Title: Distraction
Author: MegTDJ
Category: Fluff
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Daniel/Janet
Spoilers: Set during season 7
Summary: During a boring debriefing, Daniel finds himself rather... distracted by a certain member of his audience.
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1, its universe and its characters are not mine. The story itself is, however, so please don't archive without my permission.

Author's notes: Kerri made me do it! It's all her fault! Honestly, the idea for this fic came to me in the middle of the night when I was half asleep, I let it slip to Kerri the next day, and before I knew it, she had forced me to write it. It is certainly not my usual fare, but I hope you like it anyway. And if you don't, just remember - Kerri made me do it!!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Distraction

Daniel shuffled his papers restlessly as he waited for the others to arrive. He knew that Jack, Sam, and Teal'c were all exhausted after their long mission and didn't want to sit through the inevitably long debriefing, but neither did he. He felt it was rather inconsiderate of them to make him wait.

He glanced over at Hammond, who was growing increasingly annoyed and impatient, and shot him an apologetic look. "They'll be here any second," he said.

Hammond just shook his head and went back to reading Daniel's mission report.

A sudden flash of white drew Daniel's attention to the stairs then, and he smiled as Janet hurried into the briefing room.

"Sorry I'm late," she said as she took her seat beside him. "I had to finish patching SG-3 up before I came. We're pretty short handed in the infirmary today."

"Not a problem," he said. "You're not the only one."

"Yes, I can see that," she said, looking around at the other empty seats. "Where is everybody?"

"Considering the way Jack was going on about how boring this debriefing would be, it wouldn't surprise me if he snuck off the base and went home," Daniel muttered.

"I hope for his sake that he hasn't," Hammond said in a rather threatening tone. "I ordered him to be here at 1600..."

"Here, Sir!" Jack ran up the stairs and over to the briefing table. "And just..." He glanced at his watch. "Woops, ten minutes late. Sorry about that, Sir."

Sam and Teal'c followed at a more sedate pace, wearing identical sheepish looks. "We just lost track of the time, Sir," Sam said. "It won't happen again."

"Lost track of the time, or hoped we would have started without you?" Daniel asked with his most innocent expression on his face.

Before Jack had a chance to make a comeback, Hammond cleared his throat and said, "Shall we begin, Dr. Jackson?"

Daniel nodded and rose to his feet. "Okay," he said as he stepped over to the window overlooking the Stargate. He had the remote control in his hand, so he pressed the buttons to bring down the screen, turn off the lights, and turn on the projector. An aerial image of the planet SG-1 had recently visited appeared on the screen.

He pointed to one of the large buildings that were displayed. "This is the science center on P5G-117 we have been... privileged enough to have just visited." At this, he shot a pointed glare in Jack's direction.

Jack, however, wasn't even paying attention. He was too busy doodling on Daniel's carefully written report.

Daniel clicked the button for the next slide with so much force that the remote's outer casing made a scrunching sound. He wished it had been Jack's head instead.

This thought gave him the extra oomph he needed to continue with his presentation despite his already-bored audience. "The people of P5G-117, who call themselves the Mareseans, are at least one hundred years more advanced technologically than we are. In fact, they have already perfected a lot of the technologies that we're only just beginning to explore here on Earth."

"Medical technologies?" Janet asked.

Daniel tried to hide the triumphant grin that almost broke out on his face. Someone was paying attention after all. "Yes," he said, clicking the button for the next slide. "They have diagnostic machines far beyond anything we could hope to create in our lifetime. They can discover and cure diseases before the person has even shown any symptoms."

Janet looked impressed by this news.

"And they're willing to share these technologies with us?" Hammond asked.

"No, Sir, they're not," Jack said.

Daniel shot him another glare, but again Jack wasn't watching. "They... allowed us to sit in on a few of the lectures that were being given in the science center, Sir," he said. "Sam and I learned a lot that we can now pass on to the scientists and researchers here. They just weren't willing to give us their technology outright."

"Which sort of makes sense, Sir," Sam chimed in. "They worked hard to get where they are today, and they don't want to just give all of their knowledge away to people who haven't earned it."

Hammond nodded slowly. "Please continue, Dr. Jackson."

Daniel took a deep breath and clicked to the next slide. "The first lecture that I attended... with Jack, by the way... was on the history of their language..."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Janet tried as hard as she could to suppress a yawn as Daniel babbled on about symbols and pictographs developing into a set alphabet, or something along those lines. She almost strained her throat in the attempt, but thankfully no one seemed to notice. Not that anyone was paying attention anyway. Colonel O'Neill had been doodling on his report ever since Daniel had started to speak, and Sam seemed to have lost interest in what was being said as well. As for Teal'c, it was rather hard to tell. He looked the same whether he was interested or completely zoned out.

She sighed and flipped open the report for the tenth time, hoping that something would leap out of it and grab her attention, making this whole thing suddenly become fascinating rather than just a big, fat waste of her time.

Nope. Nothing. She closed it again in exasperation. They wouldn't be getting around to talking about the medical technologies for a few more minutes, and even then, it didn't look as though they had learned anything new or helpful. She couldn't wait until she could return to the infirmary and get back to work.

With another sigh, she opened the report again and turned to the page that talked about the medical lecture Sam and Daniel had attended. The light in the briefing room was dim, mostly coming from Daniel's slide show, but she could still make out the words if she looked closely.

She laughed inwardly when she noticed that Daniel had made a few mistakes in medical terminology here and there. She hadn't noticed it before, as she had only skimmed the page looking for anything interesting, but now she could see that he really hadn't had a clue what he was talking about. She took her pen from the table and began making notes in the margin, meaning to talk to Daniel about it when he reached that part of his debrief.

After a minute or two of this, Janet glanced up to see where Daniel was in his presentation, and was startled to discover that he was staring at her quite openly. As soon as she caught his eye, however, he blinked and looked down at the notes in his hand, clearing his throat and seeming to lose his place for a moment.

Janet couldn't help but feel a thrill of pleasure over this. She and Daniel had been friends for a long time, but over the past few years and especially after he had descended, she had begun to feel more attracted to him than she could easily explain away. She had suspected that the feeling was mutual, though Daniel had never said or done anything to make her think that. It was just a feeling she got whenever they were together, and a sneaking suspicion that he was watching her whenever he thought she wasn't looking.

It seemed as though that suspicion had just been confirmed.

Janet smiled and brought the end of her pen to her lips. She certainly didn't mind the idea of Daniel staring at her when she wasn't looking, but part of her wished he would stare at her when she was looking, as well.

She resolved in that moment that she'd just have to pay closer attention to him from then on... and make sure he paid closer attention to her.

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Daniel's mind went blank the moment he saw her nibbling absently on the end of her pen in between taking notes.

The fates seemed to be conspiring against him, as for some unlucky - or perhaps lucky - reason, the light from the projector was shining directly on her and nothing else. The rest of his audience were in shadow, but every move Janet made was crystal clear.

And boy, was she moving.

The pen nibbling was just the tip of the iceberg. Once that had grabbed his attention, it finally hit him that she was wearing a skirt today. And that she was crossing her legs in an extremely sexy way.

'Wow,' he thought as he seemed to lose the ability to speak. 'For such a tiny little thing, Janet has legs!'

As if she could hear his thoughts, Janet chose that second to look up at him.

Daniel felt like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He quickly looked down at his notes, feeling his face heat up from embarrassment and wishing the floor would open up and swallow him whole. Unfortunately, it didn't, and General Hammond was sitting there expecting him to continue his presentation. He cleared his throat and looked more closely at his notes, trying to remember what he'd said just before Janet had wiped his mind clean like it were nothing more than a blackboard.

He wanted to die.

After a second or two of fumbling and mumbling, he was finally able to pick up where he left off. His voice may have been a tad louder than it was before, but at least he was able to speak again.

He very stupidly chanced a look over in Janet's direction again a moment later, and promptly did a double take. 'I've gotta be imagining things,' he thought.

But no - even after several blinks, looking down at his notes and looking up at her again, and giving himself a mental shake to wake himself up out of whatever daydream he'd fallen into, she still looked the same. She was smiling a sly, knowing smile at him as she rolled the end of her pen on her tongue and swung her bare leg forward and back, forward and back, forward and back...

Now Daniel felt like he really was going to die.

He cleared his throat and tried his best to keep on talking, but he really didn't know what he was saying anymore. He kicked himself for being so weak, but God help him, he couldn't keep his eyes off of her.

Janet's next move was the final straw. Feigning scratching an itch on her thigh, she drew the hem of her skirt up an inch. Then two inches. Three...

"Uh... that's really as much as I've got for now," Daniel said hurriedly, bringing his slide show to an end and fiddling with his notes as he prepared to put them away. "I'll pass it over to Sam now, because she attended the rest of the leg... uh... lectures."

"Very well. Thank you, Dr. Jackson," Hammond said.

Sam shot him a dirty look as he plopped down into his seat, but he made no apologies. It was only fair that she get up and give part of the lecture, especially as no one there was likely to keep on trying to throw her off in the middle of her presentation.

Daniel could feel how close Janet was to him, and it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He tucked his chair in close to the desk and pretended to be taking notes as Sam got up and began to speak, but ignoring Janet didn't seem to have any effect on her whatsoever. Barely a moment passed before he felt a hand on the back of his chair and Janet leaned in close to his ear.

"Leg-tures?" she murmured, her breath tickling his ear and sending a warm feeling from his head to his toes.

He turned to her and gave her a look of sheer disbelief. "What is wrong with you?" he mouthed.

Janet smiled brightly and shrugged her shoulders, settling back in her chair and swinging her pretty little leg again.

It was quickly becoming more than Daniel could bear.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Janet felt momentarily guilty for what she'd done after she saw how flustered Daniel had become by the time Sam got up to speak. At the same time, though, she felt a small sense of pride that she had been the one to cause it.

Still, the thought that there was now no turning back brought her back down to Earth. She would certainly never be able to act as his doctor now that she had been shamelessly flirting with him. So, she either had to avoid him almost completely from now on, or else see if she could talk to him about the way she felt and get him to own up to feeling the same way.

She decided on the latter option.

Sam's presentation didn't take long, and Daniel kept his eyes on his notes the entire time. Janet intended to talk to him once the debriefing was over, but as soon as the lights came back on and Hammond dismissed them, Daniel dashed out of the room like there were Jaffa on his tail.

She tried to follow him, but he seemed to disappear. She went to his office, but he wasn't there. Since she had to get back to work and didn't have time to chase him all over the base, she decided to talk to him the next time she saw him, which she anticipated would be later that day.

The rest of the day passed with no Daniel. Janet ran into Teal'c just before she went home, and he informed her that Daniel had left soon after the debriefing had ended. Now she was really feeling guilty.

Once she got home, she decided to try phoning him. She let it ring until his voice mail picked up, but didn't leave a message. She was really beginning to fear that she'd offended him by her juvenile antics.

Feeling as though her dearest friendship was on the line, she grabbed her keys and headed out the door.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Daniel crashed on his couch as soon as he got home, and within seconds he was fast asleep. He probably could have slept there the entire night if it hadn't been for a knock on his door a few hours later.

He groaned and forced one eyelid open. The house was in complete darkness, so he knew it must be quite late. Who would be knocking on his door at this time of night?

At another insistent knock, he stumbled to his feet and shouted, "Coming!" He didn't even bother putting on his glasses since he could barely open his eyes anyway, but he did have presence of mind enough to run his hand through his hair before he opened the door a crack and peered outside.

"Hey, Daniel. Everything alright?"

Daniel sighed and leaned against the doorframe. "Janet?" he said, stifling a yawn. "What are you doing here?"

"I... came to apologize, actually," she said awkwardly. "You left so quickly after the debriefing..."

Daniel looked her up and down suspiciously. "Apologize for what?"

"You know... for being... well..."

"Distracting?"

She seemed surprised that he said this, but she nodded. "I guess that's one way of putting it."

Daniel narrowed his eyes at her for a moment, but then he pulled the door open wider and stepped back. "Come in."

To Daniel's relief, Janet was well covered this time in jeans and a sweatshirt, and she didn't have an air of seduction about her at all. If she hadn't mentioned what had happened earlier in the briefing room, he would have been convinced he'd just imagined it all.

He closed the door behind her and walked over to the couch. "Do you want a coffee or anything?" he asked before he sat down.

"No, I'm fine, thanks," she said. She seemed almost as uncomfortable as he'd been a few hours previously.

He gestured for her to sit as he sank down onto the couch, and watched her closely as she took the chair across from him. Nope, still no seduction tactics. He seemed to be safe for the moment. "So?"

"So..." She stopped and took a deep breath before she said any more. "I... was out of line. I don't know what you must think of me now, but I suppose it isn't good."

Daniel resisted the urge to laugh at this comment. "Well, I have to admit the words 'alien possession' crossed my mind," he said.

"Oh, if only it were that," she muttered, looking down at her hands.

Daniel started to feel sorry for her as he saw how guilty she was feeling. He really hadn't taken any offense by her little show - in fact, he'd rather enjoyed it - and if she'd been feeling for him what he'd been feeling for her lately, he didn't blame her for doing whatever she could to earn his undivided attention. At the same time, he knew that she must be wondering whether she'd pushed the limits of their friendship too far, and it was up to him to show her that she hadn't. "What was it, then?" he asked gently.

Janet shrugged and shook her head. "I... was bored, tired, and... when I looked at you..." She paused and looked up at him as though to make sure he was still following her. "You were staring at me," she said. "And... I liked it."

"So you did whatever you could in order to make me stare at you some more," Daniel concluded for her.

Janet nodded, giving him the most pitiful, apologetic look Daniel had ever seen.

Daniel sat there gazing at her for a long moment, and smiled when she started to look uncomfortable under his scrutiny. "Come here," he said, patting the couch cushion next to the one he was sitting on.

Janet looked wary at first, but she got up and crossed the room to sit beside him.

As soon as she was settled, Daniel took her hand in his and kissed it. "I will stare at you anytime you want me to," he said. "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, so how can I help myself?"

Janet's smile could have lit up the galaxy in that moment. "Really?" she asked.

Daniel nodded. "Really."

Before Daniel knew what was happening, Janet had taken his face in her hands and was kissing him so passionately that it made his head spin. He couldn't breathe, couldn't think, and couldn't move except to kiss her back, yet he had never felt better in his life.

It took a little while after the kiss ended for him to catch his breath and get his thoughts in order again, but once he did, he couldn't prevent a grin from spreading across his face. He pressed his forehead against Janet's, cupped her face in his hands, and stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. "What was that?" he asked.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," she said breathlessly.

"Oh, I think I might have a pretty good idea," he said in a meaningful tone.

She smiled. "You, too?"

"Absolutely."

"How long?"

"Long. 'Forever' seems pretty accurate."

Janet chuckled and nuzzled her face into his neck.

Daniel held her for a while before he broke the blissful silence. "So, we're doing this, huh?" he asked.

"Looks that way." She brought her head up to kiss him again, briefly but sweetly, as punctuation to her sentence.

"Good," Daniel said with a smile. "Just... promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"That you won't go flashing leg in the briefing room anymore. I don't want Jack getting any ideas."

Janet laughed, that beautiful, tinkly laugh that always made Daniel want to laugh as well. "I promise," she said. "No one sees these legs from now on but you." She lifted one of the appendages in question into his lap as she spoke, succeeding in once again wiping Daniel's mind clean of every thought but one - that he was a lucky, lucky man.

He kissed her denim-clad knee and stroked her thigh as he laid her back on the couch. She laughed again, drawing Daniel's attention back to her mouth, and soon he had covered it with his own.

In that moment, his whole world was turned upside down - she was no longer the distraction, but his life. He knew without even thinking about it that he wouldn't have it any other way.

THE END