Messages out of the Bottle

Author: Jess

Rating: PG

Archive: Anywhere, just let me know where it’s going and keep my name on it.

Pairing: S/D

Subjects: Sam/Daniel romance, angst, UST

Summary: A bout of irrational jealousy leads Daniel to confess his true feelings for Sam, but does she have similar feelings for him? Episode tag for Message in a Bottle.

Spoilers/Season: In the Line of Duty, Need, Message in a Bottle. Takes place in season 2, directly after Message in a Bottle.

Disclaimer: I am not making any money off of this. The characters do not belong to me; they belong to MGM/Showtime, Double Secret Productions and Gekko Film Corporation. This story is copyrighted April, 2004 and may not be used or altered without the express permission of the author.

Note: I know that Daniel is still married to Sha’re at this point in time, but since I am pretty much ignoring the Sha’re issue, this could be considered slightly AU. A big thanks to BethV for the beta!

Sam headed back to her lab after making a detour to the infirmary to check on Lieutenant Graham Simmons. The SGC had been on lockdown since SG-1 had brought back a mysterious orb from P5C-353, which ended up attacking and infecting Colonel O’Neill. The Lieutenant somehow managed to get infected even worse than the Colonel. Sam had visited him once back when the infection was ravaging through him. Now that everything seemed to be back to normal, she went back to check on him again. He was a fairly new member of the SGC, a nice, though somewhat nervous (due to a “crush” on her, Daniel had surmised), young man. After helping them run the spectral analysis on the orb and managing to get exposed to it, she felt she owed him a favor. Luckily he seemed to be recovering nicely.

She entered her dimly lit lab and began to make her way over to her computer. She stopped short as she noticed Daniel sitting at the table, glasses perched on top of his head, seemingly poring over the enlarged copy of the writing on the orb.

He turned around to face her.

“So, how is Lieutenant Simmons doing?” he asked casually.

Sam put her hand to her heart.

“Jesus, you scared me, Daniel.”

He shot her an innocent look and shrugged.

“Sorry.”

Sam shook her head.

“No, no, it’s just that I didn’t expect to find you in here.”

Daniel put his glasses back on and ran a hand through his hair.

“Why not?”

Sam didn’t expect this question, but merely shrugged.

“I don’t know … I thought maybe you’d feel better off working in your office.”

Daniel turned around to glance at the large piece of paper sprawled out across the table and back to Sam.

“Oh … well, I figured there was more room here. You know how small and cluttered my desk is,” he giggled sheepishly.

Sam nodded slightly, then furrowed her brow as she looked intently at Daniel.

“You were waiting here for me, weren’t you,” she said.

Daniel felt his face grow hot, and Sam smirked as she noticed the blush creep up on his cheeks.

“Uh, no, I – “

“You must have been,” Sam said, her voice taking on a mock accusing tone as she pointed at him. “The way you were sitting here … you brought that with you as some sort of cover-up, didn’t you?” she gestured toward the paper.

Daniel said nothing, but stared at her almost in shock.

“What’s going on, Daniel?” she asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

Daniel was blushing furiously now. He averted his eyes.

“How’s Lieutenant Simmons doing?” he asked quietly.

“Doctor Fraiser expects him to make a full recovery –“

Sam stopped herself.

“Don’t try to change the subject, Daniel,” she continued with a vehemence that surprised even herself.

Daniel’s eyes widened. He felt stung by what Sam had just said.

“What?” he furrowed his brow. “NO, I’m not changing the subject, I –“

“I know what this is about,” Sam interrupted, narrowing her eyes once again. “You’re jealous, aren’t you?”

“Huh? J-Jealous??” he stammered incredulously.

“Yes!” Sam insisted. “Ever since we first brought the orb back, and the Lieutenant helped run the spectral analysis. I remember that ‘maybe a crush’ remark you made, and the look on your face when you said it. You can’t pretend that wasn’t jealousy.”

Daniel’s cheeks were still rosy and he remained silent.

Sam sighed deeply and covered her face with her hands.

“Damn it, Daniel,” she muttered before making her way to the other side of the lab.

Daniel felt a huge lump in his throat as he looked down at his hands. He had suffered a range of emotions throughout the past couple of days: curiosity when they first found the orb, brought it back to the SGC, and began to study it; alarm when the orb attacked Jack and then began to spread throughout the base; frustration when trying to figure out what the writing on the orb meant; overwhelming relief when the orb was taken through the stargate, Jack recovered and the whole base pretty much got back to normal; and, yes, just a hint of jealousy while they worked on the orb with Simmons.

Okay, maybe more than a hint. Daniel knew it was silly to be jealous of the young Lieutenant. Sam didn’t interact with him nearly as much as she did with Daniel. In the little over a year that Daniel had known Sam, he had grown very fond of her. Everyone had jokingly referred to them as the Science Twins, but they shared a deep bond. Daniel knew he was being irrational when he feared that Simmons may be trying to encroach on that bond, but he couldn’t explain it. He had gotten wind of Sam checking on the Lieutenant once more, and he was nearly burning with jealousy.

He decided to check on Jack, who was also in the infirmary for observation. Daniel quickly glanced over at the opposite end of the infirmary and witnessed Sam talking to Simmons, her face lit up and even laughing a bit. Daniel realized that Jack was back to his old, snarky self and decided to leave the infirmary before Sam could. Although he was quite comfortable in his office, poring over some new artifact that one of the SG teams had recently brought back, he knew Sam would be returning to her lab and decided to wait for her there, bringing the paper copy of the orb’s writing to make himself look preoccupied. Somewhere, deep down he knew that Sam would find him out. He didn’t think she’d be so angry, though, and he was hurt by her reaction.

“I can’t believe you’re jealous of Graham,” Sam intoned after a long silence.

The way she referred to him by his first name rekindled the feelings of jealousy within Daniel. He abruptly got up from the chair and made his way over to her.

“Jealous?? Me??” he raised his voice defensively. “An archaeologist with two PhD’s who travels throughout the galaxy, jealous of a fledgling Lieutenant who – “

Sam never quite saw Daniel like this, and it surprised her. She stuck to her accusation, however, as she was more surprised that he was actually jealous.

“Then what do you call it?” she scoffed.

“What do I call it??” he yelled at her, raising his arms. “What do I call it??”

Without warning, he grabbed Sam, planted his lips against hers and kissed her. Hard.

Sam’s eyes became as wide as saucers as Daniel enveloped her in a long, hard kiss. As he kissed her, he dipped her until they were practically on top of the table. Daniel was a bit surprised that Sam didn’t seem to be resisting. She finally managed to close her once widened eyes, and was now passionately running her hands through Daniel’s hair.

After a minute or two, he brought the two of them upright once again. Daniel released his lips from Sam’s, so that they could both come up for air. Sam took a deep breath and looked into Daniel’s eyes. Blue eyes pierced blue eyes as the two stared at each other silently. Daniel raised his hand to her face and lightly caressed her cheek.

“That’s what I call it,” he said softly. His face grew hot and he suddenly felt the need to vacate the room. He smoothed his hair down, fixed the collar on his BDU jacket and hurriedly exited the lab.

“Daniel, wait!” Sam called out, her voice trembling.

He made his way down the hall, never looking back and failing to realize that he’d left a surprised Sam, eyes glistening with tears, in her lab.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Daniel tried to concentrate on translating the cuneiform tablet that had been brought back by SG-7 on a recent mission, but his mind was elsewhere. He kept thinking about the conversation that had taken place in Sam’s lab, about how hurt he was that she accused him of being jealous of Simmons, and … about that kiss. How could he do such a foolish thing? Why on Earth had he been jealous in the first place? And, more importantly, how could he do such a thing, and just up and leave with no explanation?

He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. His eyes drifted over to a fairly recent photo in a frame on the right side of his desk. It had been taken at the SGC Christmas party nearly six months ago. As a team, they had not been together very long, about eight or nine months at the most. They had spent some time teaching Teal’c about the holiday, and about all the traditions surrounding it. Much to Teal’c’s chagrin - and Jack’s amusement - he was dressed up as Santa Claus for the party. The picture, which had been taken by Jack, revealed Sam and Daniel standing next to a very stern-looking Santa Teal’c. The two held on to mugs of eggnog, and their free arms had been placed around each other’s shoulders. They had broad smiles on their faces, and looked like a couple of high school kids having a grand old time.

Daniel looked at the photo thoughtfully and a faint smile crept onto his lips. He looked back at the tablet, then laid the frame face down, put his glasses back on and tried once again to concentrate on the translation.

He nearly jumped when he heard the shuffling of feet in his doorway. He looked up with wide eyes, almost like an innocent child, when he saw Sam standing there, her mouth drawn up tensely.

“Daniel…” she began tentatively.

“Oh, uh … Sam,” he replied nervously as he grabbed the frame and set it upright once again on his desk. He gestured for her to enter the room.

Sam made her way inside his office and stood in front of him.

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” she asked, once she caught sight of the tablet.

“Oh, no, no, no,” he said innocently. “I, uh … figured it was about time that I took a break.” He pushed the tablet over to the side of his desk.

Sam nodded.

“You were jealous … weren’t you,” she said quietly.

Daniel hoped she would avoid the subject, but he realized once again that he wasn’t off the hook. He shut his eyes and sighed.

“Do you want the truth?” he asked her as he nervously ran his hand over the hair at the nape of his neck.

Sam looked him straight in the eyes.

“Yes,” she said seriously.

Daniel’s face contorted with impending dread.

“Okay, I was,” he blurted out, averting his eyes.

Sam looked at him intently.

“I was jealous of Lieutenant Simmons, or ‘Graham’ as you referred to him,” he began bitterly.

Sam shook her head, her mouth open in disbelief.

“Ever since he was first assigned to the SGC a month ago, I saw how he acted around you, and I knew he had a crush on you,” Daniel spat out at top speed.

Sam’s brow knitted in confusion.

“And I saw how you acted around him,” he finished, a light blush creeping up again on his cheeks.

“What??” Sam intoned incredulously.

Daniel sighed. He knew how foolish he sounded, but he decided to get it all off his chest.

“Oh come on, Sam. I’ve seen how friendly you’ve been acting toward him,” he said quietly. “I mean, granted, he’s a young kid and everything, so I thought you were just patronizing him, but – “

Sam placed her hand on her hip and uttered a sound of utter disbelief. She moved in closer until she was standing right up against Daniel’s desk.

“For your information, Daniel, I’m friendly toward everyone around here! It’s just common courtesy!”

Daniel knew that the next words out of his mouth would cause him trouble, but he couldn’t stop them from escaping his lips …

“You’re friendly enough to visit everyone who ends up in the infirmary, no matter who they are, twice?”

Now he really sounded like an irrational, immature child. Daniel stopped and realized what he said. His cheeks were flaming now.

“I … I’m sorry,” he stammered quietly.

Sam began to laugh, not in an amused way, but almost derisively.

“Do you know how utterly ridiculous you sound?”

Daniel lowered his head and nodded. He looked back up at Sam.

“Yes, I admit it, I was jealous and I sound like a complete fool, so I won’t be surprised if you walk out of here and never talk to me again – “

“I’m not finished yet, Daniel,” Sam said forcefully.

A pained look formed on his face.

“I don’t believe this! I don’t believe what a complete jerk you’re acting like!” Sam yelled.

Daniel lowered his head once again, wishing he could zat himself once as punishment for being so stupid.

“Just because I love you it doesn’t mean that I can’t extend some courtesy to others on base,” she blurted out, the words tumbling from her lips.

At that instant, Daniel’s head shot up and his eyes widened. Sam realized what she had just admitted, and she began to blush faintly.

“What did you just say?” Daniel asked in a small voice.

Sam began to choke up and sniffled loudly to try to fight back her tears. It didn’t seem to work.

“I … I said I love you, Daniel,” she replied, her voice wavering.

Daniel rose from his chair and stepped around his desk until he was standing directly in front of Sam. He took her hands and held them in his own. For a moment they just stared into each other’s eyes before he hugged her tightly.

“You have no idea how good it feels to hear you say that,” he said softly, running his fingers through the hair at the back of her head. Her face was buried in his shoulder and he could hear her muffled sobs.

“I love you too, Sam, more than you could ever know,” he continued.

Sam sniffled and tried to regain her composure as they slipped out of their embrace.

“I mean it,” he insisted. “When you were blended with the Tok’ra Jolinar, and that Ashrak got to you … you have no idea how worried I was that you were going to die. I know I wasn’t right there with you in the infirmary, I had my own problems with the Ashrak, but I would rather have let myself be killed by him than to have you die like that,” he finished somberly.

Sam looked up at him from underneath her long, blonde, side swept bangs.

“I don’t think I ever thanked you for those beautiful flowers,” she said ruefully, although with a little smile.

A small grin crept over Daniel’s face.

“I have to admit, Daniel, I was really worried about you when you became addicted to that sarcophagus. Never mind your irrational actions, but when you presented General Hammond with that letter of resignation and then collapsed right there in his office, I was afraid that thing had screwed you up for good. You have no idea what a relief it was when the effects finally left you, and you approached us in the briefing room, back to your good, old, Daniel-ish self.”

“’Daniel-ish’?” he chuckled lightly, raising his eyebrows.

Sam shrugged and grinned at him. He placed his hands on her shoulders.

“Can you ever forgive me for acting like such an ass?” he asked, looking into her eyes.

She nodded slowly.

“Just don’t ever do that again, okay?” she grinned.

A small smile crept over Daniel’s face and he nodded.

“Now that I know for sure, I won’t have to,” he replied.

He leaned over and gave her a little kiss on the cheek. Warmth radiated across Sam’s face and she grinned widely.

Her eyes drifted over to the cuneiform tablet that sat on the edge of Daniel’s desk.

“I … guess I better let you get back to that, huh?” she said awkwardly.

Daniel shrugged.

“Hey, you’re welcome to stay if you’re interested in helping me out,” he said.

Sam narrowed her eyes.

“Nah. With all due respect, Daniel, that’s kinda boring,” she grinned playfully.

“Yeah. You’re right.”

Sam raised her eyebrows.

“We’ve both been working very hard these past two days. Why don’t we take a little time off tonight?” he grinned.

“What did you have in mind?” Sam asked as she grinned and raised an eyebrow.

“Oh … possibly dinner and a movie?” he asked hopefully.

“Why, Doctor Jackson, if I didn’t know any better I’d say you were asking me out on a date,” she teased.

“Guilty as charged,” Daniel winked.

Sam giggled.

“Just making sure,” she answered. “If you don’t mind, though, I’d like to change into some more comfortable clothes first.”

“You and me both,” Daniel agreed. “Should I pick you up at seven?”

“Sounds good,” she replied, making her way to the door. “You know the address, right?” she asked as she turned back to him once more.

Daniel nodded. “See you then, Sam.”

Sam smiled and nodded before leaving his office and making her way back toward her lab.

Daniel was about to gather up his things and close up his office when he noticed the cuneiform tablet still sitting on his desk, untouched. His brow creased as he tried to translate the writing and decided to consult one of his texts. He flipped a few pages before he realized what he was doing, then abruptly shut the book and placed it back on the shelf. He took the tablet, opened one of the deep desk drawers and placed it inside. Then he grabbed his car keys, shut the lights off and exited his office, locking the door, whistling happily the whole time.

~@ THE END @~