Chapter 4
Sam checked her watch and found that it was 2200. She was finally
going to talk to Daniel before heading back home for the night.
She hadn’t finished studying all of the alien devices and normally she
would have forced herself to stay until she had, but she couldn’t stop
dwelling on the conversation that she needed to have with Daniel.
It nearly left her exhausted and she decided that it wouldn’t hurt to
leave them until the next day. Her team wasn’t due for a mission,
so she would have plenty of time to spend in the lab.
Dr. Lee had already left so she made her way out of the empty room,
turned the lights out, and locked the door behind her. She
quickly made her way down the corridor but when she reached the
elevator, she hesitated. She began to worry that Daniel might not
feel the same way about her as she did about him, but a little voice
inside her reminded her that she had to make her feelings known to him
once and for all. She just couldn’t go on like this, feeling
lonely and depressed because Daniel might not have felt anything for
her.
She was about to push the button when an urgent voice stopped
her. “Sam, wait a minute.”
Sam whirled around and cast a curious glance at Colonel Mitchell, who
was jogging down the corridor in her direction. She attempted a
smile, but she had mixed feelings upon seeing him. On one hand, she had
missed him quite a bit as well and thought it was good to see him
again. However, she was a little worried that he would try to
talk her into returning to SG-1. She’d thought about it, but the
fact remained that Vala was there and she thought she was more aware of
Daniel’s feelings for Vala than she was of any feelings he might have
had for Sam herself.
Cam’s gait slowed as he neared Sam, though his urgent expression
remained. “I was wondering if I could have a quick chat with you.”
Sam groaned inwardly. She thought she had an idea of what he
wanted to discuss with her. As she studied his face, however, she
could tell that he was insistent upon talking to her and probably
wouldn’t leave her alone until he did. There was also a hint of
concern reflected in his eyes that made her feel guilty for avoiding
him and the rest of SG-1 for such a long time. She decided she
would hear him out.
“I … I guess I could spare a few minutes,” she said, a faint smile
making its way to her lips.
Cam smiled back. “I promise you it won’t take longer than that,”
he said. He turned and looked to make sure no one else was
around, and then he gestured for her to follow him into the VIP room
just ahead.
Sam took a seat at the small round table in the middle of the room and
Mitchell sat down next to her. He gazed at his hands for a few
moments, as if he wasn’t sure how to begin. He then looked up at
Sam. “So, not exactly having the time of your life on SG-13, huh?”
Sam’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Uh, w-whatever gave you that
idea?” she asked, slightly shaking her head in denial.
Cam shrugged. “Oh, I dunno,” he replied. “Haven’t seen a
ghost of you since you transferred. I thought that, if you had
such a ball on Stevens’ team, you’d swing by and regale us with
wondrous tales of the newest technology you guys found, or the cool
battles you’d gotten into … with you saving the day, I might add.”
Sam chuckled and shook her head. She knew there was something
else behind Mitchell’s spiel and she wished he would just come out and
tell her. “Cameron, no offense, but will you please just get to
the point already?” There was a crooked smile on her face, but
her voice was testy.
Cam sighed and looked down at his hands. Sam could tell that it
wasn’t going to be easy for him to say. “I’d like you to come
back to SG-1,” he said quietly. His gaze returned to her and he
found her blue-gray eyes wide with surprise. After a moment, she
chuckled again in disbelief.
“You know, I had a feeling you were going to say that,” she said
ruefully, looking away from him. “Look, I miss Daniel, I miss
Teal’c, I miss you, and I miss being on the team. I just don’t
see how I can return to SG-1
with the way things are.” She glanced over at him for his
reaction. Of course, by “the way things are” she meant Vala being
on the team and said woman’s assumed relationship with Daniel.
She wondered if Cam realized that.
He nodded. “Believe me; I know why you would feel that way.
You want a good reason why you should return to the team? Okay,
I’ll give you one: Jackson is threatening to leave.”
Sam’s brow furrowed in confusion and she looked completely
nonplussed. “What? Daniel?” she asked in a small voice.
“I just ran into him a few minutes ago and he kept talking about how he
wanted to transfer to another team.”
“Uh … why?” Sam asked, still lost.
Cam shrugged again. “He said that he needs to be away from Vala.”
His statement left Sam in astonishment. “He needs to be away
from
her?? But I thought that –“
“He and Vala had something going on between them?” Mitchell finished
for her, a slight grin on his face. “’Fraid you’re wrong,
partner.” Sam’s nearly stunned silence prompted him to continue,
“He’s been complaining about how much time he’s lost on projects, doing
reports, and even his free time because of her. She doesn’t give
the poor guy breathing room. Guess he’s finally come to the end
of his rope.”
A faint blush stained Sam’s cheeks. “I just assumed that he
welcomed-“
Cam uttered a short laugh. “Oh, no, Carter, I can tell you that
he would never welcome any of that. Vala is not his speed
… which
brings me to something else. He said he wanted to transfer to
SG-13.”
Sam blinked. “That’s … that’s my team,” she said quietly.
Cam regarded her seriously. “That’s right. Not only does he
want to get away from Vala, but he really misses you.”
Sam could feel a lump forming in her throat. “He said that?”
Mitchell nodded. “He’s been flapping his gums about you an awful
lot since you left. At first I thought he did it just to get
under Vala’s skin, but heck, it’s easy to see that he misses you.”
Feeling the tears return, Sam swallowed hard. “Teal’c told me
something like that just before – that Daniel had been talking about me
all this time. At first I wasn’t sure if I should believe
him. I mean, I care about Daniel so much and I didn’t think he
felt the same way about me. The fact that Vala was here and
taking up all of his time just fueled my uncertainty. But after
hearing you confirm it, I guess Teal’c was absolutely right … not that
I really wanted to doubt him.”
Cam nodded again. “Yeah, it’s hard to doubt the big guy, isn’t
it?”
Sam turned away from him and sniffled, appearing embarrassed to face
him while she was on the verge of crying.
“Look, Carter, why don’t you think about coming back? I went
through so much to get the team back together when I first got
here. If it means that Jackson will stay, I’ll boot Vala off the
team.” Sam’s questioning look led him to continue, “He’s also
told me that you had some kind of problem with Vala. You know,
you could have mentioned it to me at the outset – would have saved
yourself a lot of trouble.”
Sam shrugged. “I wanted to save you some trouble because it was
really my problem. I thought I needed to deal with it
alone. I also didn’t think that Vala would be taken off the team
and I was afraid that Daniel would object to the idea and be angry with
me.”
“Well, that’s not the case now, is it? Jackson really misses you
and he can’t stand Vala, so she’s going to be history.”
Sam turned back to him and gazed at him tentatively.
“What do you say, Sam? It’ll just be the old band again:
me, you, Jackson, and Teal’c.”
“Y-you mean it?” Sam stammered.
“Scout’s honor,” Cam replied.
“Oh, geez, I …” Sam started, still flustered and in disbelief.
She turned her head toward the door of the VIP room and then back to a
hopeful-looking Mitchell. “Can I get back to you on that? I
was just about to go and talk to Daniel.”
A smile grew on Cam’s face. “No hurry, ma’am. Hope you and
Jackson will be able to sort things out. No, scratch that – I
know you’ll be able to sort things out. And I know he’ll
be real
glad to see you.”
Sam supplied a genuine smile of her own for the first time since she’d
talked to him. “Thanks, Cameron.”
“Always happy to oblige, Carter,” he returned, still sitting down and
giving her a playful salute.
*************************************************
Still with a smile on her face, Sam left the room and finally headed
for the elevator. As she rode it to the floor on which Daniel’s
office was, she really hoped that Daniel was alone, as she didn’t know
how else she could have this conversation with him. Her mind then
began flooding with questions. What if Daniel wasn’t alone?
What if Vala was there, keeping him company? What if he really didn’t
have feelings for Sam as she did for him, even after what Mitchell and
Teal’c had told her? The “what-ifs” repeated themselves until
they coalesced into a jumbled mess and she realized that they were just
that – “what-ifs.” She needed to stop this and focus on what she
needed to tell Daniel. If she held these feelings back, they
would just destroy her inside.
Her gait slowed as she neared Daniel’s office. She found his door
shut, but she was able to peer into the small window. Finding him
completely alone, she breathed a sigh of relief. He was sitting
at his desk, studying some sort of book. He was hunched over the
desk and had his hand held to his forehead, his fingers dug into his
hair. He appeared almost frustrated and she suddenly began to
feel uncomfortable about bothering him.
She reminded herself again that this was something that she absolutely
needed to do. She straightened up, steeled herself, and raised
her balled up fist to Daniel’s door. The knock she produced was
timid, but it was loud enough to be heard.
She stepped away from the door and turned back to face the
hallway. She waited a few seconds and it became apparent to her
that Daniel wasn’t in the mood for any visitors. She was about to
convince herself again that this was a mistake when the door suddenly
clicked open.
Sam whirled around and came face to face with Daniel. His eyes
were tinged with a mixture of surprise and something akin to
concern. He certainly didn’t seem to be expecting her in the
least. “Sam?” he said quietly.
Oh, boy, here we go, she thought, beginning to tense up a
little.
She kept a fairly calm façade, even though apprehension was
reflected in her large, blue-gray eyes. “Daniel, I …” She stopped
herself in order to collect her thoughts into some semblance of
order. “I need to talk to you,” she began again. “Do you
have some time now?”
Daniel searched her face and nodded. “Sure. I was working
on a report that’s due tomorrow morning, but I’ve had so much on my
mind that I don’t have the heart to go back to it.”
Sam wondered what he meant by that. Maybe he really was busier
than he let on. “Look, if you’re busy, I –“
Daniel held up a hand to stop her. “No, Sam, it’s okay. To
be honest, I was hoping to talk to you, too. The report can wait
until later.” He gave her a small, reassuring smile.
The smile instilled some temporary hope inside of Sam and she responded
with her own faint smile and nodded. Daniel opened his door
further and stepped back to allow her entrance.
Sam sat down on the chair next to Daniel’s desk and gazed at him,
almost unsure of where to start. Daniel cleared some of the mess
off of his desk and quickly put his computer on standby so that it
wouldn’t distract him. He then gazed back at Sam, a part of him
nearly ecstatic at seeing her again and a part of him still worried
that he might make a fool out of himself in revealing his feelings for
her.
“So,” he said, feeling a bit awkward as he waited for Sam to
begin. She merely stared back at him with a hint of a smile on
her lips. Daniel turned and briefly glanced at his coffee
maker. “I … ah … I’d offer coffee, but I ran out of filters,” he
told her with a sheepish chuckle.
Sam’s smile grew an inch as she continued to gaze at him. Little
did he know that, deep inside, she was still trying to gather her
thoughts and feelings into something coherent that she could share with
him.
“I can head down to the commissary and get us both a cup if you want,”
he continued.
Sam grinned and shook her head. “No, it’s okay, Daniel,” she told
him.
Daniel nodded and then looked down at his desk as an awkward silence
descended upon them. They both had something that they
desperately needed to say to each other, but their individual
insecurities were holding them back.
Daniel finally decided that he should be the one to get the ball
rolling. “So, ah … how are things working out on SG-13?” he
asked, a hint of awkwardness still in his tone.
Sam gave a little shrug. “They’re fine,” she replied nonchalantly.
Daniel nodded, but the expression on his face revealed that he didn’t
quite believe her and that she should come clean with him. There
was no point to putting up a front that she was in a great mood and
didn’t need to be with him or anyone else any longer; her deep feelings
for him reminded her of that.
Sam’s act crumbled as she averted her eyes, slumped her shoulders, and
sighed. “They’re not so fine,” she admitted quietly.
Daniel’s eyes filled with concern, prompting her to continue, “I mean,
don’t get me wrong. Colonel Stevens, Major Addams, Lieutenant
Pruzanski – they’re great guys, but it’s just not the same as it was on
SG-1. I really, really miss Cameron and Teal’c …” As she trailed
off, she shook her head slightly.
Daniel looked at her expectantly and, after she trailed off and it
seemed that she had nothing else to add, his eyes became tinged with
disappointment. He crossed his arms protectively in front of
himself and lowered his gaze. He almost appeared defeated, with
good reason. He’d been planning to reveal his feelings to her,
but, if she didn’t even miss him at all this whole time, then she
obviously didn’t have similar feelings for him.
“But I miss you the most of all, Daniel,” she said, trying hard not to
let her emotions spill forth just yet.
At that, Daniel’s head shot up and he appeared momentarily
surprised. The surprise soon became colored by something that
resembled relief as Sam continued, “I miss talking with you, I miss our
little coffee breaks, I miss spending my downtime with you … there’s no
easier way to say this: I miss being with you.”
Moving his chair out from behind his desk, Daniel sat closer to Sam and
took her hand in his. “Oh, Sam, I miss you, too,” he said, gazing
at her tenderly.
She shook her head. “No, wait, there’s more,” she insisted.
“Daniel, I …” She stopped abruptly as she met his gaze and realized how
close he was to her. She felt as if she’d drown in the crystal
blue pools of his eyes. She suddenly became flustered and
struggled again to get her thoughts in order. “… I didn’t know
how I could come out and say this, but I have to or it will make me
burst. Daniel, I care about you. I care about you more than
I ever realized … more than as a friend. I care about you
as a
lover.”
Again, Daniel’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. “Y-you do?” he
asked. On the outside he seemed almost stunned, but on the inside
he was hoping that what he was hearing was real.
Sam met his eyes with confidence and nodded. “Yes, Daniel,” was
all she could say. Deep down, she was worried about what Daniel’s
reaction would be.
The smile that spread across his face told her that she had no reason
to worry. He really appeared to be grateful, and he was. He
was grateful that she felt the same way about him as he did about
her. He didn’t have to worry any longer about making a fool
out of himself in revealing his feelings to her.
“Sam, I …” he began. He cut himself off and shook his head
slightly. Lacking the ability to express his feelings in mere
words, he gathered Sam into a fierce hug. As he hugged her, his
smile threatened to split his face in two. He was feeling not
only pure happiness, but relief as well. These two feelings
combined to produce a euphoria that he hadn’t felt in ages.
Sam herself was trying to keep a rein on her feelings as well,
sniffling and clearing her throat. She wore a smile that rivaled
Daniel’s as he stroked the back of her head, an action that resulted in
warm, tingly sensation flowing through her body.
“Sam, I guess I can’t deny it any longer,” Daniel said as he slightly
loosened his grip on her and stepped back to gaze into her eyes.
“I have to be honest with you. I’ve realized that my love for you
is beyond anything resembling friendship, and it’s been that way for
quite some time.”
The uncertainty that tainted Sam’s eyes was washed away by the tender
smile that Daniel wore as he gazed at her. Sam felt herself being
overtaken by the overwhelming sense of relief similar to the one Daniel
experienced when Sam admitted her feelings for him. Her mouth
lifted into a smile. “It has?” she asked.
Daniel nodded. “I felt something for you the moment we first met
on Abydos. There was this … connection that I felt when you
introduced yourself, and it only became stronger after I showed you the
cartouche. Anyone might have guessed that we shared something in
common just being scientists, but I knew it was more than that.
You proved to be such a good friend after we came back to Earth,
worrying about me when I wasn’t getting enough sleep and just being
there to listen when I rambled on about how worried I was about Sha’re
and Skaara.”
Sam briefly looked away and nodded.
“Sam, I’ve always felt something for you, even when Sha’re was still
out there,” he continued. “It was a close, special friendship at
first. I don’t know when it evolved into something more than
that, but it did. The whole situation with Vala sort of threw it
off kilter and shoved it to the background.” Daniel sighed and
scrubbed a hand through his hair before continuing, “I didn’t have much
time to sort out my feelings for you and discover what they were all
about. Since you left SG-1, I realized how it hurt not having you
near to me. I missed you on our missions, I missed you in the
commissary, I missed you during late nights with coffee and mission
reports –“
“I know, Daniel. Teal’c and Mitchell told me,” Sam interrupted, a
fond smile lighting up her eyes.
Daniel lowered his head and blushed, a small grin forming on his
lips. “I must have been insufferable to them this whole time,” he
said ruefully. “Vala undoubtedly thinks so.” He shook his
head and his grin faded as he looked back up at Sam. “Anyway, I
realized how much I missed you, how much I needed you. That’s
when I discovered the feelings I have for you.”
Sam’s eyes began to sting with tears and she began to feel very guilty
about what she had done, especially the argument with Daniel that led
up to her being reassigned. Deep down she knew there wasn’t much
of a reason to feel guilty. After all, she wasn’t aware that he
originally had these feelings for her. Right now, her emotions
were guiding her, though, and she couldn’t help thinking this way.
“I have to admit that this whole time being apart from you really
forced me to think things through,” she began. “That’s when my
feelings for you made themselves evident to me. I’d never really
been aware of them until now. I always had an affinity for you,
Daniel. It was there at the moment I first met you, but I knew
you were married and that it was wrong to have feelings for you beyond
friendship, so I banished them. Then after Sha’re died, I backed
away for a while to give you some time to get over your grief.
Don’t get me wrong – we were still friends. ”
Daniel nodded, his lips twitching upwards in a faint smile.
“It was not long after that I started the ridiculous flirting with
Jack. There was mutual attraction and something inside of me
really wanted a relationship with him. But I knew that such a
thing wasn’t realistic. I guess I went with him because he was
‘safe’ … it would have been against the regs for us to have an actual
relationship. I learned that the safe bet isn’t always the best
bet. Unfortunately I didn’t learn until the incident on
Kelowna.” Sam tensed up slightly and bit her lip to keep from
breaking down emotionally. Daniel sensed her discomfort with the
subject and pulled her close to him.
With her head resting against Daniel’s shoulder, she continued, “When
we found you on Vis Uban and you asked me if there had been anything
between us, I told you no because it was the truth and I didn’t think
it would be fair to lie to you. Even if I did, I knew there was
the chance that you could regain your memories and be angry with me or
think I was selfish for lying to you about something like that.
Still, after you came back, I hoped that we could start over again and
I could finally figure myself out as far as my feelings went.
That didn’t happen and I ended up dating Pete. The childish
behavior and flirting with Jack resurfaced, especially after I found
him with Kerri. I didn’t completely resolve all that until he got
promoted and moved to Washington. I just knew that nothing could
work out between us. Meanwhile, my feelings for you grew
stronger. I think they were always lurking beneath the surface,
but I just wasn’t able to fully figure them out until now.”
Daniel held Sam and stroked her hair. The action released some
built-up tension within her and she sighed. “Daniel, this has
been so difficult for me. I don’t know how long I debated over
whether I should say anything to you or just keep living in agony over
these feelings I had that might not have been mutual.”
“Well, I’m glad you did tell me, Sam,” Daniel said gently as he
continued stroking her hair. “I was going through the same thing,
worrying like crazy that you didn’t feel the same way about me and that
I’d look like an idiot if I revealed my feelings to you.”
At this, Sam raised her head slightly and blushed. “I … I was
acting so ridiculous. I thought that this whole time you had
feelings for Vala instead.”
Daniel stopped stroking her head and gazed at her sadly. He had
suspected all along that Sam might have gotten the wrong idea and
thought that all the time he’d spent with Vala meant he had deep
feelings for her. Choosing his words carefully, he began, “I have
to admit that Vala is attractive and smart …”
Sam straightened up and eyed Daniel warily, causing him to chuckle.
“… But not in the way that you are, Sam,” he continued, drawing closer
to her and stroking her arm. “She cannot measure up to you in my
book. You’re brilliant and kind-hearted and very
attractive.” He blushed slightly upon that last word, but
continued, “We’ve known each other for such a long time and the old
friendships are the most special to me, especially those that have
developed mutually beyond friendship.”
Sam could not stop the tears from traveling down her face as she gave
Daniel a watery smile. She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue from
her BDU pocket. Attempting to compose herself, she sniffled and
he gathered her into another hug. Finally, the dam broke loose
completely and she began to fully open up to him. “Do you remember when
I told you that I didn’t like the changes around the base?” she asked,
her voice muffled by his shoulder.
“Uh huh. Was that what your transfer was all about?”
Sam stepped out of his embrace and nodded. “Well, it was part of
it. All that stuff about SG-1 not being a five-man team was just
an excuse. I did feel that I no longer contributed anything to
SG-1, but what made me the most uncomfortable was the fact that you and
I hardly spent any time together anymore.”
Daniel looked at her sorrowfully, feeling struck by pangs of
guilt. “Oh, Sam,” he breathed. “I feel very bad about
that. Vala has monopolized my time for the most part. Thanks to
her, I’ve been set back in doing mission reports, projects, and
whatnot. I feel a little guilty complaining about her – I mean,
she is useful as far as intel on the Ori is concerned.”
Sam looked at him and reluctantly nodded.
“I admit I’ve thought about this from time to time, and I’ve realized
that we hadn’t been as close as before. I regret that it’s
happened and I hope things can change now,” Daniel said as he edged
closer to her.
Sam gazed deeply into his blue orbs and smiled faintly. “How
about we start right now?” she asked.
Daniel replied with an identical smile before he wrapped his arms
around her and covered her lips with his. He initiated a slow,
tender kiss and ran his fingers through her hair. Sam responded
by caressing Daniel’s back and tickling the hairs at the nape of his
neck with her fingers. After several moments of sheer bliss,
their lips softly parted and they stared soulfully into each other’s
eyes. Unspoken assurances of their deep feelings for one another
were shared before Daniel pulled Sam into another embrace.
At that moment, Sam’s eyes colored with slight worry. “I wonder
what will happen to the team when we disclose our relationship?” she
asked him.
“Well, I guess we’ll have to tell General Landry. Hopefully he
won’t mind as long as Mitchell doesn’t have a problem with it,” Daniel
replied.
Sam nodded and a small smile grew on her face. “Something tells
me that Mitchell won’t have a problem with it,” she said softly.
Her smile then faded and she pulled apart slightly from him.
“There might be a little problem with Vala, though. She did seem
to be extra flirty with you, Daniel. I hope there isn’t anything
else lurking behind it.”
A sober expression crossed Daniel’s face and he nodded grimly.
“You’re right. She said something to me earlier that has me
suspicious. It made her sound as if she was jealous of you.”
Sam’s eyebrows drew together. “What did she say?”
Daniel sighed, reluctant to tell Sam for fear of upsetting her.
“She said she felt there was an element of competition on SG-1 …
between you and her. She wouldn’t come out and say what that was
exactly, but I think I have an idea. She … she said some pretty
unreasonable things.” He gazed at Sam worriedly.
“Like what, Daniel?” Sam asked. Daniel merely shrugged and shook
his head, prompting her to continue, “You can tell me. I want to
know, I … I have to know.”
Daniel released an explosive breath and kept his eyes trained on the
floor. “Okay. She said that she couldn’t understand why
your absence was bothering me so much. She thought it was
actually an improvement and she didn’t regard you as indispensable to
SG-1.”
Sam’s eyes widened incredulously. “What? She said that??”
Daniel gazed at her uneasily and nodded.
“I guess I shouldn’t complain because I didn’t think I was very
valuable to the team any longer myself, but …” She trailed off and
shook her head in disbelief. “… I still can’t believe that she
said that. She was in competition with me to be the most
important ‘girl’ on SG-1?”
As Sam’s voice rose in anger, Daniel blushed. “No,” he said,
barely audible.
“Then, what?” Noticing Daniel’s deepening blush, Sam stopped.
“Over you?” she guessed, lowering her voice a notch.
Daniel failed to reply, but she could tell what his answer was.
She was a bit angry with herself for not realizing it sooner. She
chuckled incredulously. “Oh my God, I can’t believe this.
So, she was jealous of me while I was jealous of her the whole
time. I feel like I’m trapped in an Archie comic book or
something.”
Daniel shrugged and smiled weakly. He then grew more
serious. “I’m sorry I put you in this situation, Sam.”
Sam shook her head. “Daniel, you didn’t put me in this
situation. I put myself there. I shouldn’t have assumed
that you had feelings for Vala, just because she hung around you all
this time.”
Daniel nodded. “But I’m partly to blame here, too. I should
have made an effort to spend more time with you. It certainly
would have been better than sitting here, trying to concentrate on
translations with Vala insisting on ‘helping’ and deciphering them all
as sexual innuendos.” He rolled his eyes and chuckled ruefully.
Sam gave him a smile that was slightly sad in nature. “If she
does have any serious feelings for you, you’re going to need to have a
talk with her, Daniel.”
Daniel averted his eyes and nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. I
only hope she’ll accept my relationship with you.”
“She’ll have to,” Sam told him. “When I saw Colonel Mitchell, he
told me that he would remove her from SG-1 if it meant that you would
stay and that I would come back.”
Daniel eyed Sam seriously. “H-he told you that I …”
“…That you would leave the team and join SG-13? Yeah,” Sam
confirmed with a smile, drawing closer to him.
Daniel’s lips edged upward in a faint smile. “Now you know just
how crazy your staying away has made me,” he said, barely above a
whisper.
“You’re so wonderful, Daniel,” Sam said before his lips captured hers
for another kiss.
The kiss turned more passionate as their hearts overflowed with love
for one another. They were both so relieved and so happy in the
knowledge that their feelings for each other were one-hundred-percent
mutual. They no longer had any reason to worry about any cause
for rejection and the removal of that burden left nothing but pure
bliss at this very moment.
Daniel expertly slid Sam’s blue BDU jacket off her shoulders and he
felt her body shudder slightly. If there was any hesitancy on
Sam’s part, it was very temporary. She felt a warm, wonderful
feeling course through her body as Daniel slid his hands underneath the
neckline of her black t-shirt and caressed her back. It was a
feeling that she hadn’t experienced in quite a long time, not since
she’d dated Pete. She realized that she enjoyed it much more here
and now with Daniel. It felt more comfortable … more natural.
These feelings caused her to lift Daniel’s t-shirt up to his midriff,
exposing his well-developed musculature. He wasn’t as bulked up
as Teal’c and would probably not stand any chance in a Mr. Universe
competition, but his abs were well-toned. Sam relished the way
his smooth skin felt underneath her fingers.
Suddenly, some fairly long forgone animal instinct deep inside her
began to give hints of its presence. It caused her to grab his
shirt and remove it from his body, leaving him bare-chested.
Daniel might have been surprised for a brief moment, but the feelings
flowing through his body were on par with Sam’s, and they caused him to
remove her shirt as well. It wasn’t very warm in his office and
Sam felt goose bumps prickling her exposed skin for a split second
before the heat of ecstasy returned. Daniel had begun planting
little kisses along Sam’s jaw line down her neck to the valley between
her breasts. Each little kiss caused flames of fiery passion to
flicker inside her, making her moan with pleasure.
Sam worked her fingers over the breadth of Daniel’s smooth, sculpted
chest and he reveled in the feel of her touch. He moaned softly
before joining his lips to hers for another passionate kiss. Sam
closed her eyes as she felt Daniel’s tongue enter her mouth and entwine
with her own. God, she had not felt this good in such a long
time. She and Daniel were now expressing their love for one
another, and there was nothing holding them back.
He reached for one of her bra straps and was about to slide it off her
shoulder when her eyes widened slightly. She suddenly looked down
at her right hand, which had made its way to Daniel’s inner thigh still
covered by his pants. Daniel had become aware of her hand as well
and he suddenly sobered up. They broke apart slightly and
silently gazed at each other.
“We … probably shouldn’t …” Sam trailed off, a faint blush staining her
cheeks.
“Not here, anyway,” Daniel agreed softly.
Sam nodded before Daniel pulled her close to him again. “I love
you, Daniel,” she breathed.
“And I, you, Sam,” he said. He tilted her chin upwards so she
could meet his gaze and he bestowed a soft kiss upon her
forehead. They stayed in that position for a while, their hearts
joined in great love for one another.
Daniel’s office door was shut, but his and Sam’s actions were still
perfectly viewable through the square window in his door. It
turned out that they had been viewed by someone, and that someone was
not happy at all with what she saw.
She looked on in disbelief, her lips drawn in a deep frown. Her
eyes were aglow with something akin to jealousy as well as anger.
She could finally not bear to see any more, and so she walked away
quickly before anyone could see her.