A/N: Holy crap, two updates in one week. I'm on a roll this week. Guess the ol' Muse is finally back. So this story takes place during the episode Fallout in season 7. I got the dialogue for the episode from Stargate Sg-1 Transcripts (). If you like it, please send me a review. And if you don't like, send me a review, too. Thanks.
On a side note, chapter 8 probably won't be up for a while due to school and work and personal life. I promise it won't take another year, though. ;)
Enjoy!
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Erika focused her gaze at the blank wall. She let her mind wander to all the ways she could physically hurt the man in front of her without actually leaving a mark. The list was surprising long. She could make an even longer list of ways she could kill him, although she figured the SGC might have some problems with that. But it was the only way she could keep the sneer from her lips as talks continued. It took every ounce of her military training to not roll her eyes as the Councilor from Andarrie demanded a separate planet for the country.
"Three separate relocations are just not practical. Madronas is your best bet to save as many lives as possible," Daniel replied after the bickering subsided. Erika watched with growing satisfaction as Daniel dropped his glasses to the table and pinched the bridge of his nose. It was the signal that the talks were rapidly coming to an end for the day.
"Why don't we take a break?" he asked when he returned his glasses to their rightful place. "We'll meet again in," he glanced at his watch, "four hours." He did not wait for the others to reply before he stood. He glanced back at Erika, making brief eye contact. Erika nodded to Colonel O'Neill and General Hammond before followed Daniel out of the briefing room and down the stairs.
"Daniel?"
"Yes, Erika," he replied exasperated.
"Why the hell am I sitting in on these stupid meetings?" she asked, her voice a little louder than she intended. Daniel momentary looked at her out of the corner of his eye, but he did not say anything.
Erika pressed on. "There are so many other things I could do. We still have one side of the box to translate. There is a pile of stuff from Sero's dig that needs to be photographed and categorized. I'd be willing to do all that paperwork that's stacked on your desk. Anything but stand in that room."
"No."
"What? Why not?"
"Because I'm in there."
For a moment, the only sound was the echo of their boots as they walked down the hall in matched steps.
"I hate you," Erika mumbled just loud enough for Daniel to hear. Daniel shrugged.
"Yeah, because I haven't heard that before."
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"Oh' for crying out loud," O'Neill yelled to the room, interrupting the squabbling council members.
"Jack," Daniel warned.
"Who cares whose fault it is?"
"Jack."
"Your planet is gonna blow up!"
"Jack!" Daniel finally yelled.
"The whole damn planet, Daniel!" O'Neill yelled back. The room filled with tense silence. Erika looked from O'Neill to Daniel. She could see the anger and frustration clearly etched on their faces as they stared at each other.
"Okay. I think it's best if we all just take a little recess right now," Daniel finally suggested.
"God." O'Neill was out of the chair before the word was barely out of his month. He moved toward the door, Daniel hot on his heels.
"General," O'Neill stated absently as he walked out of the door. Teal'c nodded as he followed. Daniel barely even looked at anyone else as he walked out. Erika looked around the room, her eyes catching General Hammond's. He nodded at her.
"Captain," he said dismissively.
"I say we send a packet," O'Neill was saying when Erika caught up to them in the hallway. Erika followed them at a discrete distance, but close enough to still hear the conversation. Daniel glanced back at her, but O'Neill and Teal'c hardly noticed she was there.
"Indeed," Teal'c agreed with a nod of his head.
"We can't give up on them yet, we still have the potential to save thousands of lives here," Daniel insisted as they continued toward the elevator.
"And yet curiously, they don't seem to understand or care," O'Neill replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
"This is diplomacy, this is the way the game is played. It takes patience."
"Yeah? Well I'm fresh out," Jack ranted as he pressed the up button.
"As am I," Teal'c agreed.
The elevated arrived and the two stepped in, leaving Daniel and Erika in the hallway.
"I think you're on your own," Jack said as the doors closed. Daniel rubbed his temples.
"Great, just great," he drawled. He slowly turned and scrutinized Erika with his piercing blue eyes. Erika titled her head to the side.
"Yees?" she replied, drawing out the word into two syllables.
"You can work on something else if want," he replied, his chest deflating in defeat. "These talks are pointless. I don't think these people can agree on anything. Why don't you start on that mountain of paperwork?"
Erika smirked as she took a step forward until they were almost touching. She was almost as tall as Daniel and easily ruffled his short brown hair. He took an embarrassed step back, staring at her as if she had lost her mind. Without explanation, she turned on her heel and strolled down the hallway to their office.
Four hours later, when she showed up at the door to the briefing room for round two, he frowned at her. She smirked at his confusion, slightly enjoying it.
"I thought I told you that you didn't have to be here," he said slowly, as if she had not understood the first time. Erika chuckled softly as she looked at him, her amusement shining through honey-brown eyes.
"I know. I got through some of those reports you're suppose to be doing."
"And…"
"And now I'm taking a break from those. I can't look at your chicken scratch handwriting for one more minute. Jeez, Daniel, think you would write any more illegibly. I have to type those, you know, and I just guess on what some of it actually says."
"My writing is fine," Daniel replied, his tone sounding annoyed. The hint of a smile in his eyes said otherwise. Erika just shrugged. "Just keep telling yourself that. And don't get mad at me if General Hammond gets a report of grabbled nonsense."
Daniel held the door open for her. "My writing isn't that bad," he reiterated as she entered the briefing room. She took her usual place standing behind him as the delegates entered the room, still arguing about some inane comment made during the earlier meeting. Erika leaned over Daniel to whisper in his ear.
"Are you sure we have to do this? Can't we just tell them to figure it out for themselves?" she asked. Daniel tried to hide his grin behind a fake cough.
"Erika," he mumbled. He paused as he glanced around the room, "We'll see."
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Erika sat at her desk, her fingers flying over her keyboard as she typed in Daniel's notes about the delegates from Langarra. She shook her head slightly as she read Daniel's comments about the council members. They had been sent back to their planet a few hours after Major Carter and Jonas Quinn gave the all clear. She said her brief goodbyes to the former SG-1 member and left to finish her project.
She heard his measured walk, his boots hitting the tiled floor, before she saw him. "Never again," she said as he came into the room.
"Huh?"
"I'm never doing that again. Those people were pains in the asses."
"Yes. Although they seemed to be getting along a little better after Jack's little stunt." He leaned over her shoulder and glanced at the handwritten report she was typing up. "My writing isn't that bad."
Erika doubled up over the keyboard, her laughter exploding from her in short bursts. She covered her mouth with both hands as she sat up, trying in vain to contain her giggles. She was almost sober when she caught Daniel's glare, and she lost it again, laughing so hard she was almost crying. She waved her hand in front of her face before leaning her forehead against her loosely balled fist.
"Oh my God, Daniel. I had honestly forgotten all about that," she finally said when she calmed down enough to speak. "It got to you that much?" A small chuckle escaped through her lips, but she tried to cover it by clearing her throat. She could feel the smile creeping over her face and tried to remain stoic as she looked at her boss. It was all in vain when she caught his eye a second time.
"I don't think I told you how much I hate you today," Daniel said as he watched her laughing. There was silence for the smallest of moments before Erika lost what little composure she had left. She could hardly breath she was laughing so hard.
"Hey," she managed to say in between her fits, "isn't that my line?" She could see his face crack into a smile and he chuckled with her.
"Yeah yeah," he replied quickly. "You almost done with that, because I have a stack of my chicken scratch reports that I need you to type. I'll be in the work room when you're done."
"Just leave them on the desk with the others. And I could get them done faster if you wrote neater," she called after him.
Erika chuckled to herself after Daniel left the office. All told, it was just another day at the office.
