One Weekend, by DrGemini86 (DrGemini24)

Summary: Cassie and her boyfriend are staying with Sam for the weekend, and so is Daniel. Sparks fly after a misunderstanding. Epiphany challenge set by EventHorizon7. SamDaniel, CassieOC

Pairings: SamDaniel, CassieOC

Rating: T

Category: New Romance

Genres: A/U, Angst, Drama, Friendship, Holiday/Special Occasion, Humour, Relationship-focussed, Romance-focussed, Thoughts

Challenge: Set by EventHorizon7 on AT & T's Forum (www(dot)amaranthtraces(dot)com(slash)forum)

"Cassie and her boyfriend come to visit Sam for the weekend. Sam invites Daniel over for dinner with them and her boyfriend wrongly assumes that they are a couple, much to his and their embarrassment.

Lots of other embarrassing things happen, (rubs hands together in glee at the prospect of all the compromising positions we could get our heroes in) because Daniel is staying over at Sam's house for the weekend and it looks to the boyfriend more and more that Sam and Daniel are hiding a secret relationship, even Cassie begins to have her doubts.

This gets everyone thinking, least of all our dynamic duo, which ultimately leads to them realising that they are meant to be together.

Oh...it has to end with them in a bathtub together."

Spoilers: Anything between seasons 1-10 is fair game, because... I'm not feeling anal enough to keep an audit of spoilered episodes. Also, some Atlantis spoilers flying about.

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Sam liked holidays. At least she thought that she should. Holidays for people who didn't have the heavy burden of planetary defence on their shoulders usually meant things like long drives, shopping trips, or days out to the beach, weather permitting, or even venturing outside of the state or country. The last time she had ventured outside of the country while still on Earth was a trip to Vancouver in British Columbia in an attempt to recruit Jeannie McKay's mathematical expertise to aid the Atlantis expedition. That had been recorded at the SGC as a business trip, so that definitely didn't count as a holiday.

She regularly left the country as part of her job, travelling to distant planets, fighting against false gods and acquiring technology to aid that fight. All those trips through the Stargate, to Atlantis and aboard the Odyssey and Daedalus didn't count as holidays, and neither did they feel like holidays.

The problem was that she always had something to do. Even if she was on leave, she could be found in her lab at the SGC, poring over test data, working on other slightly less important pieces of technology. Just lately however, after a gamut of very strenuous missions that were both physically and mentally taxing, she and the rest of the team needed a break. They were tired and worn out from the fight against the Ori, the hunt for technology that they could use against these far more powerful false gods who made even the Goa'uld seem friendly.

Landry, for the first time in a long while, possibly for the first time ever during his command of the base, was able to grant the team a few days holiday that happened to be spread across a weekend. The team had all gone their separate ways; well, some of them at least. Cam and Teal'c had both gone to their respective homes. Daniel, however, was diligently working at the mountain, not wanting to take the opportunity to kick back, despite a bored Vala repeatedly plaguing him. That was hardly surprising seeing as in previous years, Jack had usually been the one with the stamina to keep up a long argument with the Archaeologist about why he should watch a curling game with him. Cam was tough, but he just didn't have that edge that the old General had.

Sam would have done the same, stayed at the mountain to catch up on projects. However after everything that she had been through, she wanted some time to herself, to reflect and perhaps to indulge. She needed to get away from it all; the responsibility, the piles of work, the feeling of working underground. So, much to the surprise of both Landry and Daniel, she actually went home. That was much to her own surprise too, considering the very few times she had been home in the past year or so since she had been reinstated as a member of SG-1.

Like Daniel, she had no-one to go home to, which was one of the excuses employed by the Archaeologist for taking leave. She didn't either but she had taken the leave anyway.

Having not had a proper holiday before by herself, she brainstormed the things that she could do. At the top of the list as she looked at her fingernails in dismay was a manicure, and a pedicure. Also, lingerie shopping. As she loaded a pile of laundry into the washing machine, she tried to remember with a wistful sigh a time when she had bought lingerie for someone else's pleasure rather than just her own. She scrunched up her nose as a sock fell onto the kitchen floor, and she remarked to the washing machine,

"I might as well get twenty cats and live in a haunted manor."

Having eventually managed to load the appliance, she sat back on her heels and watched as it began a pre-wash cycle. She glanced at her watch and sighed again. Cassie and her new boyfriend would be arriving soon to stay the weekend. She muttered to herself as she sat on the kitchen floor, her knees now against her chest as she took a moment to feel sorry for herself,

"She's not even Earth born and she's had more boyfriends in the past five years than I've ever had. Maybe I should get another cat..." She rested her head back against a cupboard, closing her eyes as she remembered Schrödinger.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Despite knowing that Cassie would be coming to stay for the weekend, the Colonel stared in surprise when she had answered the door later that afternoon to find a shorter haired Cassie and a brown haired young man on her doorstep. Her intended words of greeting had died on her lips on noticing a startling difference in Cassie's appearance.

"What did you do to your hair?!"

Cassie self-consciously reached up to touch her layered bob, replying bashfully, "I've had it like this for a while now."

Sam grinned. "It suits you." She opened her arms. "Come here, you." Sam engulfed Cassie in a huge hug. She eventually led Cassie and the man into the house, telling the man who she presumed to be Cassie's boyfriend, to leave their bags in the hallway. In the lounge, Cassie introduced the man, gesturing to him with a shy grin that sought Sam's approval,

"Sam... this is Simon Ventris, my boyfriend." She said to Simon as she gestured to Sam, "And this, Si, is Colonel Samantha Carter. She and my Mom were best buds."

Sam's smile softened as she remembered Janet. She shook Simon's hand effusively, saying with a grin, "Nice to meet you." Looking teasingly at Cassie, she said, an eyebrow raised at the Hankan, "Cassie's told me so much about you..." Simon looked at Cassie inquisitively as she looked increasingly embarrassed, due in no small part to deliberately avoiding to reveal details about her boyfriend to Sam in previous phone calls and emails.

Smirking triumphantly, Sam turned on her heel and went into the kitchen, calling behind her as she went to make coffee, "So... how was your flight?"

0o0o0o0o0o0

At the SGC, Daniel gritted his teeth in frustration as he tried to concentrate on his work. Next to his desk was Vala, a very bored Vala, which, he thought, must count as an occupational hazard in itself. He wondered whether he could get extra pay for living through her recent moaning spell. He then surmised that even if he did get extra pay, it would just sit in his bank account, doing nothing but perhaps accrue Interest as he barely had a life outside of work. There was no-one waiting at home; no-one repeatedly ringing him and asking him when he would be home.

That wasn't exactly a highlight in his life.

Which was why he was the only other member of SG-1 left on base. He grimaced as he forced himself to concentrate. Vala, in the meantime, was verbally brainstorming the places that she would like to go to, each place accompanied by a line or twelve about its more desirable aspects. Daniel knew that he shouldn't be annoyed. It wasn't her fault that she was left without anything interesting to do. She couldn't even leave the base by herself, and it wasn't as though he was available, or insane enough, for that matter, to take her out. In some low moments, however, he had considered taking her out with a zat.

"... Disney Land has men dressed up in suits modelled on the characters of each cartoon. Wouldn't that be great, Daniel? I'd love to see Snow White. I bet she had a lot of fun with seven men... I would. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if there were seven men on SG-1..." She frowned, trailing off on realising that Daniel wasn't listening to her, and she rolled her eyes. She then leaned over his desk, waving her hand in front of his face. He closed his eyes, dropping his pen to his desk as he said, looking and feeling defeated,

"Vala, I'm trying to do some work."

She rolled her eyes again and whined, "But you're always doing work!" She gesticulated expansively. "Look, I could have gone to Kansas with Cameron... and I could have gone to Dakara and Hak'tyl with Muscles... so thank your lucky stars that I chose to stay with you."

He frowned at her. "They both refused your repeated pleas to accompany them."

She raised a finger as though she was letting him in on a conspiracy. "That's what they wanted you to believe."

He groaned, his head dropping back as he closed his eyes again. "Vala, please, I really have to get this done."

"But everyone else is on vacation. I can't even hang around with Samantha because she finally remembered where her house is." She cocked her head at him flirtatiously. "I'd like to know where your house is."

Daniel, now even more frustrated, tried not to shout. "Vala! Get out!"

She perched on his desk and winked at him. He groaned again, wondering why the General wouldn't let him keep a zat in his office. He was at the end of his tether and was about to utter the worst possible expletive that he could think of when his phone rang. He looked at it in surprise, beginning to wonder whether it was a reincarnation of his mother who he remembered as being very stern when it came to bad language.

Vala looked at him peculiarly. "Aren't you going to answer it?"

Snapping out of the reverie brought on by remembering his parents, he answered the phone, hoping for an emergency or any other excuse where he could leave his office and not be pestered by Vala. "Daniel Jackson." At this point, he would even take up Balinsky's earlier offer of playing poker with a pack of Ancient playing cards that one of their colleagues had created as a learning resource. He liked Balinsky but the man treated him as though he was some sort of a legend, which was highly annoying when trying to win a game of poker or blackjack.

"Hey Daniel." Daniel couldn't help but smile on hearing Sam's voice, a welcome relief from the madness that had previously ensued, and the murderous feelings that had been elicited within him as a result. He was about to greet her when she continued quickly, "If you're not alone, just say 'Lucius'."

Bemused, Daniel said, trying not to give whatever game away that Sam was playing by not glancing at Vala, "Lucius."

"Right. Okay. Just reply 'yes' or 'no' to my questions then. You remember I said Cassie and her mysterious boyfriend were coming over for the weekend?" He nodded, and then realised that Sam couldn't see him. "Uh, yeah." Of course he did – he had promised to drop in on the last day of the weekend, by which time he had expected to finish the bulk of his work, or at least lose the remainder of his sanity.

"Okay. Good. We're going to have dinner at seven before they head out to the Alicia Keys concert that they've got tickets for. Oh, and bring an overnight bag. You need to take a break... one day to catch up with Cassie isn't enough."

Forgetting the rule that she had enforced, Daniel said with a defensive frown, "A day's fine... I've got too much work." He watched Vala wander over to a shelf with some delicate looking artefacts on it. He grimaced, hoping vainly that she wouldn't touch them.

"Oh, come on, Daniel! When's the last time you actually took any time off?"

He grimaced again, partially because Vala almost dropped a small urn that had previously survived earthquakes and other natural disasters, only to be in far worse peril now at the hands of Vala Mal Doran. He tried not to look as he remarked to Sam, "Good question. But..."

"Daniel, come on... please? That pile of work will still be there on Monday. And besides, we haven't hung out in ages."

He could never refuse Sam when she used a tone of voice that almost made him feel evil for protesting. Resigned at this perceived weakness, he said with a slight smile, unable to believe that he could get a couple of days away from Vala, even if he did feel a little guilty at leaving her by herself, "Okay, then. I'll, uh..."

Sam supplied helpfully, "Be coming to prepare material for a seminar on the K-T boundary?"

He almost uttered a declaration of love for her then and there, but refrained, not wanting to make his best friend feel awkward or even scared. Instead, he smiled slightly and said, "Yes, I'll have the notes for the K-T seminar with me as well." He hid his smile when he glanced up, noticing that Vala was now glaring at him, her arms folded across her chest.

He bade Sam farewell, careful not to mention her by name and replaced the handset. Vala asked, looking indignant, "You're leaving me alone?"

He got up, tidying up his work as he replied with a frown that he usually used to cover up the fact that he was lying, "Yes... I have to. I've got a seminar to prepare for. It's on the K-T boundary, which marks the transition from the Cretaceous period to the Terti..."

Vala waved dismissively, still looking annoyed. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. But when will you be back?"

He sighed. "Probably a couple of days. It's an important seminar."

She whined, "Why can't I go with you?"

"Because you'll find it boring."

She waved a finger at him and looked at him sternly. "But I'm bored already. Believe me Daniel, the last time that I was this bored, I took hostages."

He muttered, annoyed as he remembered Vala hijacking the Prometheus, "I know. I was there."

He had reached the doorway when Vala asked, looking at him suspiciously, "Where are your notes?"

He turned to look at her, asking in confusion, "What?"

"Your seminar notes."

Grimacing a little at being caught out, he patted his pockets and then grabbed a memory stick from a trouser pocket, holding it up so that she could see it. "All on there."

She looked even more sceptical. "Whatever."

Daniel left, feeling bad about leaving Vala alone like that, and he silently promised that he would take her somewhere nice one day. Definitely somewhere where she wouldn't be kidnapped by the goons of an old enemy. He smiled as he turned a corner in the corridor, on his way to the locker room to change, his thoughts turning to spending quality time with Sam and Cassie.

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To be continued...