Confessions by Betty Bokor
Sam/Daniel. Daniel and Vala are overheard as they talk about something very private.
Spoilers: All seasons, including 10.
Disclaimer: The Stargate original characters belong to MGM/Showtime, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corp. This was written strictly for the purpose of entertainment. No attempt at copyright infringement has been made.

Confessions

Chapter 1

When Jack finally reached Sam's office, he expected to see her reclining at her table, lost in thought over some strange device. Instead, she was sitting on the small sofa in a corner of her lab, holding a cup of coffee in one hand and hugging her legs against her body with her other arm. She was lost in thought, no doubt, but she simply looked sad and about to cry.

"Carter!" he called with a smile.

She startled and then stood up immediately. "Sir! I didn't know you were in town," she tried with a smile of her own.

"Well, I was driving by and saw the lights," he joked. "It's pretty late to still be here, Carter," he added, changing his tone. "What are you doing? Is Daniel around, too?"

Her smile quickly disappeared as she walked toward her table and started shuffling papers around. "Cam and Teal'c are helping General Landry move some furniture in his office and I didn't feel like going home with all of them here."

"Where's Daniel? Helping out, too?"

"No," she said a little bit more strongly than she had wished. "He's on a non-date with Vala. Well, at least he claims it's not a date, because she pretty much looked like she was going on the date of her life. I don't think any of us actually believes him," she added quickly, as if to clarify. "They both have been pretty close since she came back." She turned around and whispered, "You should have seen how he hugged her the day when we finally found her at that warehouse."

Jack smiled again. He thought it was funny that the stoic colonel could not disguise the jealousy in her tone. For years she had been the best friend and confidant of an attractive man who had remained single and unattached since the death of his wife. It was logical that she felt jealous when someone else started taking up his free time that had previously only been for her. Daniel's relationship with the singular alien would probably end up in romance or even something more serious and Jack could see how that would affect the lonely Sam. He thought she needed some cheering up. "Let's go to Hank's office. George Hammond came with me and he's probably already there. We'll get all the gang together and we can hide in Daniel's office and surprise him when he comes to bring Vala back to the base. We have to tease him about this," he proposed.

She did not seem very convinced. "He probably won't go by the office," she suggested.

"We'll leave a message at the gate on top. We'll say General O'Neill sent a package for him and that it's in his office. That will make him come."

She reluctantly agreed and later that evening she joined him and her other friends as they waited in Daniel's office. As soon as the guards let them know the two members of SG-1 were on their way down, they turned off the lights and waited in silence.

Sam feared the moment when she imagined Daniel would open the door and turn on the lights as Vala hung from his neck and tried to kiss him. Or, even worse, she pictured him pinning her against the wall in the darkness and kissing her passionately while everybody listened to their moans. She shook her head and with a deep sigh tried to erase the images from her mind.

A few minutes later the door opened slightly and she knew the moment had come.

"I'm serious, Vala. I'm sorry that it's so hard for you to understand, but I was clear from the beginning," they all heard Daniel say. "I only came this way to pick up Jack's package and I'm not going to your quarters with you." She must have tried to complain because Daniel's tone changed slightly as if he were admonishing a child. "You're a very attractive woman, I know, and I'd love to accept your invitation, but it would be a betrayal of my own feelings. As long as I feel this way, it wouldn't be fair to get into a relationship with anyone. It would hurt us both."

"I don't care if you're in love with somebody else," she answered seductively. "It's obviously not working or you'd be with that person right now and not with me."

Even in the dark Sam knew Vala was touching him in some way. She felt a shiver and tried to control her uneasiness.

"Vala, I'm not going to change my mind. I am your friend and you can count on me whenever you need me. We've been through enough together and I feel the bond that exists between us, but it's not that kind of bond," Daniel said. They all realized he had just separated himself from her and walked toward the lights. It was not going to be as much fun to surprise him as they had imagined after they had witnessed such a private conversation.

"Daniel." Vala called him softly and he seemed to turn to look at her.

"What?"

"When I came here for the first time I heard plenty of rumors about you," she said with a conspiratorial tone. "About you and O'Neill," she added slowly, "but we both know you're not gay, so…"

"So nothing," he interrupted her. "I'm not going to tell you who this person is, so forget it and go to bed."

"Oh, come on. It's just a little game. I think I can get it right."

"It doesn't matter. I have a hard enough time trying to get over it and I don't need you to remind me."

"But I could take you to my bed and make you forget…"

Daniel sighed with exasperation. "You don't get it, do you? How could it be good for any of us if I tried to make love to you and all the time I was wishing you were somebody else? I can't do that. I told you; it's not fair for either of us and I already have enough trouble keeping my mind from going there with her."

"So, let me see," Vala tried again. "You're in love with this woman, but she's not with you and you don't even allow yourself to imagine how it would be to have her in your arms."

"No! Besides, she was very clear three years ago; she put me in my place. So, stop it. Just go to bed."

"And you've been in love with her for a while," Vala continued as if he had not spoken, "because you said earlier that you thought you could get over it when "that person" found somebody else, but then, let's say, she dumped him," she finished with a chuckle.

Sam automatically stood up. She felt those words had hit too close to home. Cam's arm pulled her back down to sit on Daniel's sofa.

"Vala…" Daniel warned. "She didn't dump him. The relationship didn't work and not because of me, if that's where your mind is going."

"Okay… And it cannot be this famous doctor Janet everybody talks about, because she passed away… So that only leaves…" She stopped as if suddenly she had found the answer. "There's only one other woman that close to you! You're in love with Sam Carter!"

Sam stood up again and nobody stopped her this time.

"You'd better not repeat that, Vala," Daniel warned one more time.

"But you admit it's true! It has to be!" Vala exclaimed with excitement.

"All right, it's true, and I don't need you to tell me that she doesn't return my feelings because I already know it too well," Daniel added with complete exasperation.

"Do you think she's in love with somebody else?"

"Yes. Probably." He sounded doubtful. "I have no idea, but she's not in love with me. We're very, very good friends, as she put it. So, please, I'm begging you, leave it alone." He paused for a second and then said, "I need to go home," and started walking away from the door.

"What about O'Neill's package?" Vala asked.

"I'll get it on Monday. I need to go. I need to go home."

His steps sounded more distant and then Vala suddenly closed the door and left, too.

Someone in the room turned on a light. Sam was standing in the middle of the office, near the door, looking at it. She turned around and everybody saw that her eyes were full of tears.

"I didn't understand the question," she said softly.

"Carter, this isn't your fault," Jack said from his corner.

"I didn't understand the question," she repeated as if she had not heard him. "I have to tell him."