and returned to the third floor to continue exploring the museum.

It had taken the competition of cheetah versus gazelle to convince Sam that Daniel’s leg was no longer bothering him. It was particularly convincing when the cheetah caught the gazelle, or rather, Daniel caught Sam. The gazelle zigzagged, which meant jumping, so Sam insisted on being the gazelle. Daniel had taken the part of the cheetah and captured his gazelle. He knew that this was the only time he would catch her.

With that bittersweet memory, he left the Africa exhibit, Sam following him. The Birds of America exhibit was not too large, but still informative, and he and Sam enjoyed their time their before moving onto the Prehistoric Journey exhibit. Sam gave him a look as they passed by the Egyptian Mummies exhibit. Daniel, however, was determined to see all of the museum that he had come to see. He knew that Sam would want to leave as soon as they went through the mummies exhibit, so he had decided that they would go there as the very last thing they did at the museum.

Sam ran her fingers over the mock trilobite, reading about the prehistoric creatures and their fellow inhabitants on the Earth millions of years ago.

“Strange to think of oxygen as pollution,” Daniel remarked, looking at the display. “Even after what we’ve seen.”

Sam nodded in agreement and ran her fingers over the fossilized tree. They stopped at a computer model that tracked Colorado’s position over the prehistoric era that was the current focus of the exhibit and posed questions over the implications of the location in the given time. Daniel noticed that one family, a couple in their thirties with two school age children, seemed to be following him and Sam, listening to their conversation, but after a while, they stopped at the puppet and activity center and he and Sam went up the stairs, leaving them behind.

Sam looked at him. “I guess it’s a good thing we weren’t discussing the Ancients.”

Daniel smiled at her as they looked down at the prehistoric mammal skeletons. They circled around the room, reading about the climatic changes leading to the birth of terrible lizards, otherwise known as dinosaurs.

They returned downstairs, looking at a depiction of a wild boar and two fighting dinosaurs. These were given simulated skins, but most of the fossils or casts were only skeletons, which was how they viewed the stegosaurus and the alosaurus poised forever in a life or death struggle for survival. The stegosaurus was protecting its young, and both mother (it could be assumed) and child had protective scaling around the neck. Sam pointed out that the fossils had originally been displayed incorrectly, making them both smile over how all of the world was still learning and growing in scientific discovery. Imagine what would happen when the Stargate program was made public.

“How small they are when they’re born,” Sam remarked with wonder as she looked at the skeleton of a baby platypus next to its mother.

“It’s remarkable how they grow,” Daniel agreed. He couldn’t help looking at Sam. It seemed almost like every exhibit was reminding her of her unfulfilled desire to be a mother. He saw her smile sadly and decided to distract her. “Look, a flying turtle.”

Sam looked up at the skeleton suspended from the ceiling. It belonged to an ancestor of the turtle, with a hard shell and legs like flippers. “That’s not a turtle.”

He smiled at her. “Made you look.”

She nudged him playfully. “All right, Daniel. You got me.”

He smiled at her again, and they moved on to the next part of the exhibit, which explained the change of the dominant life form from dinosaurs and lizards to mammals, including the existence of a seacoast in Wyoming. They watched a video about the discovery of scientific evidence of the coastline, discussing the implications of Pangea and the evolution of the earth. He almost mentioned the Ancients, but he caught sight of the family that had been listening to them before and changed the subject.

Sam noticed, but seeing their growing audience, said nothing. She pointed to the terror bird, a prehistoric creature that had no living descendents.

Sam and Daniel stopped to count the skeletons found together after what was believed to be a mudslide, looking at the intertwined mix of bones from various species. They studied the prehistoric ancestor of the horse. They traded theories of evolution, gathering a larger crowd of followers than before. Sam smiled at him over the heads of the crowd and continued on to the mammoth skull at the end of the exhibit, stopping to observe the museum workers doing preservation and research.

Sam touched his arm. “So, Mr. Stubborn, are you ready to visit the Egyptian Mummies exhibit?”

Smiling, he nodded. “Of course. We’ll see just how much minutiae I can bore you with this time.”

“Trust me, Daniel,” Sam told him. “It’s never boring.”

As Sam walked the short distance to their final exhibit in the museum, she felt an unexpected sadness to know that their visit was almost over. She still intended to visit the gift shop before they left, but this was their last exhibit. For all the ups and downs of the day, she had really enjoyed their time here and didn’t want it to end. She knew that Daniel would take his time in the Egyptian exhibit because Egyptology was his first love, but it still seemed too short a time.

Daniel’s excitement over the exhibit kept him from noticing Sam’s mood change. He smiled at her and went into the exhibit before her. She shook her head, smiling at his enthusiasm, as she went into the exhibit.

Unfortunately for Daniel, his enthusiasm was short-lived. The first display of the exhibit had a description of “Osiris, a Good King.” Sam saw him looking at that, knowing that he couldn’t help but be reminded of the Goa’uld Osiris, the one that had killed the professor who loved Daniel like a son, the one who had taken Daniel’s friend Sarah as a host, the one who had killed Sarah. Sam touched Daniel’s arm, wanting to console him and slipped her hand into his.

He squeezed her hand and moved on to a description of the preparation of a corpse for mummification. She read it with intellectual curiosity, but she didn’t ask any questions. He noticed and smiled knowingly. She made a face, but she followed him to the display on trinkets that mummies were buried with, emblems designed to guide the spirit into the afterlife. She asked Daniel for an interpretation of one of them.

“The eye of Horus was believed to represent the eye of God, seen during an eclipse as the ‘winged disk’ or the ‘Bird of the Sun,’ from the story of Seth, the sun-eater, a symbol of divine omniscience,” Daniel explained, and the depth of his knowledge attracted a group of school children and their teacher. He saw them and stuck to the accepted history of Egypt as he continued through the room.

Daniel took a seat in front of the video explaining the tests done on the mummies on display in the exhibit. It earned him a reprieve from his audience, who joined Sam and Daniel among the viewers, with a focus and attention unlike most children their age. She suspected that the crowd had already formed an admiration for Daniel—he was a gifted orator and would be a wonderful teacher; it wasn’t hard to admire him—and they were afraid that he wouldn’t tell them any more about the exhibit if they weren’t quiet and respectful, no doubt encouraged by their teacher.

After the video was over, Daniel and Sam studied the mummies; he explained the details of the sarcophagus’ inscription and how the rich woman’s mummy probably ended up in the poor man’s coffin.

“Daniel, is that true, that until 1946, people could buy a mummy and take it out of the country?” Sam asked.

He nodded. “Yes, it’s true, sadly. It comes from a time when the history, the customs, even the sacredness of burial sites was ignored. A time when archeologists were little better than grave robbers.”

“But not you,” Sam said, “no one would ever accuse you of grave robbing.”

He shook his head, indicating that he had been accused of it at one point or another. She squeezed his hand reassuringly and distracted him by asking about the markings inside of the other sarcophagus on display. He explained them to her and his audience.

“This is stupid,” Sam heard a boy say, “there’s no words, just pictures.”

Daniel looked up, frowning when he didn’t immediately see the boy’s teacher. “The Egyptians used pictures to symbolize letters and words. Hieroglyphics.”

He went to the book of the dead and explained each symbol one by one, telling a fascinating story. He had more than half the room’s attention, a crowd pressing in to get a glimpse of the parchment. At the mention of Anubis, Daniel’s voice faltered a little, but he met Sam’s eyes and continued to read.

“That is cool,” the boy said after Daniel finished. “I wish we learned cool stuff like that in school.”

Daniel frowned. “You haven’t studied Egypt?”

“No,” the boy answered like it was obvious. Sam supposed to the boy it was, but Daniel had grown up knowing about Egypt.

“My older brother studied it in sixth grade,” a girl said, “but we’re only in the fifth grade, and this is my first trip to the museum.”

“Your first?” Daniel asked, his frown deepening as his disbelief grew. He turned to the teacher, who was now visible within the group. She smiled at him apologetically, and he smiled in return, but Sam knew how false it was. She led him over to the model of an Egyptian temple.

Daniel smiled at Sam. “Look familiar?”

She nodded. It looked like a Goa’uld fortress. It wasn’t exactly the same, by any means, but this model would have been an effective way to plan an operation to infiltrate or assault the base.

Though their exchange was over the heads of their audience, Daniel was quickly bombarded with a hoard of questions. Sam watched him field them like an expert, and then finally, she pulled him away. “Come, on, Daniel. Your leg must be killing you.”

Daniel narrowed his eyes at her. “It’s fine, Sam.”

“Sure it is,” Sam said, pulling him by the arm. She heard some of the crowd laughing as they walked away. Daniel was a stubborn man, but his stubbornness could be endearing sometimes. She was always proud of his unyielding moral guidance. His insistence on being physically fine could be just as endearing as it was frustrating. She made sure that they took the escalators down to the first floor.

“Sam,” he began as they rode down, “do you suppose that’s really true? That—”

“That there’s a reason for those bumper stickers that say, ‘Colorado, 49th in funding schools?’” She finished with a sigh. “I’m sorry, but I guess so.”

He shook his head, muttering to himself as they went into the gift shop. Sam left him to browse on his own, wandering through the myriad of choices. Jewelry, books, documentary and IMAX DVDs, souvenir shirts, mugs, and pencils, toy dinosaurs, glow-in-the-dark sets, and other novelties made it nearly impossible to avoid buying anything. Sam found a gemstone bracelet for Cassie and Janet, some science kits for Mark to give to his kids, and a marble pyramid for Daniel. She had seen him pick one up, admire it, and replace it with a trace of wistfulness. She knew that he wouldn’t get him for himself, so she picked out the one that she’d seen him looking at, and met him at the register.

He held up his selections, a couple of documentaries. “I’ve never seen these before. They must be new.”

She smiled at him, though she’d seen one of them while he was gone—it had almost been too much, knowing how much he would have enjoyed it—but she didn’t say so. Of course, one of the other women in the line had no reason to hold back. “Oh, I saw that one at the IMAX theater a year ago. It was great.”

Daniel forced a smile for her. “I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.”

Sam heard the flatness to his voice, and she touched his arm. He had been doing amazing things while he was ascended, but he didn’t remember them. A year of his life was gone. He would probably never recover it. Sam wanted to help him, but all she could do was offer her sympathy. It was enough for Daniel, who gave her a genuine smile before approaching the counter.

Sam ran her fingers over the smooth surface of the pyramid; glad she had decided to get it for him. She was looking forward to seeing that smile again.

“Daniel, what is the point of having a hotel if it is still twenty minutes away from where we’re going tomorrow?” Sam asked after the passed by another exit.

He smiled, looking out the window. He was enjoying his surprises, being that extra step ahead of her brilliant mind. He held back certain details of the plans that he’d made, waiting to reveal them at the right moment and watch her face light up with excitement. She still believed that he had no plans for Thursday, the last day of geek week that was his to choose, but he did. He’d mapped out the route and figured out somewhere for lunch. He even had another local’s tip that he might use on the way to his secret destination, depending on how early they got started that day.

“Daniel,” Sam prompted again, looking over at him. He decided he’d better answer her so that she went back to paying attention to the road. They were on I-25.

“It’s more for our departure from Denver. I think it would be best to be on the north side of the city and get an early start tomorrow morning. It’s a longer drive to Estes Park than it was from the Springs,” he told her. “There. That’s the exit.”

“I guess that would make sense, but why not stay at a hotel closer tonight and come to this one tomorrow?” Sam asked as she turned into the deceleration lane.

“Longer stay, bigger discount,” Daniel explained. “Besides, this one’s close to where we’re going to dinner tonight.”

“Dinner? How come you didn’t mention this before, Daniel?”

“Sam, I know that when we’re on base, we have to be reminded to eat, but surely it didn’t escape your notice that this is the time when people usually eat dinner,” Daniel told her, raising an eyebrow before he focused on directing her to the hotel.

Sam shoved him, and he was grateful they were stopped at a red light. “I know it’s when normal people eat. When were you going to tell me where we were eating?”

“When you asked me what I wanted to do for dinner,” he answered, pointing to the turn. “There.”

She pulled into the parking lot and stopped the car. “Daniel, you did not really make a reservation for this place.”

“Oh, yes, I did,” Daniel replied. She looked at him incredulously. He smiled. “You wanted to know why the hotel is so far from the museum and zoo? This is why. Who could pass up the opportunity to stay in a hotel that looks like a castle?”

She looked like she was on the verge of saying that she could when she broke into a smile. She shook her head. “Daniel Jackson, you will never cease to amaze me.”

He smiled and opened the door. He wanted to stay there, just look at her, and enjoy the smile he’d waited all day to see, but he was already losing the battle with his self-control. He had better go check them in.

He left Sam smiling as she looked around the outside of the Ramada Graystone Castle, taking out her camera.

Sam looked out the window, surveying the view. The cityscape of Denver faded away to the undeveloped agricultural landscape that disappeared more and more each year. Colorado was known for the Rocky Mountains and its many ski resorts, but it was also a plains state, with farms that stretched into the distance. She was reminded of the many agricultural planets they’d been to, including the one where they had encountered the Aschen, that were almost entirely made up of fields. It seemed a shame that the earth was losing all of that, of its open land and its innocence. It wasn’t a fast, overwhelming change, but subtle and gradual until there was nothing left of fields and open land. When it happened, no one would realize what was going on until it was already too late.

She sighed, moving to close the curtain when she heard the flash of a camera behind her. She turned. “Daniel, what are you doing?”

“Taking a picture of the princess in her tower,” he said, setting down his camera and crossing towards her. She laughed.

“I look nothing like a princess,” Sam protested.

“Your father would disagree. Daughters are always little princesses to their father,” he told her, joining her at the window. “Besides, you had this pensive, wistful expression on your face that reminded me of all those princesses locked in a tower pictures.”

She smiled at him. “I was just thinking that it was a shame how much of the open land on Earth keeps disappearing.”

“That sounds like something that I would say.”

“Daniel, as a scientist, I am well-aware of what we are doing to our environment,” she shook her head sadly. “One day we’ll wake up, and it’ll all be gone, leaving us to wonder how it happened.”

“When the truth is that we knew it was happening all along,” Daniel finished. “One of the nurses is in her twenties and has lived in Colorado her entire life. She told me the other day that it scared her that she was able to say, ‘I remember when all of this was a field.’”

Sam leaned against him. “Hopefully, the Stargate program will allow us to prevent ourselves from completely destroying the world.”

“If Anubis doesn’t destroy it first,” he muttered.

She looked at him sharply. “Daniel, you’re not still blaming yourself for Anubis gaining the eye of Ra, are you? You did everything in your power to stop him. I know that. And you can’t blame yourself for not knowing where the Lost City is. I know we’ll find it.”

He didn’t say anything. She touched his face, forcing him to look at her. “Correction: I know you’ll find it.”

Daniel smiled, his cheeks slightly pink. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Sam. Now if I can only live up to your expectation…”

“Of course you will,” she told him. She didn’t have any doubts, not where Daniel was concerned. “But don’t worry about it now. I believe you mentioned dinner?”

“When I saw this place from the road, it looked interesting,” Sam commented as they got out of the car. “But I didn’t think this was what you had in mind when you said dinner.”

“You should have,” Daniel answered. “Remember, I wouldn’t let you eat a big meal for lunch.”

He closed his door and looked up at the yellow stone and brick building in front of him. Someone had painted pictures of fake balconies, complete with wood frames around the faux doors and actual wrought iron rails, on the corner, with more fake doors along the side of the building, making it looked like they were entering into an Italian villa. Sam smiled at the painting of the Mona Lisa, who held a milkshake of some sort in her hand. It certainly had atmosphere. He opened the door to the restaurant for Sam, and she smiled as she went in, her wide eyes soaking in all the details.

“Welcome to Cinzetti’s,” the hostess began, smiling at them. Daniel looked up from the stone entryway he was studying and managed to acknowledge her. “Two?”

“Yes,” Sam answered, elbowing him gently. “It’s a restaurant, not an archeological site, Daniel. Stop looking for cultural significance and relax, okay?”

“Yeah, and you’re not wondering what stone this is made of or if Italian piazzas really look like this,” he teased. He looked at the poor hostess, who was smiling at them, helplessness in her eyes. He smiled sheepishly at her. “Just the two of us.”

“Okay, then. Follow me,” the hostess told them. “Have you ever been here before?”

“No,” Sam looked at Daniel in a silent question, but he shook his head. The hostess showed them to a secluded table towards the back of the restaurant. The lighting was soft against the pale blush of the walls, so that he could hardly make out the paintings on them. Frank Sinatra crooned in the background.

“Well, since you’re new, let me explain how this works. There is so much food here, so many wonderful dishes to try that you’ll be full before you know it. That’s why we recommend that you have dessert first, otherwise you’ll miss out,” she smiled brightly again. “Elysia is your server. She’ll be along shortly.”

Daniel and Sam took their seats. Sam pulled off her coat. “Did she really tell us to eat dessert first?”

“Yep,” he grinned at her. “Kids must love it here.”

“It is unique,” Sam agreed with a smile. “Where’d you hear about this place?”

“Another tip from the nurses.”

“Daniel, you spend way too much time in the infirmary,” Sam said, but she smiled at him.

“Actually,” he admitted, sheepishly, “this one was trying to get me to come here with her. She raved about the food and the atmosphere. It’s nice to know that she wasn’t exaggerating about the atmosphere.”

“Daniel, are you saying that she asked you out and you turned her down?” Sam frowned. “Why?”

Because I’m in love with you, Daniel’s inner voice betrayed him. He hoped his poker face hadn’t faltered. “She wasn’t my type. Besides, I told you. I can’t date one of Janet’s nurses. It would make Jack too happy.”

Before Sam could question him further, their waitress appeared. “Hi, I’m Elysia. Can I get you started with something to drink? A glass of wine or a soda?”

Sam looked at the wine list and picked a red wine. Daniel hesitated. He hadn’t really given it much thought, but he’d been reluctant to order a drink because that seemed too much like a date. He was sure that the hostess thought he and Sam were here on a date, judging by the table she’d given them, but if Sam was ordering a drink, what the hell? He wasn’t much of drinker, but he’d join her anyways.

“I’ll have the same.”

“Great. I’ll be right back with those,” the perky twenty-something said, “feel free to get started. Plates are on the buffet, and you do know to get desert first, right?”

“Oh, yes,” Daniel agreed. “You have chocolate, right?”

Sam snorted in laughter. “Come on, Daniel. Let’s go see if they have any tiramisu.”

“I’ll race you,” he teased with a grin.

“They were right,” Sam admitted, three helpings and nearly a glass of wine later. Daniel looked up from his plate of farfalle carbonara and raised an eyebrow. She lifted her glass and took a sip of wine to clear her throat. “You can’t possibly try it all.”

Daniel finished another forkful and drank it down with his wine. “Not necessarily. We should bring Jack and Teal’c. They’d have enough room to try it all and go back for seconds.”

She laughed. “You’re not doing so bad yourself. How many plates have you had?”

He shrugged carelessly. He was eating with his typical enthusiasm, one that seemed a mix of I’d-better-eat-it-all-because-I-don’t-know-when-I’ll-eat-again and I-don’t-have-time-to-slow-down-and-eat. Even though he’d gone back to the line without her, she’d distracted herself enough by surveying the unique décor, getting lost in the lights that looked like grapes, a vineyard on the ceiling, that it didn’t seem like he was gone long, so she hadn’t even kept up with the number of his trips.

She slowly sipped her wine. This wasn’t bad at all. It wasn’t by any means the first time that they’d gone out to dinner, but it was the first time that they’d spent so much time together since he’d descended. And she liked being the single focus of his attention, with the exception of his food. He was so intense and animated, and they’d spoken of so many things, though nothing classified. This was how she had imagined her time with Pete would be. He had amused her with his jokes and stories, and she’d never crashed an anniversary party before, but she realized that she had wanted the same sort of companionship she had with Daniel from Pete.

“Something wrong?” Daniel asked, putting down his fork and touching her hand.

She shook her head. “No. I was just thinking about Pete. I wish I could have had a chance to get to know him better. If we could have talked like you and I were talking tonight…”

He nodded. “I’m sorry that you didn’t get the chance to know him better.”

“Daniel, you are too sweet,” she told him, leaning over to kiss his cheek. “I’ll be right back.”

He nodded, pushing his plate aside. “I’m going back for more.”

She giggled as she made her way to the restroom. She was curious to see how they were decorated, aside from the normal reasons people had to use the restroom. Sam was not disappointed. For a public restroom, it was decorated rather skillfully, with taste and fitting to the villa motif of the restaurant. Tan walls that looked like they were made out of stone and faux marble stall doors gave the room a sense of elegance despite its purpose.

She closed the stall door behind her, and then she heard voices. She knew that she shouldn’t eavesdrop, but she recognized one as their waitress. “I have the cutest couple at one of my tables.”

“You mean that incredibly hot guy and his girlfriend? Or are they married? They were kind of like an old married couple.”

“I don’t know,” Elysia answered. “I didn’t see a ring. But he is so in love with her. I wish I knew a guy like that.”

Sam stopped listening. They weren’t talking about her and Daniel. She waited for the two women to finish, and then went to the sink to wash her hands. She studied herself in the antique mirror briefly before leaving the room.

As she walked back to the table, skirting the tree in the center of the restaurant, she considered telling Daniel about the conversation that she’d overheard, but she decided that it wouldn’t interest him. She smiled at him as she sat down. “Are you really going to eat all that?”

He shrugged. “Probably not. But it kept me company while you were gone.”

She laughed, playfully kicking him under the table, careful to get his good leg. He grimaced and bent to rub his shin, exaggerating his injury and making her laugh more. Daniel smiled at her and drank his wine. She couldn’t believe how adorable he was being tonight. There really was no other word for it…He was just adorable.

She picked up her wine glass and took a sip before she realized that it was heavier than it should be. Her glass was full. Daniel looked at her. “I thought you might like some more.”

“Thank you, Daniel,” she said, overwhelmed by his consideration. “You are the best friend that anyone could ask for.”

She missed his pained look and how quickly he reached for his wine.

The wine made sleeping easier. Both of them had been tired or relaxed enough to go straight to bed after returning to the hotel, and it hadn’t taken long for Daniel to fall into a restless sleep, despite his previous insomnia without Sam next to him. Alcohol helps, he mused as he drifted off, but that’s a problem, too. He knew how easily he could have become addicted.

He was standing in the middle of a tent, one he remembered vividly as the one where he found Amonet, and the one where he had lost Sha’re forever. It was empty, he was alone, like he had been at first in his vision from Sha’re. Turning, he somehow knew that she would be there.

Only she was Amonet, and even if he’d been armed—he wasn’t; he wasn’t dressed for an off-world mission or even at all. Only in dreams could you die in your pajamas—he would never have been able to kill her, to shoot her, or to hurt her. She raised her hand device, and the familiar pain started, forcing him to his knees.

Why this? He demanded of himself. Why now? Why am I dreaming about this now? When he was recovering his memories, he’d had this dream, after he’d learned of Sha’re’s death from Teal’c. Why? He couldn’t give himself the answer.

He forced his eyes up to Sha’re. But the woman standing above him was no longer his wife or the Goa’uld that possessed her. It was Sarah. Sarah was killing him. Her eyes flashed and reminded him that this was Osiris, not Sarah.

He felt his lips moving and realized that he was repeating, “I’m sorry,” over and over again. He had said it to Sha’re, that he was sorry. Here they were killing him, and he was apologizing to them?

It was true. He would never let it go. He would carry the guilt for the rest of his life. No matter what he did, he would always believe that what happened to Sha’re and Sarah was his fault. He closed his eyes. Shouldn’t he be dead by now? Sha’re’s vision had taken days, but it was really only seconds.

This was a dream. He could wake up from it. He willed himself to wake up and opened his eyes. His nightmare was not over. Sam was the one with the hand device this time.

“No. Please. No…”

Sam’s eyes flashed, and the pain intensified. He was going to die, at Sam’s hands. But that wasn’t Sam, couldn’t be Sam…

His world went blank.

Daniel sat up in bed, his heart pounding. The last part of his dream disturbed him more than anything. Sam. Please don’t let anything happen to Sam because of me. He put his legs over the side of the bed, intending to get up and get a glass of water when he heard Sam murmur in her sleep. She thrashed around a little and he crossed the room to her.

“Sam, it’s okay, wake up,” he coaxed her gently.

She stilled and opened her eyes, not really awake. “Daniel?”

“You were having a nightmare,” he told her.

“Did I wake you?”

“No, I was awake,” he gave her a half-smile. “I had a nightmare, too.”

“So we both need to be held?” she asked, innocent in her sleepiness. She scooted over and pulled him down onto the bed. He sat for a minute, fighting against his better judgment. He knew he shouldn’t, but he crawled under the covers next to her. It wasn’t close enough for either of them. He pulled her into his arms, and she curled up against his chest.

“Good night, Daniel.”

“Night, Sam,” he whispered, but she had already fallen back asleep. He closed his eyes and tried to do the same.