Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate SG1 or any of it's characters, I post this strictly for entertainment purposes.

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Chapter 4

Daniel was in shock. He had always suspected that something had happened between Jack and Sam, but not this. He just wondered why neither one of them trusted him enough to tell him. Why the secrecy? He knew that it was against regulations for either one of them to have sexual relations while they were both under the same chain of command, but Daniel wouldn't have said anything. They had to know that.

Sam was running off and Daniel was still too hurt and confused to chase after her, but after a few moments of reflection, he decided he needed the whole story and he took off running in her direction. She hadn't gotten too far and he found her sitting on the ground next to a dried up tree, crying.

"Go away, Daniel." She sniffed. "I don't want to talk about this right now." He stood his ground, crossing his arms.

"Nope. Not moving." To make his point he sat his bottom down on the cold ground across from her.

She silently cried for a few more moments before regaining some composure and she lifted her head to him, squinting her red rimmed eyes in his direction. He shuffled a bit closer and put a hand on her knee.

"Okay.... From the beginning. What happened?" He asked.

"It's complicated."

"Yeah, I get that." He replied testily, taking an unconscious page out of Jack's book.

"Okay, the beginning, right?" She took a deep breath and began. "It happened just after that trip we all took to Jack's cabin, remember that?" Daniel nodded. "Well, when we got back you went to that conference in San Diego and Teal'c left to visit Ry'ac. I was feeling pretty lonely and Jack knew I was having a hard time after breaking up with Pete and with Dad's death, so he came over one night with a box of pizza to cheer me up and just watch a movie or two. But stupid me, I had to tell him that I broke up with Pete because I had feelings for him and then I kissed him." She looked back down at the ground, picking at some grass before glancing his way again. "I have another confession....When I said that I slept with him before, that wasn't entirely true, I just wanted you off my case back there and I was angry.... I'm sorry."

"It's okay, we both said some things. I'm sorry I pushed." Daniel replied softly.

"Jack and I came awfully close though and at the time I was certain that was what I wanted." Sam started recounting again. "But he worried he might be taking advantage of my mixed up emotions and backed off. I was mad at the time, but now...I'm glad he did. "

Daniel listened intensely as she continued. "Afterwards, I think we both felt horrible about losing control like that and we both talked and agreed that neither one of us should ever mention it again and a part of me knew that while he was attracted to me, his feelings didn't run as deep for me as mine did for him. So, I requested a transfer and went to Area 51. I just wanted to get as far from him and everything else that had gone wrong with my life at that time and with the Goa'uld mostly taken care of, I didn't feel so guilty leaving. Especially after he decided to pass up retirement again and go to Washington. That's when I knew for sure that things were never going to happen between us."

"You still have feelings for him?" Daniel asked carefully.

"Not so much anymore..." She shook her head, looking off in the distance. "Being in Atlantis really help me gain some perspective, I think I needed that year away to get my head on straight again and now that I'm back I can honestly say that I'm over those feelings. He'll always be a friend; we've been through too much for him not to be and he's a perfect gentleman, but....Whatever we had is over now."

"I'm sorry, Sam. But why didn't you just tell me sooner? I would have understood."

"It was just too hard, Daniel. And Jack didn't want anyone to know about it, even you. Besides," She paused as though searching for the right words. "it's been difficult trying to talk to you lately."

"Why? You know I've always there if you needed someone to listen."

"I know Daniel, it's just that....."

"What?"

"Vala's always there and I don't want to get in the way of you two...."

"Vala? You won't talk to me because of Vala?"

"Oh come off it, Daniel." She responded with a hint of bitterness. "I know she can't get enough of you and you two just seem to be so, so...."

"So.... what?" He asked and her shoulders slumped.

"Like the way we used to be."

Silence again stretched between them as the wind picked up speed and tiny drops of rain began to fall.

"Oh...." Was all Daniel could find to say.

"So, are you in love with Vala?" Sam asked. Daniel gave a short little laugh and shook his head.

"No, but I'll admit that we have an understanding of each other and we are friends, but it's not the same as the kind of friendship you and I used to have. She doesn't challenge me in the same ways and I can't talk to her on the same level. You know what I mean? She's fun, I'll admit, but she's a big pain in the ass on most days."

"And yet you don't seem to mind her hanging all over you." Daniel sighed at that statement.

"What are you trying to say here, Sam?" Daniel asked before a sudden realization hit. "Wait a sec....are you jealous?"

Sam turned her head away.

"Oh my God. You are jealous.....why?"

"I just miss being the one you came to with your problems, now it's her you go to. And I miss it when you would come down to my lab just to hang out or talk, but you don't go out of your way to see me anymore." She sighed heavily and admitted "I don't know. Maybe I am a little jealous. she gets all of your attention and I can't even get you to say more than two words to me anymore."

"We're talking now....that has to mean something."

"Maybe...But is it enough?"

"It is for me." Daniel scootched all the way over to Sam's side and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "I've missed being best friends too, Sam. I'm sorry you felt like I was ignoring you. I just didn't know how to go about talking about it to you."

"Me neither." She dropped her head on his shoulder and he squeezed tighter. It was then that the heavens opened up and rain began to fall on them in earnest. The wind picked up and whipped icy cold air through them.

"Ah!" Sam shrieked as it began to pour. Daniel grabbed Sam by the waist and helped her up.

"C'mon let's get back to camp!" As they ran, the wind gusted mightily, forcing them to fight against sheets of freezing rain all the way back, taking them almost an hour to reach the point where they could see the Stargate, the ruins and their stuff. Despite the supposed waterproof nature of their cold-weather field jackets, Daniel was soaked to the bone as sleet began to fall just as they reached the campsite. The fire had long since died, but what worried them most of all was that their tents had blown over and the rain had thoroughly soaked their sleeping bags and equipment.

"Grab the sleeping bags, let's get in the temple, it may not have a door, but at least it has four walls and a roof." Daniel yelled over the storm. Sam agreed, nodding and grabbing as much stuff as she could. He too picked up as much as he could hold and the two made their way to the temple. The were soaked from tip to toe, but both were relieved to be out of the harsh wind and rain as they crossed over the temple threshold.

They flung their soggy supplies down. Sam was shivering and her lips were turning a bluish tint. Daniel figured he looked much the same as he began to shake as well.

"We need to make a fire." Sam said through chattering teeth.

"No wood." Daniel pointed out. "I'll be right back." Daniel ran back out into the rain to the fire pit and gathered as much wood as he could hold. There was a good chance that all of it would be too wet to burn, but he had to try. His hands grew numb through his wet gloves as he gathered the rest of the wood and ran back to the temple as fast as he could.

Sam had already laid out the sleeping bags on the stone floor to dry and was digging through their supplies, looking for anything they could use for the fire when Daniel came back, dumping the wood to the floor and wrapping his arms tightly around himself. He couldn't recall ever being so cold before.

"Is there anything dry?" He asked.

"Well, the sleeping bag Mitchell left was still rolled up and was under one of the tents, so it's mostly just wet on the outside. The inside of it is mostly dry, but I'm afraid everything else is soaked."

"I guess we're still gonna need that fire then." Daniel groaned and shucked off his now useless gloves. He gathered a pile of sticks and worked with stiff and uncooperative hands to get a fire going. After several attempts with his lighter, no fire was achieved. The wood was too wet and would not catch fire. He would need something to start it off. Looking around he spotted his pack and zipped it open, pulling out his journal. Thankfully, it was still dry. He had filled half of it with his notes from the walls, but there were still several blank pages which he ripped out and stuffed under the wood. With any luck, the wood would burn as flames from the paper dried it. Thankfully, the paper stuffed under the sticks lit easily and a small blaze erupted. The fire was weak, but kept going and offered a minimum of amount heat to his frozen hands.

Sam took off her gloves as well and knelt down next to Daniel with her hands to the fire. She was shivering and looked just as miserable as Daniel felt.

"You should take off your wet clothes and get in Mitchell's sleeping bag." His teeth chattered so much, he could barely get the words out. "You're going to get hypothermia if you don't. I won't look...Scout's honor."

"What about you?" She asked, her lips shaking "You've got to be in just as much danger from hypothermia as me. We'd both be better off if we shared body heat."

"Sam...."

"C'mon Daniel, the longer we stay in these wet clothes the worse things are going to get for us." She set her jaw as stubbornly as she could as shivered some more before adding "I'm not getting in that sleeping bag without you."

"Fine." He relented, seeing that she wasn't going to get in by herself and watch him shake from the cold. "But we're keeping our underwear on, right?"

"Definitely." She agreed. Daniel crumpled up several more pieces of paper and put them into the fire before beginning to strip off his sodden layers of clothes hurriedly. He moved as fast as possible, not only due to the biting cold air but out of self consciousness, realizing how close he was to Sam with such little clothing between them. He was polite and did his best to not watch as Sam dropped her clothes to the floor and shook out her hair, but from the corner of his eye he caught a flash here and there of her nearly naked body as she entered the sleeping bag. He pushed any encroaching inappropriate thoughts out of his head as he crawled into the sleeping bag, side by side with Sam.

They both shivered and shook for several minutes as their bodies worked to heat them up. Laying on their sides, they were forced to spoon each other in the small space of the sleeping bag originally made for one person. Daniel had been quite uncomfortable being snuggled up so close to Sam at first, but as her body heat warmed him, he luxuriated in it, even to the point where he tentatively wrapped an arm around her in order to share more of his heat with her. When she didn't object, he breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"Who would have thought we'd be naked and sharing a sleeping bag together on Christmas eve, no less." Sam spoke up with a little laugh, the chattering in her teeth still present. Daniel chuckled too and hugged her a little tighter.

"Could be worse. You could be Mitchell. I'm not sure I'm ready for this kind of closeness with him just yet." Sam giggled and its sound warmed him nearly as much as her body.

"I'm not sure if I've had a Christmas quite this miserable before." Sam conceded.

"I've had worse."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Nah, I went on a cultural exchange trip to Panama not long after I finished my doctorate in Anthropology. Of course, that would be the year that the US decided to invade and I ended up spending Christmas in the back of a barely running pick-up truck with my next-door neighbor's family hightailing it out of Panama city while the US Army tore through town looking for Noriega. I young and scared shit-less." He laughed a little. "Looking back on it now, it's kinda funny how frightened I was even though we were miles away from any of the action. Nowadays, it wouldn't even be a blip on the radar of my most frightening experiences, but at the time I really was afraid we were all going to be killed." He nudged her gently. "How about you? What's your worst Christmas story? not including this one of course."

Sam shifted, drawing herself just a tad closer to Daniel.

"Hmmm.....I never really talked about this, but I'd say it would definitely have to be the Christmas after my Mom died." She started sadly, speaking distantly from her memories. "I was fifteen and Dad was working so much he was almost never home. I know now that he was just trying to get away from the pain of losing mom, but the fact that he was almost never there was a huge source of conflict between Mark and my Dad. They fought all of the time and I felt like I was stuck in the middle of it all. Dad always relied on Mom to do the Christmas shopping and all of the decorating and festive stuff, so I think he just wasn't equipped to handle it all. By the time Christmas came, instead of presents under our tree, he gave us both a check and told us to take ourselves shopping because he had a trip he needed to take to Washington that afternoon. Mark lost it and he and Dad had the worst argument that I can remember. That was the night Mark left the house and moved in with his friend down the street. Dad left for Washington that afternoon and I spent the rest of Christmas alone in my room. Yeah, that was a pretty crappy Christmas."

Sam's voice drifted off. He could hear the tiredness in her voice, getting sleepy. The fire was going steadily now and while the roof of the temple was leaky and the rain and wind continued to pound and howl against the walls, their shelter was holding and they were finally warm. Giving in to the moment's comfort he found himself in, his eyes drooped. Sam's breathing deepened and he realized that she had fallen asleep as she softly began to snore. Giving in, he fell into a deep, dreamless and exhaustive sleep, enjoying the closeness of another human being that he hadn't felt in a very long time.

To be Continued.....