Chapter 7

Sam pushed the door to the Ladies room open and rushed inside. She headed into one of the stalls as she felt like she was going to vomit. She felt her insides lurch, but in the end she merely coughed. It was as if her body was refusing to let her lose her dinner over something so trivial. She unlocked the stall door and made her way to one of the sinks. She surveyed herself in the mirror, and the reflection that stared back at her seemed almost unfamiliar. Sure, it was her - the familiar blue eyes, the blonde hair - but her fair complexion was now so flushed it made it seem like she had sunburn. The frown she wore produced deep creases on either side of her mouth, and it seemed to make her look much older than her actual mid-thirties. Hunched over the sink, Sam turned the faucet and began splashing cold water on her face. She sighed as it helped to sooth her burning cheeks.

Sam stared at her reflection once more and began to question herself. Why had she run off just now? She was made to sing a song that was actually one of her favorites as opposed to Meri having to sing one she hated. It could have been the fact that Jon and Meri made her sing onstage in front of a large group of people, most of whom were complete strangers, but it wasn’t that. For the most part, she had ignored most of the audience members the whole time. She didn’t mind singing in front of Meri and her fiancé, since Meri was a good friend and they had sung karaoke before as she’d mentioned, although she was sure she had been drunk at the time.

Daniel. She was up there singing in front of Daniel, a man she hadn’t even known for one whole year, but a man who was more than her best friend. For some reason, Sam couldn’t let go of the fact that they worked together. No one at the SGC had ever seen her like this, so outgoing and willing to make a fool out of herself in front of so many people. At that moment, Daniel didn’t seem like someone she was close to, as a good friend, working relationship notwithstanding. He seemed like a guy she worked with, along with hundreds of other guys. Some she knew well as she worked close with them every day, and some she hardly knew at all. But the one thing that tied them together was the SGC. Tonight, Daniel was just another guy from the SGC, who would probably tell all the other guys and girls from the SGC, all about the singing Captain and how she made a complete fool out of herself.

No! Why are you thinking like this? Daniel is your best friend. So what if you both work together? He cares very much about you and he would never do that to you. You don’t give him enough credit, Sam, a nagging little voice inside berated her.

“But I made a fool out of myself in front of him,” she said aloud. She winced, a bit surprised at how throaty her voice sounded.

No, you didn’t. Didn’t you see the surprised look on his face while you were singing?

“Don’t remind me,” she said bitterly, clearing her throat to get rid of the hoarseness.

He was surprised, Sam. He didn’t think you had it in you. Didn’t you see the big smile he had while he was clapping for you? And the smile he gave you when you returned to your seat?

“I hadn’t noticed,” she said dryly. “God, what am I doing, talking to myself in an empty bathroom?” she groaned.

Didn’t you see how he sought to pursue you after you ran off? He’s worried about you.

Sam shook her head, wishing she could shut her conscience up just this once.

He cares about you, Sam. He loves you. He said it himself. A person who loves you wouldn’t think you made a fool out of yourself.

Sam’s eyes widened at those last thoughts. “No, he doesn’t love me. He loves Sha’re … his wife. She’s still out there, and he loves her. He just said that to play along so that Meri would think we were seriously involved. There’s no way he can love me,” she said quietly, her voice wavering just a little as she stared at herself in the mirror.

He does love you. He loves you as a friend, as a very good, dear friend. Relationships like this are special and not very easy to come by. You know that.

Tears began leaking out of Sam’s eyes, and she sniffled in an unsuccessful bid to drive them away.

God, look at you. You’re a mess. You don’t want them to see you like that, do you? After you rocked the house?

Sam stopped sniffling and began to chuckle in spite of herself. “Boy, am I acting stupid,” she muttered between laughs.

Now, pull yourself together, dry your eyes, touch up your makeup and get back out there.

Sam laughed softly. “Yes, Captain,” she said as she pulled a mock salute. She felt the warmth come back into her cheeks and thanked her lucky stars that she was the only one in the room.

With that, she darted over to the large mirror near the entrance, set her purse down and flew into action. She dabbed her eyes of any remaining tear stains and frowned as she discovered what a mess she looked like. Her lipstick had faded for the most part, and her mascara had run a bit, thanks to her teary spell. She wiped the remnants of the mascara just below her eyes and applied a fresh coat to her lashes. She pursed her lips and reapplied her lipstick. Finally, she removed a small brush and tidied up her hair, which had become a bit tousled. She put everything back in the purse and surveyed herself in the mirror one last time.

Go on, Sam. He’s waiting for you.

Sam began to smile. She took a deep breath, reached out to grab the door handle, and swung it open.

She exited the Ladies room, and just as she was trying to gather her thoughts and try to think of what to tell her party back at the table, she plowed headlong into a man’s chest.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she muttered.

The man didn’t say a word. She was aware she had her hand on his chest and blushed as she immediately drew her hand back. Suddenly, the man reached forward and grabbed her hand and held it in his hands.

Sam’s face contorted in confusion. Who was this guy, and what was he doing? She’d bumped into him by accident, and he grabs her hand, preventing her from getting away from him. Now he was caressing her hand. Sam wanted to get away from him, but strangely enough something was preventing her from doing so. She felt as if she was drawn to him. All she could think about was what would happen if Daniel caught her like this.

She finally looked up and realized that the hands … as well as the chest … as well as the face … belonged to Daniel.

Sam blushed faintly as she looked up at him. She could see lines of worry etched across his face, as well as a faint sadness reflected in his cerulean eyes.

“Sam,” he finally said, notes of both relief and concern in his voice.

Sam looked into his eyes for a moment, and then broke away from him and averted her eyes. She felt her cheeks begin to grow hot again. Now she was no longer embarrassed, but ashamed.

“Sam, what happened?” Daniel asked softly, bringing her close to him again and looking into her eyes.

Sam found it extremely difficult to look Daniel in the eyes after what she had done. She almost felt that she didn’t deserve to look into those deep, blue eyes of his. She averted her eyes once more and turned her head away from him.

“Sam,” Daniel’s voice pleaded. “Look at me.”

She felt Daniel cup his hands over her chin and tilt her head back towards him so that she could see his face.

“What happened to you back there?” he tried again.

Sam sighed heavily. Something deep down inside her prodded her to come clean with him. Something kept nagging at her, reminding her that he was her dear friend and deserved at least that. “Daniel,” she began tentatively. “I’m not sure that you’ll understand this, but please hear me out.”

“Okay,” Daniel nodded.

“I …” she uttered, trying to find the right words. “What you saw of me back there, was something that no one’s ever seen before.”

Daniel raised his eyebrows curiously at her.

“Uh, w-what I mean is, something that no one from the SGC has ever seen before,” she stammered.

“What are you talking about?” he asked quietly, his brow wrinkled in confusion.

Sam looked down at her feet and took another deep breath. Daniel reached out and touched her arm. She looked back up at him. “You know what I’m like at the SGC,” she continued. “I’m usually a fairly no-nonsense, low-key sort of techno-geek, right?”

Daniel nodded. “Ah … yeah, I guess I’d say that.”

“Daniel, no one from the SGC has seen me like this before … no one.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I … I don’t know. You may think this sounds ridiculous, but when I was up there singing and I saw you watching me, all I could think of was the fact that we work together. At that moment, I saw you not as my best friend, but as one of my co-workers … a co-worker who was seeing a very different side of me and could very well –“

“Sam,” Daniel sighed heavily. “You mean you’re afraid I’ll say something to Jack, or Teal’c or …anyone? Is that what’s bothering you?”

Sam swallowed hard and nodded, trying to hold back tears.

“Oh, Sam,” Daniel continued, his voice deep with sadness. She put her head down again and he tilted her chin up so he could see her face.

“Sam, you know I would never do that. I have no reason to do that,” he insisted. “You were great up there. Didn’t you hear all those people clapping and cheering for you?”

Sam avoided his gaze and nodded reluctantly.

“That’s not what this is about, is it,” Daniel suddenly said, a realization coming to him.

Sam studied his face carefully and then shook her head. “No,” she nearly whispered.

“Well, what, then?” he asked.

Sam glanced all around and decided that the area they were in was not all that private. “Uh … can we talk back here?” she asked, pointing to the small alcove off to the side of the restrooms where a few seats were located.

Daniel turned in the direction she was pointing to and nodded. “Okay.”

Before they headed back there, she turned and saw people dancing to “The Electric Slide.” “Oh, geez,” she grinned. “They’re doing that now?”

“Oh, yeah,” Daniel said wearily. “They started it just as I was about to find you. Your friend even tried to talk me into doing it,” he nearly whined.

Sam laughed softly and Daniel smiled. It felt good to see her more upbeat after what had just occurred. He followed her to the seats near the restrooms and sat down next to her. The area was nice and secluded, and the music didn’t reach this far back.

“Okay,” she started. “A couple of months after Meri and I graduated, she invited me to a party she was throwing for two of our friends who were getting engaged. We had it in some Knights of Columbus Hall and Meri had them open up the bar, although most of us were under age.”

Daniel nodded.

“Anyway, it was a pretty small group of us: me, Meri and her boyfriend … I think this was boyfriend number six, actually,” she mused as she cocked her head to one side.

Daniel chuckled softly and it made Sam feel warm inside.

“It was me, Meri and her boyfriend, our friends Jill and Tom who were getting engaged, and a few other friends from high school. Meri basically invited the whole class and said anyone could drop by if they wanted to.”

Daniel furrowed his brow in confusion.

“Yeah, weird way to advertise a party, I know,” she grinned. “Anyway, it was about 10 pm and there were only eight of us there. Meri got out her boom box and collection of tapes and decided to get us to do a sing-along or something, sort of like a forerunner to karaoke I guess. Meri put on “Love Is a Battlefield” by Pat Benatar, and set the equalizer so that the music would stand out and the vocals would be more in the background. Meri decided she would get up in front of us and sing into this battery-powered microphone she had.”

“Wow, I thought she didn’t like to sing,” Daniel broke in.

Sam shook her head and grinned. “No. You see, she never actually intended to sing it. She asked me if I liked that song, and I said, ‘… well, yeah…’ which was the truth. She suddenly grabs my arm, makes me stand up in front of everyone and goes, ‘good! Then you can sing it, Sammie!” she chirped as she mockingly imitated Meri’s voice.

Daniel’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, so what she did to you tonight isn’t anything new…” he trailed off.

Sam’s cheeks became rosy as she shook her head. “No,” she nearly choked on her words. “I insisted that I couldn’t sing and asked why she didn’t want to sing it herself. She never gave me an answer and started egging me on, turning the music louder and all that. I finally realized that I had no choice, and it wasn’t a big deal since I was with friends who would understand, and that I liked the song anyway.”

Daniel nodded.

“I started singing it the best I could. Luckily I knew the words, so that wasn’t a problem. After a while I just became totally oblivious of everyone in the room and started really belting the song out.”

Daniel smiled at her, almost out of sympathy.

“I was actually starting to have fun,” Sam chuckled nervously. “Until …” She drifted off as a faraway look appeared on her face.

“Until…?” Daniel asked, leaning toward her.

Sam broke her stare and turned back toward him. “…Until I saw Steve Cole sitting in the back,” she finished, her face becoming flushed once again.

Daniel looked at her curiously.

“He was a guy I had a real crush on,” she elaborated. “He was in most of my classes during senior year, and I kept hoping he would ask me to the prom, but he never did and I ended up going with an underclassman.”

“Oh. Well, at least you had a date for your senior prom. At least you went to your senior prom,” Daniel grinned in spite of himself.

Sam laughed softly and smiled at him. “I had really strong feelings for him, and I never saw him anywhere except in school. I don’t even remember seeing him at the prom. I was never really crazy in school. I always kept my nose in a book and didn’t socialize much. I was pretty straight-laced. Anyway, he must have shown up right after I started singing. I didn’t see him come in. When I saw him, I thought I was going to pass out. I quickly got through the song, got some applause and cheers from my friends, and made my way back to my seat. Steve approached me, looking really stunned. He told me that he didn’t know I could sing, and that I was really good. I was pretty flattered …” she smiled.

Daniel smiled back.

“… And then, just like that, he spit in my face,” she continued, her voice beginning to waver.

Daniel looked at her seriously, his brow knitted in confusion. “What?”

Sam shook her head and bit her lip, afraid she would start crying again. “Not literally, but after he said that, he just up and left. A couple of days later I was taking the Metro to the Air and Space Museum. I wanted one last fling before I was going to head out to the Air Force Academy,” she smiled briefly.

Daniel flashed a brilliant smile at her. This was one thing he loved about Sam. Hearing her talk this way only reminded him how much the two of them had in common, especially having a penchant for visiting museums.

“Steve and a few of his friends got on my train at the Federal Center Southwest station,” she continued grimly. “They sat right next to me and started pointing and laughing. He was telling them all about my singing.”

Daniel’s brow knitted in confusion.

“I just couldn’t believe it. I called him on it and told them what he had actually said to me that day. He denied it and kept telling them that I was drunk when I was singing. Then, in front of a whole car-load of people, he started imitating me. His friends were falling over, laughing with tears in their eyes. I just wanted to crawl into a corner and die,” she said bitterly, sniffing back tears.

Daniel took hold of her hand.

“Luckily I only had two stops to go. As soon as we reached the Smithsonian station, I leapt out of my seat and flew out of the train. I could still hear them laughing as I headed up the escalator.”

“Oh, Sam,” Daniel said sadly, looking into her eyes.

Sam sniffled once again and shook her head. Daniel reached into his jacket pocket and handed her a tissue. “Thanks,” she said, her voice muffled as she blew her nose.

“It’s okay,” Daniel said softly.

Sam regained her composure and continued. “You know what the worst part was?”

Daniel shook his head.

“I was so upset that I ran to a pay phone outside the museum and I called Meri. I was crying on the phone and I told her everything that had happened. Do you know what she said to me?”

Daniel looked at her expectantly.

“She basically said that I had brought it on myself.”

Daniel’s forehead furrowed, and his mouth dropped open. “What??” he said incredulously.

Sam nodded. “First, she tried to make excuses for Steve and his friends. She said that they were probably drunk. Now, I knew for a fact that these guys were sober when they were tormenting me. I mean, they didn’t act drunk and I didn’t smell alcohol on their breaths. I insisted that they weren’t drunk, and she just went … ‘well, Sammie, you brought it on yourself.’”

Daniel continued to look at her incredulously. “I can’t believe she said that,” he said, his tone eerily quiet and almost angry.

Sam averted her eyes, took a deep breath and nodded.

“Sam, how can you still be friends with her after she did that to you??” he nearly demanded.

Sam shook her head. “I … I don’t know. I guess, over time, I was able to forgive her for doing that … I just wasn’t able to forget.”

Daniel averted his eyes and nodded. “That sounds familiar.”

Sam looked at him curiously.

“Jack told me that his wife Sara could forgive him for what happened to their son, but he didn’t think she could forget.”

Sam sighed and nodded. “It was just at the back of my mind, after all these years. I had tried to push it away. Then, when I was up there singing before, the situation was almost identical and it just … resurfaced. Meri makes me sing against my will, it’s a song that I happen to like, I’m doing it in front of a group of people and actually starting to have a good time, and …”

She lowered her head as the familiar blush crept back up into her cheeks. “… A guy I like is watching me, surprised at my singing abilities,” she muttered.

Daniel’s head shot up and he looked at Sam seriously. “Sam?” he asked quietly, his blue eyes widened in disbelief.

Fearfully, Sam slowly raised her head so that her eyes would meet Daniel’s.

“Sam, please tell me that you’re not equating me with this Steve guy,” he said softly.

Sam shook her head ever so slightly. Daniel reached out and touched her arm. “Sam. You know I would never do anything to hurt you. I’m not like that guy you knew all those years ago who broke your heart. I’m not going to go around the SGC laughing and making fun of your singing, you know why?”

She looked at him expectantly, still blushing like mad.

“Because, first of all, you don’t deserve it. You have a very nice singing voice, and you really gave it your all up there. It takes guts to go up in front of a huge group of people, most of them strangers, and sing your heart out like that.” Now it was his turn to blush.

Sam looked at him and felt the tears returning. She was a bit surprised and even a bit overcome by what he was saying.

“Second of all, I would never, ever, do anything like that in a million years. I care about you too much. We’ve only known each other for what, eight months or so? Look at how our relationship has grown in that time. You’ve become my best friend, actually more than that. I love you, Sam, and I make it a point never to hurt the ones I love.”

I told you so.

Sam giggled softly as the voice inside of her resumed its nagging.

Daniel cocked his head and a crooked grin formed on his face. “What?”

Sam shook her head. “It’s nothing. I just …” She stopped herself and looked back up at Daniel. He looked at her expectantly.

“Thank you, Daniel,” she finally uttered as her eyes pierced his. “Thanks for making me feel better. I … you … you shouldn’t have had to do that,” she said regrettably, shaking her head.

“Why not?” he asked curiously.

“The whole thing was so stupid. I didn’t give you enough credit, and I’m sorry about that. It’s just that after what happened before, I had some … bad memories,” she said sheepishly.

“Hey, that’s okay. The same thing happened to me just before. You saw what happened when I tried to kiss you.”

Sam nodded.

“So, are we back to where we started?” he suddenly asked, smiling at her.

Sam smiled back and nodded. Daniel pulled her into a hug and patted her hair down. They pulled apart and Sam gave him a little kiss on the cheek, which seemed to make his face light up.

“I guess we should go back there and join them before they think that something … happened to us,” Sam smirked.

“Yeah. Can’t give them any other ideas, can we?” Daniel said playfully.

Sam laughed. She took Daniel’s arm and they headed toward the other side of the club, back to their table.

As Sam and Daniel reached the booth, they noticed a suspicious Meri and Jon looking up at them.

“Well, it’s about time,” Meri exclaimed. “Where have you two been??”

Sam and Daniel plastered innocent looks on their faces. “Ah … well, we were just … talking,” Daniel said awkwardly.

“Yeah … talking,” Sam added.

Jon looked at them knowingly and smirked. “Yeah, sure you were, man!”

Daniel shot him a glare as they sat down.

“Seriously, you guys were missing all the fun!” Meri continued. “We were doing the Electric Slide up there, weren’t we, hon?” She turned toward her fiancé.

“Uh … yeah,” he said, looking and sounding a bit annoyed.

Sam grinned inwardly. Just then, the familiar melody and lyrics of Savage Garden’s “Truly Madly Deeply” began.

“Oh, they’re starting the slow dance,” Meri said, her voice with a dream-like quality. “Come on, hon,” she addressed Jon.

Jon followed her up out of the booth, looking not as reluctant as he did before. Meri looked back at Sam and Daniel expectantly before they headed toward the dance floor.

Sam elbowed Daniel and turned to him. “Uh, you want to dance, honey?” she asked him awkwardly.

Daniel made a face and shrugged.

Meredith frowned. “You guys haven’t danced the whole night!” she exclaimed.

“Uh … we’re really not in the mood right now, Meri,” Sam continued awkwardly. “Plus, Daniel isn’t that much of a dancer.” She felt the blush creep back into her cheeks as she said those last words.

Meri shrugged and with that she and Jon headed for the dance floor.

Sam sighed as she watched Jon and Meri, along with many other couples, slow-dancing to “Truly Madly Deeply.” After a minute or so, she actually began to feel pangs of jealousy, of regret. It seemed like the evening was turning into a big bust, especially after what had happened before. She thought that maybe she’d at least get to do a slow dance. She sighed bitterly.

Suddenly, she felt someone nudging her. She turned to her right and saw Daniel looking at her wide-eyed, almost as if he was hurt.

“’Isn’t much of a dancer?’” he asked in a mock hurt tone.

Sam blushed once again and almost felt bad for saying such a thing. It wasn’t that she actually thought that Daniel was a bad dancer. She actually had never seen him dance before. It was just a quick excuse she’d made up to get Meri out of their hair.

“Oh, come on,” she grinned. “She was prodding us nearly the whole night and I could tell you were uncomfortable. I made up the best cover story I could…” she trailed off as her blush deepened.

Daniel turned his eyes downward and nodded. “Oh, I know. And thanks, really. But there’s just one problem with that.” His eyes shot back up at her and she looked at him curiously.

“For you see, Captain Doctor, I most certainly can dance,” he teased with an air of smugness.

Sam raised an eyebrow. “What about all those faces you were pulling? I thought for sure that you were uncomfortable and couldn’t dance …” she trailed off as she realized that she may have stuck her foot in her mouth.

“Oh, well, when it’s the right music, I can. And that song isn’t finished yet, so shall we?” he asked, his eyes sparkling.

A smile spread across Sam’s lips and she nodded before they eased up out of the booth. Daniel held his arm out for her and she took it as they headed over to the dance floor.

I want to stand with you on a mountain
I want to bathe with you in the sea
I want to lay like this forever
Until the sky falls down on me...

Sam shut her eyes and smiled as she danced slowly with Daniel. She had her arms up around his neck and he had his arms around her waist. She was actually pleasantly surprised at how well he could dance. She didn’t know if he had ever danced with Sha’re, but she had suspected it. Furthermore, Daniel had mentioned that he had a short relationship with a girl named Sarah while he was studying in Chicago. She suspected that they had shared one or two good dances at least.

Shut up, Sam. Stop thinking and enjoy this while it lasts, her nagging inner voice demanded. Sam grinned widely and nearly let her mind go blank as they continued to dance.

“Psst,” she suddenly heard off to her right.

Sam opened her eyes abruptly and turned in the direction of the hiss, only to see Meri and Jon dancing close to them. Sam glanced back at Daniel and saw that he too was looking at them curiously, perhaps even a bit annoyed.

“You guys finally made it up here!” Meri whispered excitedly.

“Uh … yes, we did, Meri,” Sam grinned. “Now, go away.”

Meri ignored her comment. “What made you change your mind?”

“I realized I owed Sam one dance,” Daniel said tersely, his tone revealing that he wanted them to either shut up or get away from him and Sam.

Meri nodded and grinned, and then finally turned back to a seemingly annoyed Jon to continue dancing.

Sam sighed and rolled her eyes. “Geez, what a pain in the ass,” she muttered under her breath as she leaned closer to Daniel.

Daniel smirked and started to chuckle when Sam brought her index finger up to her lip and nodded her head in Meri’s direction. Daniel noticed that the two of them were staring at him curiously, and he plastered a fake smile onto his face and nodded.

The song ended, and there was a brief moment of silence before Natalie Cole’s “I’ve Got Love on My Mind” began. As soon as the music started, Sam wrapped her arms loosely around Daniel’s neck again and they started to dance again …

I’ve got love on my mind
I’ve got love on my mind
I’ve got love on my mind
And there’s nothing particularly wrong
It’s a feeling I feel inside
When I woke up early this morning
It was staring me straight in my eyes

Sam shut her eyes and sighed contentedly as she glided across the floor with Daniel. She felt so wonderful being in his arms. It was a feeling of warmth and it made her feel safe. She breathed in his scent. He smelled vaguely of honey and almond. It was not like anything she’d smelled of a man before, especially in that he wasn’t wearing any overpowering aftershave. She remembered her relationship with Jonas Hanson, and how he was known to douse himself with lots of cologne. She would tease him that he wasn’t supposed to bathe in it, and she earned nothing more than a glare in return. She sighed bitterly as she remembered all the low points of her relationship with him, and how they were forced to neutralize him about four months ago.

“Sam?”

She heard Daniel whisper her name, and she slowly looked up at him. He was looking down at her, his brow knitted in confusion.

“You okay?” he asked softly.

Sam nodded slightly. “Yeah,” she muttered. “I was just thinking … I don’t think I’ve ever felt as comfortable as I do right now, in your arms.” She blushed madly and looked up at Daniel for his reaction.

He appeared to be a bit surprised before his lips twitched upward into the faintest of smiles. He leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips.

I’ve got love (love) on my mind (ooh)
I’ve got love (love) on my mind (ooh)
I’ve got love (love) on my mind (ooh)
When you touch me I can’t resist
And you’ve touched me a thousand times
When I think of your tender kiss, ah
Then and there I start to unwind, ooh, in your arms

Daniel looked at Sam thoughtfully as the song played. He was still surprised at how beautiful she looked, and underneath the soft-colored lighting she looked positively angelic. He had had similar thoughts about her in the past, but he had scolded himself for thinking this way while Sha’re was still out there. Even though he still longed for his estranged wife, he somehow got the idea that she would want him to be happy, at least in the present, until the day came when he’d finally be reunited with her. And he was happy here and now. Yes, at this very moment he knew that he was truly happy. He realized just how special his relationship with Sam was, and how deeply he cared for – no, loved – her.

He finally decided that he would kiss her; not a soft, brief kiss as they had just shared, but a deep, passionate kiss. He leaned forward, his lips edging closer and closer to Sam’s. Apparently she had been expecting this, and, Daniel hoped, wanting this. She could feel his warm breath on her face before their lips joined and he proceeded to kiss her ever so tenderly.

At that moment, Sam felt all of her inhibitions fly out the window and she moaned softly as they kissed harder. He began to run his hands through her hair, as she began to do the same to him.

Suddenly, a feeling of dread overcame him and his eyes shot open. He looked down and realized that Sam’s lips had turned from a light rose shade to bright red. At the same time, he felt her hair brush his neck. Wondering how this could be when Sam’s hair was rather short, he looked down at her hair and realized it was no longer short and blonde; it was long, thick and red. He broke his lips away from hers and his forehead wrinkled in confusion.

Sam picked up on Daniel’s sudden uncertainty and looked at him curiously. They had just shared a wonderful kiss – quite possibly the best kiss she’d ever had – and now he was acting as if he was unsure that he should have done it.

Daniel’s eyes drifted up to meet Sam’s, when he realized that Sam was no longer there. The woman he’d mistaken for his best friend was none other than Hathor. Daniel gulped and began breathing rapidly.

Sam wrinkled her brow in confusion. “Daniel? Are you okay?” she asked.

”My beloved, why are you so hesitant? Do you not wish to supply the code of life?” Hathor taunted.

Daniel’s eyes suddenly glossed over. “Code of life?” he murmured.

Sam instantly knew what was going on. “Uh-oh,” she said under her breath.

As Daniel stood in one place, looking confused, she turned her head and realized that a handful of couples, including Meri and Jon, had stopped dancing and were looking at them curiously. Sam’s cheeks flamed. “Okay. Daniel, why don’t we sit down and take a little breather,” she said soothingly as she turned back to him.

“Is he okay?” Meredith broke in with genuine concern.

Sam sighed deeply and turned to her. “Yeah, he’s fine, Meri, he’s just …” she trailed off.

“Come, my beloved. Let us take part in the ritual so that our children may be born and we can commence our ruling over this planet.”

“Come on, Daniel, let’s go over there and sit down,” Sam coaxed him. She reached up and brushed a strand of hair off his face. The action made Daniel’s eyes suddenly narrow. Fear etched across Sam’s face as she noticed that his eyes seemed to fill with anger.

“NO!! I won’t help you make more goa’ulds!!” Daniel suddenly yelled.

Sam couldn’t tell if she was more embarrassed, or more worried about Daniel. She turned around and noticed that virtually everyone in the club was looking at them.

“What’s he talking about?” Meri asked.

“Nothing,” Sam replied, shaking her head. She turned back to Daniel, stared hard into his eyes and grabbed his arms. “Daniel, please!” she said firmly.

“NO!! Get away from me!” Daniel yelled. He managed to break free of Sam’s grip, darted away from the dance floor and disappeared out the front door.

“DANIEL!!” Sam yelled desperately. It was too late, as Daniel had disappeared from sight and was moving too fast for her to figure out which way he had gone. All eyes moved away from the door of the club where he had passed moments ago and onto Sam. Sam looked at the crowd, just too mortified to be able to say anything.