Okay, this is the first FanFiction I have written in a very very (very) long time!
Very short, sweet (I think so anyway!) missing scene.
Set post Meridian - pre Fallen.
Hopefully you won't hate it. Please review :-)
Written for the Daniel Jackson/Janet Fraiser Discussion/Ship/Appreciation thread on the GateWorld forum.
SPOILERS: MERIDIAN (5.21)
Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate:SG1, the characters, or the ideas. All rights belong to MGM studios.
Swiping the card through the reader took seconds, He had made it known she was always welcome to enter, when she needed somewhere away from her own bustling area, whether he was present or not. An invitation she had taken him up on many times before. So why did this time feel so different?
Snapping on the lights, she slowly entered the room she had visited on numerous occasions, not always for professional reasons, a quick chat here, a cup of coffee there or just as a sounding board for his latest theory. Lost in his own world of languages and artefacts, She wasn't sure he always knew she was there, until she got up to leave and then he would look at her, smile as her heart melted and beg her to stay – just a little longer.
Just a little longer, that's what she wished they had, they were evolving, their relationship was evolving.
Moving around the small room her hands wandered, ghosting over the paperwork scattered in various directions, clumsily organised like their owner. He always managed to find everything with a single hand movement.
A memory came to mind, coffee spilt through overly enthusiastic gesturing, the look of panic that passed over his features before she grabbed the nearest cloth to remove the mess. Mortification on her part as she realised the cloth was actually his jacket. He had smiled as she apologised, taking her hand as he forgave her, the glint in his eyes betraying the seriousness of his statement.
She continued moving, gently handling items that had been explained to her in micro detail, the constant enthusiasm and optimism an overt part of his demeanour when patiently attempting to gently indoctrinate her into his world. Each piece that entered her hands a different memory, a different day in their ever increasingly connecting lives.
Stopping in front of the bookshelf her eyes flickered towards the photographs placed on various shelves, tucked between articles and large hard-bound volumes, no order to them, in line with the rest of the room. His beloved wife, long gone but still in his own memory. His friends, single and grouped images, laughing, joking, enjoying his company. A photo of her, at eye level visible from anywhere in the room, caught unaware on a rare night out with the rest of them, smiling, relaxed. Tears sprang quickly and rolled down her cheeks before her hand was able to stop them, nothing would be that simple ever again.
Turning away to calm herself, trying to remove the images of happiness from her mind, her eyes fell on the coffee cups still placed in several locations through the room, sighing her hands reach automatically for them, tidying had never been his strong point. Once he had focused on a project, she knew it could be days before he noticed the accumulation of crockery.
Grasping the mugs in one hand she turned to leave, her attention caught by something glinting on the bench, partially hidden by the various papers.
She shook her head as she realised it was his glasses, the lenses reflecting the artificial strip lighting, he never remembered them, not when it mattered.
Her eyes closed as she recalled, it didn't matter, it wouldn't have helped, even with them, he would still be gone and she would still be here. The glasses weren't important.
She settled the mugs back on the work bench as she picked up the glasses with the other hand, turning them over between her fingers as images ran through her mind. Retrieving the mugs, she slipped the glasses into the low pocket on her lab coat, clicking off the lights as she exited the room that held so many memories.
Janet knew that Daniel no longer needed them, he was beyond and above that now, but as long as she kept them close, she would never forget him.