36 minutes

Rather than grab Cam by his shirtfront and throw his increasingly infuriating tail out the control room, Sam let him pace in the limited spaces behind her chair and simply accepted that it was another occasion where Cam decided to channel Jack O'Neill.

Teal'c could vanish for days in a war zone, and she could venture off for dirty bomb nuclear testing, and Jack wouldn't bat an eye. But the moment Daniel Jackson couldn't pull himself away from a book and to his radio, Jack had a team assembled and through the gate ready to haul him back from the jaws of death. And now Cam was prepared to do the same. (Apparently jumping the gun was a prerequisite.)

She knew why the overprotection had started. After all, in the beginning Daniel had been idealistic and stupid, not quite grasping the concept that he could talk out differences with his P-90 at the ready just as well as unarmed. And she had to admit, 'the kid' had a habit of getting himself killed.

But Daniel had changed. He still got that gleam in his eye when they happened across an Ancient text, or for just a moment he forgot about their desperate need to save the galaxy when he was learning about a new culture. But along with the higher functions of his brain, the baser instincts had been given a chance to grow, and now Daniel could handle himself just as well as the rest of them. In fact, she wasn't quite sure anymore who would win if Jack and Daniel actually came to blows. Jack had the training, but he was busy depreciating behind a desk while Daniel filled in the part of ruthless soldier more and more with every passing day.

The gate to PX4-687 had always been tempermental, and Landry had known there was the possibility that they'd need to wait a while and dial the gate again and hope for a better connection. For all intents and purposes the gate was on the fringes of a dead zone, and occasionally the signal was too weak to dial home. They had all known that when Daniel walked through the gate. Cam knew that.

And yet there he was, pacing back and forth through the control room, taking it as a sign that Daniel was half-Ascended somewhere all because Cam had been foolish enough to think that Daniel would be fine in the company of three SG teams.

But of course it's never that easy. Her other scientists enjoyed cracking jokes about the insensitivity of the marines, (not like the scientists had devoted any of their excess brain power to doing something selfless, aka: McKay.) They assumed that all marines were one dimensional, and Sam was more scientist than military. What they'd never notice was that Cam had been perfectly calm until he'd stormed out of the conference room, leaving Vala with her back to the window.

Cam had said something stupid and gotten himself thrown out, so for the last ten minutes he'd been her burden to carry. Deep down Cam was a traditionalist, and believed in the unspoken Air Force principle that while the husband is off doing something dangerous to save the world, it was the place of the closest friend not on a mission to sit with her and say everything would be alright.

The only problem with the plan was that Vala believed Daniel was fine, wherever he was. She'd seen him at his point of full wrath, known the power that coursed through him when he was called to arms, and like most of the SGC, believed that deep down inside he could still call down lightning if he really wanted to. However, Cam had learned about Daniel from Jack O'Neill, and had been trained to be better suited to fret over his missing brother than to simply trust that all would be well.

Vala had kicked Cam out when his paranoia got to be too much to handle, as it always did. And now he was busy getting on Sam's nerves as well. She set up the gate diagnostic program, just to be sure, and then headed up the spiral staircase, shooting Cam the "you will sit, you will stay, and if you follow me you find out why the marines don't have a nickname for me like they do for you," look.

Thus proceeded step two of the routine. Vala would take Cam for fifteen minutes, Sam would take him for ten, and then they'd regroup, during the middle of which the gate would open and Daniel would be left to babysit Mitchell as penance for his tardiness.

As usual Vala had progressed to the other side of the table, still contentedly 'translating' something, but now with a clear view of the stargate. Sam sat next to her and Vala slid over a spare cup of coffee, one out of the pot just long enough to be hot, but still capable of being gulped down with minimum scorch marks to hamper one's tasting capacity for the rest of the day. Vala had mastered the art of coffee service, and Sam wasn't sure if it was left over from her time as a waitress, or maintaining Daniel's addiction.

They'd sip for a minute, and since Vala was the one cloistered in waiting, it was Sam's turn to start. She'd always ask something about the translations and Vala would share a tidbit that held absolutely no value, other than functioning as proof she wasn't just staring at the page. Then she'd ask Sam about whatever device was currently taking up her spare time, and Sam would respond with as much technical jargon as she wanted, knowing that with Vala's Goa'uld inherited adeptness with technology she could comprehend it, and occasionally offer assistance.

Thus the conversation would continue, with both women tap dancing on the line they drew while in hearing range of any SGC personnel. Neither had had many girlfriends to chat with, especially one so close to their own age. There had been Janet, Denya… and they were pretty much it. Virtually all of their other friends had been male, making this situation slightly strange. They also had begun to notice they were quite similar, though neither would admit that to fact out loud.

They would concede that the other was brilliant, excessively stubborn, and rather beautiful in her own way. But on all other points they considered themselves perfect foils. (Sam disavowed any knowledge of her complete control over a certain General, and Vala denied any willingness to act contrary to her self interest, seeing as how that business with the healing device didn't count, they were going to kill her otherwise.)

In truth they were a little frightened at how well they fit together. At first Sam was sure that Daniel was complaining in actual displeasure at Vala's presence, but after she vanished to the Ori galaxy Sam saw the situation for what it really was. Daniel had simply spent too long dishing his emotions out in generous helpings to dying worlds and saving the galaxy that he'd forgotten how to handle a feeling that simply his own. His thoughts, his past, his friends, and his fire were all spent at the behest of the SGC.

When Vala stepped through that gate Sam's best friend just didn't know how to cope. He could give his life to save the Milky Way, and use his passion to Ascend, or stop an army before a single soul had to die.

But to feel the rumblings that could change the fate of the universe expended on behalf of one lowly little thief scared him. And so Daniel reacted in the manner he'd been so carefully taught, with sarcasm. Sam should've known. After all, Jack was the same way, and unfortunately Daniel had picked up the habit.

So Sam had helped Daniel search for her, and strove to think the best of Vala as she narrated her time in the Ori galaxy (though goodness knows the woman made it hard.) And when she beamed back into their lives in the arms of Daniel, Sam was bound and determined to believe every word that came out of her mouth. Little did she know Vala intended to do the same.

They'd been sickeningly sweet to each other for the first few days (with Daniel hauling them both to the infirmary on more than one occasion, thinking they'd been infected by something.) Then the change came.

After the incident on Vagonbrei Sam and Vala were on their way to the debriefing when they stumbled across a few of the newer marines and overheard their gossip in the hallway. They were muttering about Ackerman's demise, and how "that's just what happens to any redshirt stupid enough to tag along with SG-1." Vala had spent enough time with Teal'c to translate for herself, and in the time it took Sam to blanch at the callousness of the marine, Vala was around the corner with the special ops soldier pinned to the ground.

She whispered a few things in the marine's ear that drained the color from his shocked visage, and made adopt a hue of verdigris. Then she hoisted him to his feet by the scruff of his neck, and he padded along behind them to the briefing room. He stared at his feet as he apologized to SG-1 and scampered off with his tail between his legs without offering an explanation. Landry asked, but Sam and Vala just replied with sweet smiles, and he decided it probably wasn't in his best interest to know.

After that day the walls had come down. Vala knew more of the little details about the Sam/Jack dynamic than any person alive, and every time Daniel smiled at Vala Sam would get the rather giggly play-by-play. They'd never been so girly in their lives, and the opportunity just fueled the fire. The sisterhood of not really knowing how this was supposed to work was liberating. They got to make up their own rules as they went along, which had always worked better for the two of them anyway.

Now their banter was as friendly as ever, but utterly pointless. The words held no meaning, but the moment did. Sam knew of all those times she'd sat in that very chair waiting for Jack to venture home. She had always known that he was on the way to the gate at that very moment, held up by Daniel falling into something, and that he would be fine. But the fear was still there, it was always there.

The longer he was gone the worse her mind would behave. She'd start with all the various ways he could've landed himself in a prison, or bleeding to death in a ditch somewhere. She'd then progress to all the mechanical things that could be going wrong, that she could fix if only he'd taken her along. Then, of course, there was the ever present wondering if he'd just gone and gotten himself drunk and wasn't late for any reason other than the girl was pretty and he was buzzed.

Everything you should've said ran through you head as you stared at the inactive gate. The times you could've said something kind, or smiled the way you know made him happy. The worst was every moment when the electricity was high but you weren't brave enough to see it through. Every chance you missed, and what you'd give to have one more go of it.

Sam couldn't imagine what would go through Vala's mind. Her imagination far exceeded Sam's, and while Jack would just be captured and tortured, there was always the potential that Daniel could die and come back with no memory of those he'd left behind.

She had never wanted to beat Daniel before, but she was starting to think it was good idea. One good smack upside the head to remind him of what it felt like to be the one left behind to wait as the agonizing 'overdue' minutes ticked by.

So they sat there, drinking coffee and staring at the gate, not knowing when Daniel would roam through. But this much Sam did know, Daniel better need the infirmary when he walked through, otherwise she'd be sending him there.

Notes:

Much thanks to the people who have reviewed! Makes me feel loved! Sorry about the immense delay in posting this, but as a means to make me productive I promised myself I wouldn't write until I'd finished my PlSc paper, and after that happened my internet connection went down. So I feel like a schmuck, doubly so for not responding to reviewers, but that is a sin I intend to rectify. Thanks!