Title: Mirage

Author: Medie

Fandom: Stargate SG-1/DC Verse

Pairing: Daniel/Kara

Rating: R

Category: Het, Gift Fic, Crossover

Summary: Daniel meets a girl. A nice, sane, human girl...well two out of three ain't bad.

Disclaimer: I don't own Daniel or Stargate or Kara Kent. Would love to though!

Archive: At my site and wherever angelsgracie wants it to go

Author's Notes: I started this because debc thought Daniel/Kara would be interesting. (Snarky jokes were traded) And finished it because angelsgracie wanted Daniel porn-y goodness and I wanted to write a fic for her b-day. Dustjacket for the fic made by azarsuerte

"Mirage"

by M.

The first thing Daniel noticed about Kara was her smile. She had one of the most beautiful smiles he'd ever seen. The second was her eyes. She had the most incredible eyes. Looking into them was to see everything she was. It was all there, just waiting to be discovered and being the intrepid explorer that he was, Daniel was more than willing to volunteer for the job.

They met in the bookstore near his apartment. It had a coffee shop and Daniel would spend hours there, bowsing the shelves and drinking coffee. It was one of his favorite places to relax and that was how he saw her. She seemed to spend as much time doing the same thing as he did. It got to the point where he was fairly capable of predicting when she'd be there. She almost always came in around late afternoon, browsing through a variety of topics before settling down with a few choices and a cup of coffee. She'd spend a few hours perusing them and finally make her choice. She seemed to favor a wide assortment of subjects but it wasn't just her literary choices that interested Daniel. She was absolutely gorgeous and he was a guy. He couldn't help but look. She had long curly blonde hair, blue eyes, and a taste for cable knit sweaters and a graceful air to her movements. On his more fanciful days, Daniel would entertain the notion that it was as if, at any second, she could just lift into the air and fly away. That gravity was something she only obeyed when she wished.

She was also very direct, as Daniel discovered one Saturday afternoon when she stopped before the sofa he was sitting on, her books tucked under one arm, a cup of coffee in her other hand. Smiling, she waited for him to admit to himself that yes, she really was there, and look up before calmly asking, "Mind if I join you?"

Daniel nodded, closing the book he'd been reading and shuffling over. "Uh, yes, by all means."

Her cheerful smile widened and she sat down in the space he'd allowed. "I'm Kara - Kara Kent." Her voice was soft, a light husky quality to it, and Daniel thought it was as beautiful as the rest of her. He also thought he had it quite bad but he wasn't going to dwell. Dwelling led to all sorts of bad things. "Sorry to interrupt, but I had a feeling that if I waited for you to make the first move, we'd be waiting a while."

Her comment was made with a teasing look in her eyes and Daniel couldn't help grinning in response. "Probably." He admitted ruefully, holding out a hand. "I'm Daniel Jackson. The guy with approach issues."

Kara laughed. "I can think of worse issues to have."

"I can't think." He answered truthfully. It seemed his brain had taken a permanent vacation when she'd sat down. But, in his defense, she smelled really good and, that made it just a little hard to concentrate. Actually it made it very hard to concentrate. Damn near impossible really.

"That would be worse." She agreed, still laughing. "Would certainly make reading that," she indicated the book on his lap, "rather difficult. It being in Russian and all."

"No, that'd be about the one thing I could do at the moment." Daniel countered, chuckling. "However, my conversational skills have deserted me. Which, all things considered, is extremely inconsiderate of them. I could really use them about now. Instead, I'm very quickly going to run out of words and end up staring. Though, that isn't looking all that bad."

A light blush pinked Kara's cheeks and she dropped her gaze briefly before taking in the pile of books he'd been working his way through. "Linguist?" She ventured, reaching out to pick one up.

"Among other things." He hedged, thoroughly envious of the book she was holding. "I, uh, I'm an archaeologist primarily...You?"

"Teacher." She answered with more than a little pride. "First grade."

"Brave woman." Daniel complimented.

"Insane mostly." Kara put the book back, smiling at him. "But they do keep things interesting..and me at my wits' end most of the time." She gestured to the books she'd brought with her. "Most of this is to keep a step ahead of them. Which, I say with great bias, is getting harder and harder daily." Her gaze returned to his books and her smile widened. "Which, I'm sure, is exactly the problem your teachers had with you."

He laughed, nodding. "Guilty."

"Let me guess, read the textbook through the first night?" She lifted a teasing brow, watching him flush slightly and nod. "Thought so." She observed smugly, laughter in her voice and eyes. "I have a student like that now. Zach. He's amazing, his questions are so insightful for a child his age. It's all I can do to keep up with him."

"And you're loving every minute of it, right?" Daniel asked, watching as she nodded, eyes alight.

"He's half the reason I started coming here." Kara revealed. "I needed to do a little research, brush up on some things. But...after a while..." She grinned sheepishly. "I reawoke my inner bookworm. I used to do this all the time in Metropolis - spend hours and hours in bookstores - but, when I came out here I fell out of the habit."

"I know what you mean." He looked as regretful as she had when having the same thought. "I used to do this a lot when I lived in New York. Working out here..."

"So we can blame Colorado Springs for ruining our bookish tendencies." The blonde curls bounced as Kara laughed again, "there's something about the city that just zaps the thirst for knowledge right out of us geeks."

"It's a conspiracy." Daniel agreed sagely, his dry humor eliciting another giggle from her. "They're out to turn us all into jocks, skiers and snowbunnies."

Nose wrinkling, the pretty blonde shook her head. "I'd make a terrible snow bunny." She took a sip of coffee then elaborated, "Small town Kansas girl here. Smallville's woefully short on mountains. And Metropolis...well, does Lex Luthor's ego count?"

"Not quite." He responded. "And, um, how was that by the way? Living in Superman's home town and everything." That, by far, had been Daniel's biggest surprise upon his return to Earth. In the year spent on Abydos, Superman had made his debut back on Earth, so Daniel had missed the fun but Jack had made sure he'd found out soon enough. It didn't take much to remember the grin on Jack's face when he'd turned a news report on Superman. Gleefully, pronouncing, 'You've gotta see this...' as Snapper Carr had turned to ask Metropolis' favorite son a question. "Must have been a very interesting experience...to say the least."

Ever since he'd seen that news report, Daniel had been quite curious about Earth's newfound alien protector. He'd been dying to find out more about the race Superman claimed to be from but the opportunity had never seemed to present itself. That, and the Pentagon wasn't quite ready to trust Superman with Earth's biggest secret. Namely the Stargate. Daniel sometimes wondered if they just weren't afraid Superman would want to use the Gate to leave in search of other Kryptonian survivors. Though, apparently, it was rumored he wasn't the only one on Earth. For a time, some of the citizens of Metropolis had claimed sightings of a young woman but those sightings had abruptly cased. Supergirl, as she'd been dubbed, had apparently hung up her cape.

Kara looked surprisingly fond, her hand going to a gold pendant she wore. "It was. Surreal too." She smiled quickly. "Superman watching is more popular in the city than bird watching. Especially with the children. They love him." The fond smile became proud. "Sometimes, on Christmas Even, he pretends to be Santa's reindeer and lands on the roofs so children can hear the sound and think it's Santa arriving."

Daniel smiled, amused by this little endearing revelation. "Where did you hear this?""My cousin, Clark, is a reporter for the Daily Planet." She explained. "Clark's chock full of Superman stories. You wouldn't believe some of the things he's told me."

Reaching for his own coffee, Daniel couldn't help but wryly respond, "You'd be surprised."

After looking at him for a long moment, eyes appraising, Kara dimpled and nodded. "I think I would be."

"Hey Daniel? Where ya goin?"

Pocketing his security pass, the archaeologist groaned softly as Jack's voice reached him. So close. "Uh, just heading home." He stopped and turned to wait for his friends to reach him, knowing by the mirthful glint the Colonel's eyes that he was in for it.

"Y'know, Carter, it seems the good doctor's in a bit of a hurry, doncha think?"

With a similar look in her eyes, Sam grinned and nodded. "You're right, sir, Daniel does seem a bit anxious to get out of here. Are you sure you're just headed home?" The last was directed at the halfway nervous Daniel.

"Very sure actually." Which wasn't a lie, really. He was headed home. But he wasn't going to be alone at home. After a few afternoon meetings in the bookstore, he'd asked Kara out for dinner. One dinner had led to two and three which had led to dinner with Kara being a weekly occurrence. He tried to have dinner with her at least once a week, more if he wasn't off world, and it just so happened that they were planning to have dinner that night. If, that was, Jack, Sam and Teal'c let him go. "Why?"

Jack gave him a skeptical look. "By yourself?"

Uh oh. Skirting the truth with Jack was one thing. Lying to him was quite another. Daniel could talk circles around people when he needed to and could lie when he needed to and be fairly convincing about it. Unfortunately, lying to Jack was another story entirely. Jack, it seemed, had a built in BS Detector which had a special setting for Daniel BS. And he had a feeling that detector was set on it's highest setting at the moment. "By myself." He said finally and saw the immediate flash of triumph in Jack's eyes.

Busted. So busted.

He really had to work on lying to Jack. Being so easily read was getting annoying.

"Well then," Jack inclined his head with a grin that said later Daniel would be catching all sorts of fun hell later," we can hardly keep you waiting from going home...alone. Can we Teal'c?"

"Indeed we cannot, O'Neill." The Jaffa affirmed. "It is clear that DanielJackson wishes to return to his home with great urgency. We should not delay him in doing so."

Daniel surveyed his friends, all three of which were looking at him with varying shades of amusement. He was so many different kinds of dead, this was apparent. What was also apparent was the fact his relationship with Kara? Not going to be much of a secret for much longer. Jack was going to see to that. Definitely going to see to that.

"Later Daniel." Jack gave a jaunty wave. "Have a nice night. Home. Alone."

"Night Jack! Sam...Teal'c." Daniel pulled out his security pass again and swiped it through the reader, stepping into the elevator while praying the doors closed fast lest one of the three think of some brilliant joke that they just had to share. Given the inordinate amount of glee that Jack seemed to be taking in it all, he wouldn't have put it past him to try it and he really didn't want to be late getting home. The way things had been going with Kara, he wanted everything to be perfect. It was getting serious between them and it was the kind of serious that had a lot of potential. The kind of serious that meant Daniel had, well, stuff to get ready when he went home. Stuff like making sure the bedroom was neat, clean, and the sheets were fresh and the fact that he was thinking about that as an issue.

"Stop thinking so much." He muttered to himself. "Just...relax."

Truth was, it had been a very long time since he'd dated. With Sha're there hadn't really been any, well, dating and prior to that had pretty much just been Sarah. The rest of the time, work had just carried him away. It wasn't that he was a blushing virgin, not by any stretch of the imagination, he was a man after all. He was just...a very easily distracted and absorbed by work man. Thus, he didn't really have a lot of practice with the whole dating thing. At least, dating of an actual human being in a normal human fashion but he worked better under pressure anyway. Also sleep deprived and heavily dosed with caffeine. Or, at least, that's what he'd always been told. He didn't really get much practice with ordinary working anyway, what with the easily absorbed part of things. Sleep and beverages other than the caffeinated variety tended to get lost in the shuffle.

Either way, he had a date and he wasn't going to stress about that fact.

Okay, so he wasn't going to stress much.

After cleaning his glasses for the fiftieth time - the lenses had to be wearing thin by now - Daniel was quite convinced that his idea of stressful had done a complete 180 since he'd first heard the word 'Stargate'. Facing down fifty Jaffa? No problem. Apophis about to wipe Earth from the face of the galaxy? Piece of cake. Face one 5"nothing first grade teacher? Now that was stressful.

He groaned and rubbed his forehead, resisting the urge to take his glasses off and clean them. When had that become a nervous tic anyway? Maybe checking the pasta again? No, he'd done that already. It needed another ten minutes and was that the doorbell?

It was.

Oh boy.

This would be the night Kara was early. Though, being greeted by a warm smile and a kiss from her was something Daniel wasn't going to complain about. He could definitely get used to those. "Hi you." She greeted as he moved around behind her to help slide her coat off of her arms.

"Hi to you too." He countered, leaning over to kiss her cheek. She smelled fantastic so he kissed her again. "You look amazing..."

Her cheeks tinged slightly pink as she turned to face him, a hand resting on his arm. "Ordinarily, flattery, Doctor Jackson would get you absolutely nowhere but...since you've got a sincere face." She grinned impishly. "I'll have to temporarily rescind that policy and say it's getting you a lot of places lately. Of course the fact that you're cute doesn't hurt."

He grinned down at her. "Cute huh?"

"Mmhmm..." She nodded, stepping closer. "Very cute. I am the envy of the bookstore."

"Funny." Daniel looked thoughtful, though she could see the mischief lurking in his gaze. "I thought I was."

"There's that flattery again." She teased, slipping her arms about his neck as he pulled her into an embrace. "Daniel?"

"Hmm...yes?"

They kissed, harder this time, with growing passion and Daniel decided Kara tasted better than she smelled and that was quite a feat. When they pulled back to breathe, Kara snuck a grin. "Something smells good."

"Pasta." He explained, feathering a kiss across her cheek.

"Mm..you cooked?" She turned in the direction of the kitchen, a curious expression on her face and Daniel laughed at the disbelief in her voice.

"Yes, I cooked." Taking her hand in his, he walked her to the table. "From scratch, not a canned dish or take out menu in sight. Promise."

When he pulled her chair out for her, she raised her eyebrows, impressed. "He cooks, is neat, and a gentleman?" Pressing a hand against her chest, she sank into the chair with her best melodramatic air and looked up at him. "I think I'm in love."

"Well," Daniel paused teasingly, "if you aren't now? You will be when you taste dessert I can tell you you that."

The gleam in his eyes matched the curiousity in hers and by the time Kara put her fork down, meal complete, she was about ready to declare her undying adoration for him. Daniel Jackson, among his many skills, was a fantastic cook though, he admitted ruefully, it was something he rarely did. His work kept him away from home for fairly irregular hours and that meant little time in the kitchen. That, Kara informed him solemnly, was a crying shame. She hadn't eaten this good since the last time she'd been home to Smallville and been stuffed full of Aunt Martha's famed pumpkin pie.

At that, the gleam in Daniel's eyes returned and he put down his water glass. "Well, I'm afraid I don't have Aunt Martha's pie but...there is still the matter of dessert."

Laughing, Kara rose to help him carry the dishes into the kitchen. "I'm not sure I dare eat dessert. I do that and you may need to roll me out of here. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to seduce me through food. Which, I should say in case you're wondering, is working completely." She giggled as he trapped her against the edge of the countertop, a thrill racing along her spine at his proximity. That, she hoped, would never get old.

"So...no need for dessert?" He asked in a low voice, eyes on her lips.

She shivered ever so slightly and stretched up to kiss him. "Mmm...well, it all depends on what exactly dessert is. Chocolate involved?"

Daniel nodded, bringing his hand up to her face, thumb brushing over her lower lip as he surveyed her face. The concentration that was going into his gaze...she felt like she was the only thing in the world that mattered to him at that moment. Whether it was true or whimsy didn't matter to her. It was what she felt and she liked it. A lot. "You're beautiful." He murmured suddenly, smiling in fascination. "Just..beautiful."

She couldn't help the blush that bloomed to her cheeks. She'd never had anyone say that before. Not the way he was saying it. Not with the sincerity and absolute belief of the fact readily apparent in his eyes. His eyes...Daniel Jackson had the most amazing eyes she'd ever seen. So very expressive. Staring up into them, she smiled shakily and weakly joked, "Definitely don't need the dessert."

The hand that had been on her face migrated to her hair, stroking through the long locks, causing her eyes to close in pleasure. She sighed, moving into the touch, leaning back.

The action drew his attention to the curve of her neck and Daniel leaned down to kiss the soft skin, inhaling the faint scent of the soap she favored, his lips wandering up until they found hers. When he kissed her, Kara's arms crossed behind his head as she returned the kiss as eagerly as he gave it. The kiss deepened and they pressed closer, Kara's sweater riding up as Daniel's hands skimmed down her body to rest on her hips. The feeling of his fingertips brushing over the bared skin brought a soft sigh of pleasure from her as they parted to take in much needed oxygen.

They smiled at each other and, silently, Daniel offered a hand which Kara took with a smile. Twining their fingers together, the duo left the kitchen. Dessert could wait until later.

The view from Daniel's bedroom was as magnificent as from the balcony off the living room but Kara didn't notice as she stepped into the room with him. Her attention was focused on the man before her and she had little thought for anything else.

Bringing her palm to his lips, he watched her in the dim light of the bedside lamp as he murmured, "Are you sure?"

She laughed a little, taking a single step forward. "Believe me, if I wasn't? I wouldn't be here."

"Well, if you're sure..." He teased and reached for the hem of her sweater.

Feeling just a little mischievous, she beat him to it, drawing it over her head and tossing it aside. "Your turn." She murmured, fingers nimbly, and quickly, unfastening the buttons of his shirt and baring his chest to her.

While she was doing that, Daniel moved closer, leaning over to kiss her shoulder, trailing kisses up her neck and making her giggle. Making the observation that she liked that, he filed it away, continuing to explore. Her bra went next, hampered by the fact he had to stop to let Kara undo his cuffs and slide his shirt free, leaving her chest open to his curious exploring.

As proper examination just couldn't be done standing up, he turned them in the direction of the bed, walking her backwards until her legs bumped it. Not willing to go without a fight, Kara grabbed his hands and pulled him with her as she tumbled backward. They fell onto the bed together, barely noticing the landing as Daniel went right back to his exploring, his first target of choice being Kara's breasts. These he took his time with as, when his lips first touched the curve of one, his lover gasped and her hands went to his hair. He grinned against her skin and moved to her nipple, sucking at it playfully.

Kara yelped softly and squirmed beneath him. Daniel chuckled, humming around his mouthful before drifting across to the other one and repeating the process. He teased and played and lovingly tortured until she simply couldn't take it anymore. With surprising strength, she rolled them and grinned down at him triumphantly. "My turn now." She pronounced, kissing him soundly.

He watched, with great enjoyment, as Kara rid herself of her pants and then reached for his. With great glee, she slid them down his body and tossed them aside. Then, settling back on her legs, she surveyed her handiwork with a wonderfully wicked look of speculation and Daniel couldn't help a shiver of ancipation. That look promised all manner of wonderfully devious things and he wasn't disappointed when she suddenly leaned over and flicked her tongue against him.

He groaned and closed his eyes, anticipating the amazing sensations that followed. Kara seemed able to read his reactions as easily as he did any ancient text. Every minute reaction of his body was observed and capitalized on. Nipping, licking, sucking and teasing him, she knew precisely when to encourage him and when to back off, keeping him trapped on the brink but never letting him fall over.

Finding his voice, Daniel managed to get out, "This...could...be considered...cruel and unusual..."

Kara laughed around him, the humming sensation drawing a grunt of pleasure from, then sat back almost primly. "Oh, we haven't gotten to the unusual yet, Daniel." She teased, slowly working her way up his body to look him in the eyes, her blonde hair falling around them in a curtain. "And I didn't think it qualified as...hey!" A squeal escaped her as he pounced, rolling them so he was grinning down at her. "That wasn't fair."

"All's fair in..."

"Love and war." She finished with a breathless laugh. "So, which one does this qualify as?"

Daniel leaned past her, his body pressing down on hers in what Kara decided was a delightfully wonderful manner, and fumbled in the bedside table's drawer. She waited patiently for him to open the packet and slide on the condom, her hands sliding up and down his arms, appreciating the feel of them. It must have been all the work on digs that had given Daniel a physique that she admitted she didn't ordinarily associate with intellectuals. But she certainly wasn't complaining. Not in the least.

This done, he met her eyes and the expression in them stole her breath from her. Oh...

"Well," he reached out, brushing a fingertip along her cheek, "I have a good idea of which one it's becoming and I can assure you, war's got nothing to do with it." He kissed her then and she pushed up into the kiss happily returning it.

The intense passion of moments earlier had waned to a certain extent but when she parted her legs, wrapping them around him, and he slid into her, it returned with a vengeance. The sensations threatening to overwhelm them both, Daniel took a moment, buried deep in her, to breathe and regain his composure. When he was sure of them both, he began to move. Slowly at first but firmly, giving Kara a chance to match the rhythm he was steadily building. Once they'd fallen into one, Daniel kissed her again, finding the action as arousing as anything else they'd explored, and began to move faster.

Kara's approval of the action came in a gasped vocalization of his name and her fingertips gripped his shoulders gently, her hips moving with him. Her lips brushed his ear and nipped playfully at the skin of the lobe, an echo of her earlier teasing of another part entirely. The reminder made him chuckle and kiss the skin of her neck, playfully sucking at it.

"Trying..." A moan cut off her words but doggedly, she continued to speak, "to give me..."

"A hickey?" He mumbled against the skin, his body thrusting harder, moving in shorter and quicker strokes. "Hmm...yep."

"K." She agreed happily, a hand working its way into his hair and stroking along the scalp. In the moment, the ordinarily innocent gesture took on an erotic overtone and Daniel had the rather inane thought that if he'd been a cat, he'd be purring. It was followed by a wry assertion he probably was purring anyway. If not, he was about to be. Kara too for that matter. His body was tensing up for one hell of an orgasm.

Shifting position, he let a hand work its way down Kara's side until it came to rest the curve of a hip, there he squeezed a little before skimming back up her body again. Beautiful. She was just...

Kara arched beneath him, bringing her body into closer contact with his and she said something unintelligible followed a soft cry of pleasure as her body spasmed around him. Her orgasm pushed him closer to his own but Daniel stubbornly kept moving, determined to make it last as long as he possibly could before giving im himself. Letting his face press into the curve of her neck, he gave in to the demands of his body and quite happily lost himself in her.

She stayed the night, something neither one of them questioned even for a moment, curled up in Daniel's arms and it had been so long since he'd slept that way he'd forgotten how much he'd missed it. The feeling of her pressed up against him, softness and curves and something intangibe that could only be of Kara herself, was incredible. Different from Sha're but they were so different as to be incomperable and Daniel wasn't about to try. It wasn't where his mind was going anyway. He hadn't been lying when he'd said it was something fast approaching love. He wasn't about to put a name to it yet, half afraid of what that would mean, but he also knew that Kara was someone he wanted in his life.

In her sleep, she mumbled something again and it brought a confused look to his face. He hadn't been quite able to make out what she'd said but...he was fairly certain it hadn't been English. A small part of his mind pointed out that it hadn't quite sounded Terran either but he dismissed the idea was quickly as it had come. Even if it wasn't, for all he knew, it was Kryptonian and something she'd picked up from her cousin who'd heard it from Superman. Kara had said Clark had a plethora of Superman stories at his disposal. A familiarity with the language might have come with it. It certainly wasn't as if she'd grown up speaking the language herself.

Kara Kent was about as far from alien as one got and maybe that was a part of the attraction. An oasis of normality in his decidedly abnormal life. He could get used to that. He wanted that.

Wanted it more than he was sure he was willing to admit at that point, even to himself.

Closing his eyes, Daniel moved closer to his bedmate, letting the pleasant scent of her hair and the sound of her breathing, deep and even, fill his awareness. Seemingly surrounded by Kara...he let himself rest.

Finis