UNREQUITED
Set: Season 8
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: SG1, the SGC & sundry personnel belong to MGM, Gekko and the actors who so wonderfully portray the characters. I just get to play with them for a short while (cries forlornly into pillow).
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I saw him the other day - in Colorado Springs, of all places …
It was quite the shock - seeing that he'd died - according to Steven Raynor, that is. He'd shown me the notice. Someone had put it into the Obituaries…
He looked pretty healthy for a dead man … different, too. Not so nerdy or nervous, or … innocent … I guess!
Daniel always had that look about him - as if he needed to be looked after or he'd forget about eating, breathing…
Not that he really needed to be babied - not with his childhood and all, but still …
He looked good, seriously good - like he'd been working out with the Track team or Army or something. The girls in his post-grad philology class would be drooling if they could see him now!
…Oh, he'd always been cute, but now he was soooo much more! … so totally edible … sooo … HOT! Short styled, slightly sun-bleached hair; tall, buff, tanned body - looking at peace with himself - something I hadn't seen in all the years I'd known him.
It was a good look on him.
His clothes had changed too. Gone were the baggy chinos and checked shirts and in were form-fitting royal blue tee and light coloured denims.
Hubba!
He had a cream sweater draped over his shoulders and was standing in the bookstore, idly flicking through a magazine … obviously waiting for someone …
For a second I thought about heading over to say hello.
Just for a second … before the doubt set in.
Would he remember? Why would he want to? What had he been doing for the last nine years?
Why had he broken ties with the rest of us in Chicago? He must have known how we felt …how I felt!
Did he ever receive my letter? …
Steven said he had 'left' his apartment before The Lecture, so either it never reached him … or the contents sent him running away even faster …!
And somewhere in a Chicago Dead Letter office there sits a pathetic little missive offering condolences on his split with The Bitch …
The other woman …
The Interloper …
The one who grabbed his attention at a time I finally believed he was beginning to see me as more than just a friend.
Sarah.
With her uppity English accent and her tall elegant look. Who could compete?...
Then she went and dropped him, just when he needed the support.
And Daniel just died - inside - before he sealed off his feelings and moved on alone. Again.
Out of my life, out of the Archaeology community, out of this world for all anyone knew!
Yet there he stood.
And there was I, hurting …
As I watched, he straightened up and smiled brightly as another tall blonde woman walked over to join him.
Girlfriend? Or just friend?
So why did it ache so much inside after all these years? … the sight of his smile, the dimples, the way his face lit up when he was enthusiastic about some new discovery or theory …
They started to move away, and just for a moment his eyes met mine and it almost seemed as if there was a hint of recognition there … and then he turned to respond to his companion and it was gone.
And so was he.
And there I stood.
Alone.
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