The elevator doors opened unceremoniously. Dr. Daniel Jackson stepped inside, punched the number twenty-eight button and steadied himself for the descent into the mountain.
He watched the floors go by as the numbers lit up sequentially, and wondered why people did that. Daniel had known every floor of this base and had been involved in some incident, some scheme, and some drama on every one of them. 'Never a dull moment'was a phrase that had been born and raised at the SGC.
The cab came to a halt at level twenty-eight and when the doors opened up, Daniel took a moment before stepping out into this, long left behind, but still familiar, environment. His feet led him out into the corridor. Airmen went about their duties but the atmosphere was strangely quiet. Daniel was on his way to see the new General of the SGC, but didn't even realize that he had taken the route to his old lab. Now otherwise occupied with different texts and equipment, he felt a sense of nostalgia as his brain showed him the past – sitting at the desk, head burrowed deep into the most intricate and extensive research that could be found.
He didn't step in.
This was a place that Daniel had said goodbye to many years ago. It was behind him – it didn't need him anymore, but for a long time, they had been great friends.
On the move again, a few airmen stopped to talk with him, ask questions, and share. They must have worked with single purpose because they led him to his real destination.
Sam has still kept a small lab, in spite of her rank and position; it had always been a part of her. Today Sam's lab was full of equipment, and data, and alien technology, and silence. Daniel switched the light on and transported himself to a time long ago. Daniel and Sam had had many discussions here; not all work related. They had become friends here, grew to love and understand each other, and many other things here.
But Sam wasn't here anymore.
The unexpected had happened and she was gone.
Perhaps it should not have surprised Daniel that Sam would live only five years longer than Jack. Less than the number of years they had actually waited to be able to love each other openly. Theirs was a love with honour, with a certainty that it would be there, always.
When Daniel had gotten the call and then her final request that he be the one to clear out her things, Daniel had understood. Sam would not have wanted Cassie; the only child Sam and Jack had shared, to have to carry that burden. Sam knew that Daniel would do it, whether he was up to the task or not; he'd do it for her.
Daniel looked around the lab one last time before moving out. As he crossed the threshold he turned again to look inside and whispered "Goodbye Sam."
Leaving, he didn't turn the lights off because so much of Sam was light. She was his light on so many occasions that he left it on; it would always be on for him.
As he began to move down the corridor to the office of the newly appointed General of the SGC, Daniel willed his tears to be slow, to not overwhelm him. He knew that eventually he'd be ok. Death would not dim the light that Sam's love and friendship has shone on him.
He'd be ok because even now, inside him, Sam had left her light on.
End.
