Unrequited
Title: Unrequited
Rating: G
Category: Daniel/Sam unrequited, Angst, Ficlet
Summary: Unrequited love is a burden. Set during Meredian.
Lots of people fall in love with their best friends. Daniel didn't used to be that kind of person. He used to be very good at first impressions and filling in the rest later – that's why it worked with Sha're.
But he supposed he had changed a lot in the past five years. Doing the job, well more vocation, that he did you were bound to change. Countless situations had taught him that first impressions could be very wrong and these alone were probably enough to turn him into the kind of guy who fell for his friends.
But in Daniel's mind it did not make it forgivable. Sam Carter was not in love with him. He knew this because he was her friend. And he felt guilty for loving her the way he did because he hid it. Kept it a secret. Daniel Jackson, who wore his heart on his sleeve, was better at hiding how he really felt then you might think.
Inside Daniel's cells, his DNA was unwinding. Proteins ceased to function and his organs failed. He was dying, dissolving due to a huge dose of radiation. And as he lay dying, Oma asked him why he felt guilt at love. Or at least he thought she did in her own roundabout why.
So, in an attempt to rid himself of his earthy bonds, he began to think about whether keeping such a secret from a friend should leave him so guilt ridden. Why did he not tell her, apart from knowing her affections lay elsewhere? He didn't tell her because he valued their friendship. Because he knew having such emotions out in the open would change the dynamic of who they were together. And she needed him, as a friend. And him being in love with her didn't mean he couldn't be that friend.
And with that conclusion, Daniel released another little bit of his burden.