Author's Note: Written on occasion for Abyss' birthday.
Disclaimer: SG-1 and its characters do not belong to me.
Daniel finds Sam about an hour after she finishes debriefing with General Landry. It's not that hard actually; Walter gives him the heads up as soon as he arrives at the Mountain. She's just sitting on the bed in her on-base quarters, staring at nothing. He slips inside the door - key courtesy of Walter once again - with a bag full of the cookies she likes in hand, ready to offer comfort. "Hey Sam," he greets softly, sitting down next to her and wrapping his arm around her.
"Daniel," she sniffs, turning watering blue eyes full of pain and hurt and questions, like why to him. "Oh god, Daniel..." And she finally lets free the tears she's been holding back since Woolsey informed her she no longer has command of Atlantis.
He whispers words of comfort to her, meaningless nonsense meant more to soothe than anything else. He rocks her in his arms, letting her weep, because he understands - understands the unfairness of it all. And if he feels the bitterness of jealousy that she even got to live on Atlantis for a year when he's not even allowed to visit, well… he keeps quiet. This isn't about him; it's about Sam and the loss she's suffered, because he won't kid himself and deny that it is a very real loss. Sam's first command - and it's taken away, with no warning.
Daniel closes his eyes. He wants to kill Jack for this. Because he knows Jack's responsible, no matter how much he insists he doesn't have any influence on who leads the Atlantis expedition. Sam received her appointment because the Ori war had more or less ended and she didn't deserve to stay as second-in-command of SG-1, not when she had been an original member. With Elizabeth's death, placing Sam in command of Atlantis seemed a great compromise: a reward for her exemplary service at the SGC, while keeping the civilians happy, since she's as much as scientist as she is a soldier.
Though jealous that she got to go to Atlantis, Daniel had been happy for her. He had hoped to join her, but somehow it had never happened. Excuses upon excuses, until finally Daniel had gotten angry and demanded to know why he couldn't go. And that's when he discovered the harsh truth: Jack doesn't like it when his "kids" aren't somewhere he can't protect them. He can't control where Teal'c goes, but he can make sure that Sam and Daniel remain nearby.
He can't tell Sam any of this - absolutely cannot tell her that Jack helped to rescind her command and bring her back to Earth. It would break her heart, as much as it broke his, when he finally figured out why Landry kept refusing his requests to transfer to Atlantis, even short term. And he knows Jack isn't doing this to be malicious. SG-1 has been through too much, has had too much happen to it for Jack to blithely let them go their own way. He doesn't trust anyone to watch their back - except for him.
Daniel figures that after they get through the de-snaking ceremony with the last Ba'al clone, Jack - or rather the IOA - will wait an appropriate amount of time, and offer Sam compensation for losing Atlantis. It won't be Atlantis, but it'll be something suitable enough to smooth over the hurt of her loss. He doesn't doubt she'll accept whatever excuses Jack gives her tomorrow, or that she'll cheerfully accept whatever her new orders are without a complaint. He wishes he could make it hurt less for her now, wishes Jack would just stop being so paranoid - except he knows that won't happen. Too much blood spilled for that to happen.
He may not be able to help Sam regain her posting at Atlantis but what he can do is be here for Sam. So he holds her until she cries herself clear, gives her a cookie to make her feel better, and than keeps watch for her in her exhausted sleep. It will have to be enough.