Authors Note: Please remember that is AU

Sam looked up from the report she was reading and yawned wearily. How in the world could so many have piled up in the short time she was away. She hated paperwork; sometimes she wondered why she took this desk job. A small sigh escaped her … Daniel. As much as she hated to admit it, she took this job because of him. To escape, to run away, to hide from how she felt. But maybe if yesterday's occurrence in the SGC infirmary was any indication … maybe she could make up for it. She smiled to herself as she replayed Daniel kissing her. She wanted more. She wanted so much more. She daydreamed for a few more minutes and then decided she had to get away from this mound of paper in front of her.

Stretching her stiff muscles, she moved over to the large open windows of her office that looked over the main control room. Her brow furrowed in puzzlement, when she saw Rodney sitting at a work station. What was he doing there?

"Rodney, what are you doing here?" she asked, as she walked up to him.

'What does it look like?" he whined, pointing to his computer screen.

"Don't be so defensive; I thought you were helping Daniel?"

"What's the point?' he sniffed, "nothing down there works for me, nothing works for anyone ... except for him. I thought I might as well come back here."

"Who's down there with him?"

"I think he's by himself." Rodney half muttered as he turned his attention back to the computer.

"What about the General?" Sam waited for an answer, but only got silence, "McKay!"

"What!" he snapped as he looked up; annoyance was written all over his face. Sam figured his foul mood was because he was not able to operate the newly found systems.

"Do you know where General O'Neill is?" Sam asked trying not to lose her cool with him.

"I think Carson dragged him to the infirmary to do some tests Dr. Lam wanted done when he got here."

Sam looked at him in astonishment, "Did he go with him willingly?"

"Apparently." was Rodney's only reply as he turned his back to her and continued on with his work.

Sam just shook her head in resignation over Rodney's foul mood.

"Colonel," Chuck, the gate technician, called to Sam, "I think the General might be with Colonel Sheppard now. They went to check some things out in the jumper bay a while ago."

"Thank you very much Chuck," Sam said, "I'll be down in the lab with Daniel if you need me."

Chuck smiled and acknowledged her with a nod. Rodney just scowled in his direction and mumbled under his breath "teacher's pet" as Sam walked away.

When she walked into the lab she found Daniel, alone, intently studying the terminal in front of him. It didn't look like he had moved since she left three hours ago. His eyes were going back and forth between the symbols on the screen and the ones in Jack's notebooks that he had laid out all around him.

Jack himself had no memory of leaving Midway Station earlier that day, let alone arriving in Atlantis. The last thing he said he remembered was arguing with Daniel while they were on the station.

"I'm telling you I don't have clue how I got here," he told Daniel, Sam, Rodney and John as they looked at him in disbelief.

"You're the one who led us down here," Daniel said as he sat down in a chair by the terminal and watched the data scroll on the screen in front of him, "Rodney said no one has ever been able to get anything in this room to turn on, until you walked in."

Jack just shrugged his shoulders, "don't remember anything."

"Well, he didn't say anything the whole time," Sam commented, as she moved to stand behind Daniel, "maybe it was like the last time he blacked-out?"

"He seemed a little more docile that time, but you could be right..." Daniel replied, as his attention became totally fixed on the computer screen, "...this is fascinating."

"Can you read it?" Sam asked Daniel, as she continued to look over his shoulder.

"No … Jack come here," Daniel motioned for him to come closer, "do you understand any of this?"

Jack peered over Daniel's shoulder as well and shrugged his shoulders, "Haven't got a clue. Should I?"

"Jack, these are the same symbols you wrote in the notebooks."

"Oh," was all Jack said, as he studied the symbols some more, not having a clue what he was actually looking for.

Rodney, having grown restless with just watching from the sidelines, brazenly pushed his way past Sam and Jack, "here let me look." He then gave Daniel a look that said 'get out of my way.'

"Rodney," Daniel said in a sugary sarcastic voice, "why don't you have a look."

When he vacated the chair and Rodney sat down, the terminal completely shut down. Daniel's eyes widened in bewilderment.

"Wow!" Sam and John said together.

"Doesn't seem to like you McKay," Jack said with an amused glint in his eyes.

Rodney just let out a harrumph and put his hand on the glass plate … nothing happened. He scowled at the terminal and tried again.

"It never worked for you before Rodney, why do you think it would now?" John asked as he came over a looked down at the screen. Rodney gave him a dirty look and scowled at the screen some more.

"Sir, why don't you try starting it again," Sam said to Jack who continued to look at McKay in amusement.

"OK," he said as a reluctant Rodney let him sit. Jack put his hand on the glass and nothing happened. He just shrugged his shoulders, "I've got nothing ... Carter?" Sam furrowed her brow and all eyes turned to her, as she contemplated the situation.

"How can this be?" Rodney asked, "he turned it on a few minutes ago."

"Sir, let Daniel try," Sam said as an idea came to her. Daniel sat in the chair again and as soon as he put his hand on the glass the terminal came to life. Everyone looked at him astonishment, but no one was more surprised than Daniel.

"I don't get it?" John asked looking over at Sam.

"When the General took his hand off the first time it turned off. He then took Daniel's hand and put it on the glass..."

Rodney snapped his fingers in succession, seeing where Sam was going, "Some sort of transference of energy or power." Sam nodded her head in agreement. Rodney went up to Daniel and pulled on his hand, "Take my hand and put it on the glass."

"Excuse me," Daniel stared at Rodney as he continued to pull on his hand.

"Humor me."

"I think I see what he's getting at Daniel," Sam said trying to reassure Daniel, "it's possible that the ability to power the terminal has to be passed on from one person to another."

Daniel nodded in agreement. As soon as he took his hand away, the terminal shut down. Then with slight disgust he took McKay's hand and put it on glass … nothing.

For the next half hour or so, different people tried to power up the terminal as Daniel would take their hands and place them on the glass. In the end, though, it was only Daniel who could make the terminal work. Sam and John left awhile later, as they had to get back to the running of the city, while Jack sat back in a nearby chair and watched in amusement as McKay's team ran around yelling at each other as they tried to get the computers to work without Daniel.

Before she entered, Sam paused for a few moments in the doorway and just watched him. He was totally oblivious to her presence. How many times she wondered had she found him like this in the last eleven years that she had known him, so engrossed in his work that a bomb could go off and he wouldn't even notice it.

"Hey," she said quietly as she finally came up behind him and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Huh?" he flinched slightly at the touch, but when he saw that it was her, his body relaxed and he smiled warmly but wearily up at her, "hey yourself." He rolled his shoulders slightly trying to alleviate some of the stiffness that had settled in.

She placed her other hand on his shoulder and slowly began to rub them. "Any progress?"

"No, it's so frustrating. Nothing makes sense..." he groaned in pleasure, as she moved her hands up and began to knead the knots in his neck, "ahh ... that feels so … mmm ... good."

"Maybe you need a little break?"

"Yeah … maybe …. arggg …." he winced, when she found a particularly stubborn knot.

"Too rough?" she asked lifting her hands off his neck.

"No … no please more ... if you don't mind. Its good ... it feels good," he closed his eyes and dropped his head forward, as she continued to knead her fingers into him. Oh god it was heaven, her fingers were like magic. He could feel the frustration and tension slowly fade, as she undid each knot.
She leaned forward and whispered into his ear, "Better."

"Yes," he sighed as he felt her sweet warm breath against his skin. He jumped slightly as he felt her nip his ear with her tongue, "Sam … what are...", but before he could finish his question, Sam turned the chair, which had wheels on it, around so that he was facing her. She quickly grabbed his face in her hands and clamped her mouth onto his. Their lips and tongues danced and intertwined with each other for a long time, both of them oblivious to anything but each other. Sam suddenly realized that she was on Daniel's lap and that he was doing some wild things with his hands under her uniform they finally came up for air, Daniel continued to kiss and nip at her neck.

"Daniel … Daniel ..." she whispered into his ear, "maybe we should ... ohhh," his hands were on her breasts, teasing them through the cotton of her bra. Oh my that felt so good ... oh so good.

"What?" he hissed as he began to nibble her ear. Before she could answer, his mouth found hers again and they kissed until they were breathless.

"Someone … ohhh … umm someone might walk in on us," she sighed, as he planted feathery kisses on her face. Oh god, what were hands doing down there. Oh god...

"You should have thought about that before you seduced me," he grinned, finding her neck again.

Oh god, she thought, she had created a monster, "Daniel ... we should..." God, the things his lips and tongue were doing to her, not to mention his hands, it was driving her insane, "Daniel." she finally had enough strength to reluctantly push away from him.

Sam climbed off his lap and smoothed out her jacket. Daniel stood up as well and ran his hands through his hair. He found his glasses, which somehow had come off during their exchange, and put them back on. They stared lustily at each other for a moment or two, then Daniel grinned wickedly at her.

"What?" she asked as he ran a finger so very slowly down her cheek. Even that simple touch, sent a trickle of excitement down into Sam's groin. "Daniel, what?" she begged as he continued to lightly touch her face. Her heart raced, as she looked into his eyes, with wild anticipation of what she hoped he might be thinking.

"Maybe you would like to show me that comfy bed of yours."