Why exactly are you wearing that?" Daniel inquired curiously as Adrienne entered the lab, late, but that wasn't even really what he was noticing. From his desk, peering at her over his glasses, he tried to figure out why in the world she was traipsing in here this morning wearing yoga pants instead of BDU's, a small orange tank top and her black belt, of all things, tied around her waist.
"Don't start with me this morning Indy; I'm not in tha mood," his assistant spat, setting her coffee and backpack onto her desktop before sliding ever so slowly in the chair. Moving as if she were in pain, Daniel noted that she was holding onto her back, she lowered herself downward in a careful and deliberate slow motion.
"I'm not starting anything. I was just wondering why you felt the need to wear the proof that you can kick my ass," Daniel retorted with a playful grin, pointing to her most prized possession, well second to her car, getting a scowl in return.
"It's holding tha ice pack in place and don't even start that with me on that either, don't, I'm not gonna go and hear it from Dr. Grumpypants. Not in the mood for one of her lectures either," Adrienne sneered as she opened her laptop. Considering it has been quite some time since Adrienne had snapped at him, a VERY long time, Daniel changed his tone from playful to concerned, still wondering what was going on with her this morning.
"Am I allowed to ask what happened?" he continued carefully.
"No," she answered, cheeks flushing, not with anger but embarrassment.
So it was that kind of mood; she had done something stupid.
Ok Daniel, proceed with caution.
"Fine, I'm sorry that I care," he smiled, sardonically, knowing she couldn't keep anything from him and would spill what happened any second.
In fact, he could almost count it down...
Three...two...one...
"Teal'c, ok, he got a good one in on me last night. I shoulda seen it coming; he's trained me better then that, hell I know better then that," she answered, displeasure all over her face as she focused on the screen in front of her keying in her password. Daniel laughed before he could stop himself, looking up at her just in time to see a pencil flying in his direction, ducking before it made contact. When he sat back up she was smiling at him, the reaction he had hoped for in the first place.
True, he was worried, of course he would be worried, and she had noticed his hovering. He didn't mean to, but with everything that had happened lately he just felt bad that she seemed to be receiving the brunt of the madness. Everyone had a limit, even the seemingly unstoppable Dr. Adrienne Rowan, and he was afraid, more than anything else, that he would push her to that limit and she would disappear from his life forever.
At this point, he wasn't sure if he could live without her.
"You're a bad friend. Aren't ya supposed to be over here, trying to comfort me or something?" she joked, part of her wanting him to do just that, the other part knowing if he did he wouldn't be the man she loved.
She kind of liked how he gave it right back to her.
"If I had to comfort you every time you managed to do something stupid to yourself trying to be 'fit,'" he made the finger quotes on the word fit, "then we would never get anything accomplished around here."
Her eyes widened, good response she thought, her hand heading for the desk drawer, a drawer Daniel knew well. He threw up his arm instinctively to block the arrow, but before she could respond with neon foam retaliation, Ronon Dex came strolling around the corner of the lab, walking right up to Adrienne, a smile plastered across his face.
Oddly enough, they seemed to be getting along well enough since Adrienne had decided not to go out on a second date with him, which, of course, Daniel was glad for. Regardless, he still felt a pang of jealousy every time the large Satedan man entered the lab, a pang that at this very moment was spreading into his gut as pure nausea.
Daniel, you're in love with that woman.
I am, he thought, I so am...
"Hey, did you see Teal'c this morning?" Ronon asked, that grin spreading as he winked at her, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms.
Or maybe he hasn't given up, Daniel let his mind wander, hoping that he wasn't correct.
"Not yet...why?" Adrienne responded, her hand still in her desk drawer as if she were waiting for a reason to draw her weapon and fire.
"Both eyes girl, you blackened them both," he praised, nodding his head in approval.
"Score!" she shouted, jumping up, forgetting herself and grabbed her back, wincing. Daniel shook his head and kept his mouth shut. He should have grown used to her competitive nature by now, but even after a year, he still learned something new about her every day.
This month's revelation, she wasn't just a black belt in American Karate; she used to fight in tournaments, big tournaments, for prizes, medals and trophies. He knew she was a better fighter during group training and she had talked about her training to him on numerous occasions, even when they got to work out together, but for some reason she had left that little detail out. Why, he wasn't entirely sure, since she was all about the two of them being best friends and all, but since her, Vala, Teal'c, Ronon, Teyla and Sheppard had taken it to a whole new level.
A level that Jack didn't seem to mind was going on as long as he could put a few dollars on it.
"So, wait, does that rule the match a draw?" she sat back down asking Ronon, who was reaching out to help her.
Of course he was, dammit.
"I dunno, Mitchell makes the rules. If it does, you fight Teyla next. If not, you're out this round," he replied and Adrienne nodded her head.
Glad she understands, Daniel thought, because I'm totally lost right now.
"Thought you were pretty kickass in there. Just don't think I'm gonna go down that easy," Ronon continued, now punching her on the arm lightly.
Ok, so maybe he hasn't given up entirely, Daniel thought, remembering Adrienne's rant about marriage and commitment from a few weeks ago. From what she had told him, she had no interest whatsoever in pursuing a relationship with the Atlantis team member but there she was smiling brightly.
But I heard her, with my own ears. Maybe I'm the exception.
Stop being hopeful.
"You just wait Dex, your time is coming," Adrienne giggled, flirtatiously. A smile from ear to ear, Ronon backed up through the door jam, tapping it with his hand, turning to jog back down the hall.
Because normal guys just jog away like that, Daniel's inner monologue added.
"You all have a sick interpretation of what 'fun' is," the archaeologist stated once Ronon was gone, unable to keep his opinion to himself.
"It's just friendly sport. No one really gets hurt," Adrienne answered as Daniel pointed at his own back, lifting his eyebrows.
"Shut up Indy," she said, rolling her eyes and glanced back at her screen, shutting her drawer without drawing her toy weapon.
"Unauthorized off world activation."
The sirens went off and Walter's voice came over the intercom. Surprised, the pair of archaeologists peeked up at each other, Daniel rising from his chair, headed for the door, stopping at the desk by the door to help Adrienne.
"Come on gimpy, let's see what's going on," he reached down to offer his assistance, but she smacked his hand away and stood up quickly, wincing again. Frowning in pain, Adrienne gritted her teeth as she tried to fully straighten her back, to no avail, finally relenting and reaching for his arm. Permission granted, he slid it around her waist, pulling her the rest of the way to her feet.
"Don't worry," he told her as she stood upright, "I won't tell anyone about this momentary demonstration of weakness."
Continuing her scowl, the best she could, he knew she was trying not to smile, Adrienne shook her head as he led her carefully to the gateroom.
They arrived at the observation room slower than normal, the sounds of the metal clanging and adjusting as the iris opened. There was an echo through the room for a few seconds before the familiar woosh of a vacuum drowned out all other noise as the wormhole formed in front of them.
Apparently, someone had determined the visitor was friendly.
Adrienne looked out the window, curious as to who would come through like this, unannounced and unscheduled, peering over at Daniel, who was still holding her upright, for any clues. Garnering not a one from his face, her question was soon answered as Jonas Quinn stepped through the shimmering waters, unarmed, pack strapped to his back. The Cajun hadn't seen him in a while, she knew he came from time to time, Daniel told her that much, but she hadn't spoken to him since she his curious blue eyes had stared her down on her first mission. She remembered him as being nice, very nice, making sure she was examined and given something to drink as soon as help was dispatched to her friends.
"Huh," Daniel muttered, Adrienne leaning to try and read his face.
"What?" she asked, but he shook his head, taking a step forward.
Finally acknowledging their arrival, Sam turned from where she was standing beside Walter and looked back at Daniel, Adrienne and Teal'c, the three members that come running with the siren.
"I guess we should probably go see what's going on," the general declared, making her way out of the side door, gesturing they follow.
"Hey guys" Jonas shouted as he waved from the ramp, seeing his friends approaching him, Sam's concerned face adding to his own apprehension. This was an unscheduled visit, one he didn't want to make and when he heard the wormhole collapse behind him, he saw the question in her eyes that he had anticipated. As his feet hit the floor he pulled a backpack from his shoulders, displaying it in front of him with a raise of his eyebrows and slight shrug.
"Yeah, it's just me, I thought it best we keep it quiet, can we go to the briefing room?" he offered no other greetings or information, continuing his stride forward.
Better get this over with fast, before even more problems could arise back home.
"Sure Jonas," Sam replied, giving him an odd look, turning herself as quickly as she had before in the direction of the staircase to her office. Not even making eye contact, which Daniel found to be very strange, Jonas fell in right behind her, trekking up the metal stairs without so much as a "How are you doing?" to his former team members. Baffled, the archaeologist started to follow as well, when he felt his wrist being grabbed and realized he had left an injured Adrienne behind.
"Your back?" he asked, concerned and moved to help her walk, wrapping his arm protectively around her waist, but she shook her head, shrugging him away slightly.
"No, but thanks. I've only met him once, but isn't he usually more, talkative?" she asked, still trying to read his face and his 'huh'.
"Generally, but let's not jump to conclusions," Daniel answered, Adrienne allowing his arm to remain at her middle to support her painful climb up the staircase.
"And he's alone…"
"The longer we're friends the more you act like me," he noted with a smirk, "always suspicious. Here, put your weight on me."
"Thanks Daniel," she whispered, leaning into him slightly, making it difficult for him to walk, but he didn't say a word, just continued to help her.
At the top of the stairs, they were greeted by Cam and Vala, the former more than happy to take over for Daniel, the look on his face telling the archaeologist that he too knew about last night's activities.
"What's with the belt? Did he really hit you that hard?" the colonel asked, looking as concerned as Daniel had, but Adrienne didn't seem to want to accept any assistance from him, shooing Cam away as she started to slowly walk forward one step at a time.
She let me help her, in fact, it was as if she expected me to...
Dammit Daniel, grow up, it's a pipe dream.
"I'll live, but I'm glad you said something, I need to take this damn thing off. It was as if Daniel had pick on me radar this morning," she told him, cutting her eyes at her boss with a smile. He chuckled, pushing illogical thoughts out of his head, making his way to the front of the room where Jonas and Sam were chatting.
"Uh huh," Cam replied, smiling at her but backing off as her body language suggested. Annoyed by Cam's hovering now as well, she made a face and went to sit beside Daniel's normal place at the table as he himself was approaching to do the same.
"Like I was saying," Jonas started the moment Adrienne, the last one standing, painfully took her seat, "I wanted to keep this quiet unless I knew it was a threat..." he addressed the group as he unzipped his backpack. The team was curious, looking one another over for answers that none of them could provide.
Reaching inside without further explanation, the Langaran dug around for a moment before pulling out a head, a humanoid head, cradling it gently between his palms.
"What the fuck?!" Vala shouted out as Adrienne turned her head covering her nose and mouth with her palm, Daniel slipping his hand under the table to squeeze her leg in assurance. Cameron was speechless as were Sam and Teal'c, staring in utter confusion at Jonas' package.
"Jonas, that is a HEAD!" Daniel shouted once he was certain that Adrienne wasn't going to lose her coffee all over the briefing room floor. Fake gore she could handle, but he'd been on enough missions with her to know that the face she was making right now was her "be strong" one.
"It's preserved, I assure you, I ran it through the process myself before I brought it. You guys know me better than that," Jonas explained, "but THIS is why I even took the trouble." The normally joyful Jonas look that had crept up for just a moment in his words of explanation was now gone as he angled the organ, aiming the forehead down to face them.
"Christ Jackson, your damn nightmares were no joke!" Cam shouted out as gold caught the light of the overheads, a sick sparkle in the room.
It was the head of a Jaffa, a head with a tattoo on it; the symbol of Anubis.
"JonasQuinn, it could just be a Jaffa that was once in the service of Anubis but is no longer. How did this man die?" Teal'c asked giving Adrienne the first opportunity to take a good look at his face. Ronon was right, two black eyes and she didn't know whether to laud herself on her personal accomplishment or feel terrible that she did that to a friend.
"We killed him," Jonas answered, before her thoughts could wander further, "we caught him trying to break into the Stargate facility. He attacked us when we were trying to take him prisoner. We wanted to question him but he took out three guards before the commander felt he had to order a shoot to kill. I noticed this when I was called down to investigate the body," he explained. Sensing the disgust of some of the members, he put the head back into the bag and zipped it up, handing it over to Sam. She took it without question, setting it aside, her general's face on, glancing back at Jonas.
"So, if you didn't get to question him, how do you know he wasn't just working alone? We've seen all sorts of rogue Ori soldiers and even Jaffa do strange things out of desperation. What makes him any different?" she asked, assuring Adrienne with her voice.
That is why this woman is in charge, the cajun thought, just her manner makes everyone feel better.
"Nothing really, it just seems odd for one guy to be sneaking around without someone else on the other side waiting to hear from him. It didn't seem like he was trying to save his own skin, he looked like he was looking for something," Jonas offered, peeking over at Cam for a moment before looking back at Sam, "What's Colonel Mitchell talking about, with nightmares?"
"Daniel's daddy haunted him for a bit to tell him all hell was going to break loose," Vala answered.
Daniel rolled his eyes and spoke, "We, I rather, got a message from my father-in-law, Kasuf, who is ascended. It seems that Anubis is no longer detained by Oma and the others."
"Well that's not good," Jonas responded, "do you know what he's up to?"
"I have no idea," Daniel continued, "we just got the message to more or less be prepared. I guess he meant for this."
"Come on, y'all are jumping to conclusions," Adrienne spoke, trying to convince herself more than the others, "I mean, isn't Anubis pretty aggressive in his approach? Wouldn't we have gotten a message loud and clear by now if he were coming?"
"Unfortunately," Sam answered, "that's not always the case. Especially with Anubis."
Adrienne saw Daniel shift uncomfortably in his chair, pinching his nose under his glasses, before swallowing. Add what really happened with Anubis to the list of things she needed to talk to him about, alone. Trying to cut her eyes over at him, give him some sort of silent code that everything was going to be alright, Adrienne just about had his attention, her hand quietly slipping under the table headed toward his leg, before Jonas spoke again, Daniel turning his head to listen.
"Well, he's the only one, so far. We don't need anyone to come and jump to our rescue, but those of us who are allowed to make decisions decided that it would be in our best interest to inform you all as soon as possible," Jonas stated, a forced grin on his face.
He must have been that decision maker, and it was very fortunate for them that he had moved as high up as he had in their government. Understanding, Sam walked over toward him, placing her hand carefully on his shoulder.
"Thank you Jonas. I'll take this and have it analyzed for anything that else our scanners can pick up. Was he carrying anything with him?" It was obvious by Sam's tone that despite the fact that Jonas had brought them a head, she was also disappointed that he had not brought an entire body, leaving that part of the evidence back on Langara.
"Not a thing," Jonas answered, "Not a staff weapon, nothing."
"That's strange," Daniel spoke up.
"Indeed," Teal'c replied, looking at Daniel and Sam, his teammates with the most experience with Jaffa.
"Sounds more like an escape than sabotage," Adrienne offered, thinking that even though she wasn't a Jaffa herself, it was a weapon she had come to rely on and would never choose to leave it behind, unless she was forced. Sam, hand to her chin, nodded.
"Jonas, if possible, we would like to see the body, even if I have to send Carolyn or Jenn over to you in order to examine it," she stated, unable to contain herself any longer. She needed the entire body if Jonas really wanted answers, even if it meant sending the doctors into a very uncomfortable situation.
"Ok, give me a few days and I'll see what I can do. Despite the vote to let me bring this to you, there were almost as many votes for no. Apparently, after the incident with Dr. McKay, there are still some people that have their doubts about our alliance with you," Jonas explained, that forced smile back on his face.
Poor guy, Adrienne thought, he really is caught between a rock and a hard place.
"Fair enough," Sam replied, "Will you be staying with us long?"
"Not this time, they wanted me back as soon as I dropped this off," he answered and began to head for the door, again no goodbye, no joke with old friends, just quiet and reserved. Nodding, Sam followed him out, leaving the team behind with a head, in a bag, on a table, confident that no one, not even a curious Daniel, would dare open the bag in her absence.
Pulling the door closed behind her, she walked in silence with her friend down the stairs.
As they approached the gate, Jonas looked back at Sam, his normal smile present, heading cocking back at the stairs.
"I see you kept her..." he said, a sly grin on his face.
"Who?" Sam replied, confused, looking around the gate room to see who might have joined them.
"Dr. Rowan."
Sam laughed, watching Daniel help said archaeologist down the hall, his arm around her waist, as they passed by the glass windows in the briefing room.
"It's funny," the Langaran continued, "Daniel doesn't seem to be the want or need an assistant type," he explained, remembering the time he had been somewhat of an assistant himself, when Daniel had returned, the awkwardness and how he always felt he was stepping on the man's toes.
"Actually, it's worked out pretty well," she replied, too well, she added silently to herself, way too well.
Yep Jonas, he's is love with her too, but we are all trying to pretend that's not happening.
"She's a pretty tough lady," he added smiling, "honestly that was what made me listen to her at all while the guards hunted around for the transmitter." Truthfully, it was her tenacity that made him actually listen, but it was her uniform that made him take a second look. He wasn't sure if he would ever forget that curvy Cajun woman, dirt and blood on her face, in an SGC uniform, screaming at him that didn't he understand, Dr. Jackson was gonna die, the only words he really understood in her loud Southern Louisiana rant.
"You have no idea," Sam laughed, an image of Adrienne punching a Langaran guard right in the nose coming to mind, as she reached to hug him goodbye.
The suck and then the silence filled the room, the wormhole forming and Jonas stepped through, returning home as quickly as he had come.
Watching Sam leave the room with Jonas, the rest of the team sat at the table looking at Daniel as he stood, who simply shrugged and shook his head.
"Don't look to me for answers. I didn't have much luck with Anubis. Oma stepped in for us, I just got blasted back down to Earth," he told the group, instinctively reaching out for Adrienne, who took his hand without question.
Vala rolled her eyes.
"Well, this isn't good, it's like a goddam Easter Egg hunt. How long before we stumble on the big golden egg?" Cameron declared, standing as well, his eyes cutting at the bag, resting at Sam's place at the table.
"I still think we all just need to calm down until we know something else. We can be alert without driving ourselves insane," Adrienne spoke, looking over at Daniel out of the corner of her eye as he frowned, reading her expression.
Yes, I'm talking to YOU Indiana Jackson, Adrienne added with her eyes.
"All right, no bad guy, just the head of a dead one? I'm gonna go work out," Vala stated and stood, leaving the room, acting like the head didn't bother her, and most certainly not wanting to sit and witness the aloof lovebirds any longer.
Liar, Adrienne thought, making plans to hit the nearest Halloween store as soon as possible, her next Vala prank already in progress.
Not having anything else to offer himself, Cam shrugged and followed as did Teal'c, looking back at Daniel and Adrienne.
See Daniel, the big guy's worried too; I'm not the only one that knows you well.
"Something you need to tell me?" Daniel asked, wondering why Adrienne had stood, but wasn't moving.
"No, I just needed you to help me," she peered over sheepishly, a half-truth, since she was also trying to read his face.
"And yet I'm the one that can't live without you?" he asked, reaching over to help her, noticing that she had taken off her black belt and obviously warmer ice pack, holding it in her hands.
"I really can't convince you to go see Dr. Lam," he asked, pleading, visibly worried, his concerns about Anubis no longer apparent, at least for now.
"Not a chance," she answered quickly, allowing his to wrap his arm around her waist; the Cajun taking a few cautious steps forward.
"Fine," he replied, no longer helping her limp along, leaning over picking her up into his arms, trying not to hurt her, or himself for that matter.
"Put me down ya gawd damn cooyon!" she yelled, pushing away from his careful grasp the minute she was up in his arms, the archaeologist stepping forward carefully with an armload of swearing Cajun.
"Only if you go to the doctor," he replied, continuing to walk through the door.
"Dammit, ok Indy, ok, ok, just put me down," she shouted, wriggling. Laughing, he heeded her request, as she straightened her shirt, scowling at him, her body still pointed in the direction of the lab.
"Now Ad, or I carry you and you're heavy," he told her, eyes added to the scowl this time.
"You're just jealous because I can bench more than you," she spat, not very effectively, as she grabbed her back again in pain.
"Go!" he repeated, more sternly this time.
"I hate you Daniel Anthony," she replied, turning to do as he asked, her middle finger in the air at him as she walked away.
"Don't think that OR my middle name is gonna bother me!" he yelled back at her, shaking his head chuckling as he returned to the lab.
I love her… he thought with a smile.
"What did she say?" Daniel asked as Adrienne entered the lab about an hour later, still limping and certainly not looking very happy to be there.
"Ice, heat, rest, don't fight giant alien men, you know, the usual," Adrienne replied, trudging over to his desk and shoving past him to open the bottom drawer.
"She's right you know, you could really get hurt," Daniel offered, backing up so she could get to the large bottle of ibuprofen she for some reason insisted on keep in his desk and not her own.
Bracing herself on the desktop, Adrienne looked over at him shaking her head.
"I hate when you're sweet," she grumbled.
"No you don't," he replied, smiling, reaching for the medication to open it as Sam walked into the room, shutting the door behind her.
"Daniel, this isn't good. We're not in a position to defend ourselves right now if Anubis comes and on top of that I have this sick feeling that he's just toying with us," she walked over to a chair at the center table and sat down, considerably less confident than she was in the meeting an hour earlier.
Adrienne didn't want to interrupt, she always felt awkward when Sam came in like this to talk to Daniel. The former teammates were close, close like siblings and Adrienne's presence just seemed to be an intrusion even though neither had ever asked her to leave.
Bracing herself on Daniel's shoulder to stand and taking the three tablets from his palm, Adrienne popped the meds into her mouth and limped over to her desk, taking the opportunity to look up Anubis in the database and old mission files, again.
"Sam, we can't obsess over this until we find some evidence. Send the head down to Carson and see what he can come up with. To be perfectly honest, I can't sit down here and dwell on this. Jonas'll get us access to the body, I'm sure, but until then we just need to go about our business like usual," Daniel answered, sounding a lot like Adrienne had earlier.
She was just glad that he listened to her.
"Nice words, but I don't believe a one of them. I hate to do this to you, but you need to start racking your brain for anything you remember. Whether you want to or not," she ordered, but more as a concerned former teammate than a boss. Adrienne was confused, wondering if any of those journals on the shelf had anything, and more than that, worried about Daniel.
Daniel, however, simply nodded, knowing it was coming. He really had no choice in the matter; if anyone knew Anubis, it was him. Taking in a deep exaggerated breath, Sam stood again and left, shutting the door behind her, her eyes saying what her words were not.
Adrienne waited until she was sure Sam was gone and stood, wincing as she did so and locked the door.
"What did you do that for?" Daniel asked from his desk, wondering what was wrong, concerned as he watched her limp. Silent, Adrienne walked over toward him, tottering slowly and carefully, pulling out the chair Sam was sitting in earlier, dragging it over to him. Forcing a smile, she reached out and put her hand on his knee.
"I think you need to bring me up to speed; totally up to speed," Adrienne requested as gently as she could. The SGC database had very little information on Anubis, very little, but with a request like that Sam must know that Daniel knew more. Much more, and Adrienne had learned over the course of their friendship that there was much more to Dr. Daniel Jackson than was listed on those files.
Letting out a sigh, Daniel took her hand into his, squeezing it gently. She was right, this is what Sam wanted, a rehashing of things he spend years trying to forget. He knew that by this point Adrienne would have already look up everything in the records during he and Sam's brief conversation, but what his old friend wanted wasn't there and wasn't in any journal. It was trapped deep inside, a hurt buried long ago, like so many others.
But, he could tell Adrienne.
Like so many painful things, he could make it through with Adrienne.
"Ok, but not here. Let's go to my place, being here and reliving it all just gives me the creeps."
She paused, not moving for a moment. This was gonna be hard for him. but he was putting on a strong face for her, like he had in his apartment the night she realized that she was in love with him. She started to reach out her hand, rest it on his bicep, tell him that she loved him more than anything that she would help get him through this…
"And bring one of those composition books of yours," he continued, stepping away, "Sam wants info, so we're going to need it," he stood and reached out to help her. Reading his face, a seriousness that she wasn't quite familiar or comfortable with, Adrienne quietly did as he requested and they left base together, headed for his apartment, not a word spoken between them.
Adrienne sat quietly beside Daniel on the sofa as he recounted everything, starting with Osiris taking over Sarah's body all the way to Oma subduing Anubis and sacrificing herself to battle him for eternity. Adrienne didn't speak through any of it, just took notes feverishly and occasionally leaned over to comfort him as he spoke of some of the harder parts of the story. When he was finished, the Cajun simply closed the book and set it on the floor, moving over to him on the sofa and taking him into her arms.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, "I had no idea."
Nodding, he wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on her shoulder.
"No one does, well no one now but you, again."
She held him tighter, Daniel returning the embrace.
"It actually sounds so foreign coming out," he added, "but that's everything. I don't remember much from being ascended, but what little I do tells me that even they couldn't stop him." His words were labored, breaking Adrienne's heart. She should have controlled herself better, but he just seemed so emotional and distraught. Reaching her hand to wander up the back of his neck, Adrienne brought her lips to his head, kissing his temple softly and resting her cheek on the same place, running her fingers lightly through his hair.
"Indy, he's not coming for you, he obviously…"
Daniel pulled away, all but his hand, a seriousness in his face like she had never seen before.
"No Ad, you don't understand, it's what's I've been trying to tell you, about Anubis," he said, sternly, though she could still sense the fear, "Yes, there is something he is after clearly but that won't be the end of it. It never is. To see me suffer and die will be the last thing he does."
Adrienne shook her head, confused. It seemed like a lot of effort for one person, just one human being, who might be her entire world, but in the grand scheme of the universe?
"You keep saying that, but why you Daniel, why you? I mean, it seems to me that everything he wanted and possibly wants now is information, how to get to the next place to take over. Why does he want you so badly?" she asked, hoping it wasn't too much, but trying to understand.
She couldn't help herself anymore, the urge to protect him, to keep him from harm had become so powerful inside of her, more instinct now than desire. No one else may seem to worry about what happened to Daniel, but she did, and she wasn't going to let some washed up system lord do anything to him if she could help it. She'd never loved someone like this before, and even if she could never work up the courage to tell him, she was going to do her best to make sure that she was there for him. Sliding his fingers from hers, reluctantly it felt, he sat up, his ocean blue eyes locking on hers with a look of desperation on his face.
"Honestly? I think it's because I lived. I challenged him, and while I didn't win per se, I did live, and descended and went on to continue to fight against him. I have all of the information he needs with the added bonus of being a target of revenge," Daniel replied, not fearful but resigned, as if he had a predestined fate that he could not control.
What can I say back to that, Adrienne thought, torn; the idea of losing him even if he really could never be hers was too much to bear. Putting on a brave face, she leaned forward, squeezing him tightly one last time and then let go, looking at the clock to discover that they had talked clear through lunch and almost dinner. Daniel didn't necessarily look upset as he backed away slowly, but he didn't look that terrific either so she stood and walked over to her computer bag at the counter, opening it up and taking out her laptop.
Flipping up the lid, she couldn't help but smile at the beautiful vampire there to greet her, dark and brooding sitting on his throne in Fangtasia. She still loved Eric, she would always love her vampire fantasy, but for some reason she just wasn't that excited by him half-naked on her screen anymore. Satisfied with Chinese delivery, the place nearest Daniel's bookmarked in her web browser, she glanced up to tell him it would be about thirty minutes but he was gone.
Worried, she wandered through the apartment looking for him, hearing the shower start as soon as she arrived at the bedroom door. Adrienne sighed, hoping that he was alright. He tried to put on a tough front at the base, but the longer she knew him the more she realized that everything he went through had chipped away at him one little piece at a time.
He wasn't broken, far from, but there was a pain inside that she wished she could wash away.
I wanna wash it all away...
Dinner arrived shortly after he had finished showering and neither of them mentioned their hours long conversation; it was as if he had his say and that was the end of it. They ate dinner with very little additional conversation and afterwards, Adrienne excused herself to drive home to her apartment.
She said goodbye, a light hug and peck on the cheek, heading for her car. When she got to the end of the hall, she punched the button, the elevators doors opening and she paused, letting them close without entering.
She wasn't going to leave him like this; he wouldn't have left her.
Breathing out slowly, she spun around, trudging back to his apartment, using the key he had given her to let herself back in. The lights were off, he must have decided to go to bed for the night, so she tossed her bag onto the couch, kicking off her tennis shoes and heading for the bedroom.
Better to let her heart suffer than his.
She slipped into bed, turning her back to him, reaching behind to clasp his fingers.
The next morning, Sam was waiting for them when they arrived, together, not even questioning the hour or the fact that a simple scan of the parking lot would have told her they arrived in the same car.
"Word from Jonas, the body will be here momentarily. They still aren't too keen on us coming with a large investigative force to the facility itself, but he's still hopeful. Daniel, I'd like for you to head down there and look the body over for any tattoos or other identifying marks, anything that could help us out," she said. Daniel simply nodded, coding himself into the lab, proceeding to gather up his camera and a legal pad from his desk. Waiting until Sam left, Adrienne walked up behind him resting her hand on his shoulder.
"You up to this Indy?" she asked sweetly, squeezing, still worried about the mumbling she had heard in the middle of the night, when she had gone to the bathroom. Lying on the bed, curled slightly, she heard Daniel arguing in his sleep with an unknown foe, a foe she suspected was Anubis. She had hurried back to bed, crawling over him, whispering in his ear until he had awoken, assuring her that everything was fine, still grabbing her hand before he fell back asleep.
"Ad, I've been doing this for years..." he responded, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
Time for the show, she thought, time to act like nothing is wrong, that nothing is ever wrong.
"It's just that yesterday, well, you were..." she hoped he would fill in the blank, the blank that should read upset, withdrawn and held my hand all night while you slept.
"Yesterday I had to recall how I died, went to heaven and came crashing back down. You try doing that and see what your reaction is?" he sniped at her.
She wasn't going to fight with him; she knew this was his code for 'let me deal with this in my own way' so she just nodded, threw her bag on her desk and headed for the gym.
Let him look at dead bodies; she was going to run.
When she got back to the lab, he was gone and she decided not to track him down, getting to work on what she was doing before Jonas had arrived with a head in a backpack. She was typing away at the 10th Asgard Dynasty when a message popped up on her screen.
Ad?
It was her instant messenger, so she clicked off the screen she was working on and onto the message to see who it was and much to her surprise, at the top of the box it read: Daniel.
She hadn't expected to hear from him for a while; typically when he dismissed her help and was in a mood like this, he would stay quiet for hours, though she did have to admit it used to be days, so him messaging this early was progress.
DanielJackson is in love with you, as you are with him…
He's finally realized that we're right and he's trying to figure out how the hell to deal with that...
She was still a little miffed he had lashed out at her she decided not to say anything and let the whole incident go, quickly typing her reply.
Hey, how's it going?
Ok I guess. Not a fan of touching dead people.
Sorry :/
Part of the job right? Anyway, if I email you a picture,
can you take a look at it and let me know what you think?
I'd be happy to,
but would you rather me come down?
It's not very pleasant. It's preserved, but nonetheless
it's still a dead body.
Adrienne giggled. Only Daniel would use 'nonetheless' in a text chat. She had the urge to type "LOL" or something of the sort as soon as she could, just to mess with him since he would have no idea what that meant at all, but decided against it. Later, maybe, but now was not the time. Instead, she just replied.
If you need me I'm happy to come.
If you are up to it, it would be helpful if you head down here.
No problem :-) Give me a few minutes to get to a stopping point and I'll be right there.
Glancing away from her screen, she reached for her backpack and iPod, starting to pack up a few supplies to take down when she heard the bing again at her side.
Ad? You still there?
Yeah Indy, what's up? Did ya need me to bring something?
I'm really sorry I snapped at you earlier.
Adrienne smiled. She could actually hear him saying it in her head. She really didn't hate it when he was sweet; she loved him too much for that, she just needed to remember that he had a certain way of dealing with things and she'd have to be patient with him.
She typed back.
Already forgotten.
Ok, see you soon.
Working as fast as she could, she wrapped up her work and headed for the morgue.
When she arrived a flurry of people surrounded the table, talking, debating, examining, Daniel, Rodney, Drs. Lam, Keller, Beckett and Sam all engaged in some rather tense conversation. At a loss as to exactly what she should do, Adrienne walked up behind her boss, placing her hand lightly on his back.
"Hey, thanks again for coming down," he said in acknowledgement as he stepped back to let her approach the body, allowing her her first glimpse of the headless man in Jaffa armor. Despite the lack of a smell at all she began to retch, a dead body again being something she had only seen on TV, stumbling as she turned away quickly. Daniel caught her, reading her face as she now read his, holding her upright but not too hard as to exacerbate her back injury.
"See why I offered to send a picture?" he said, holding his arm protectively around her.
"Just give me a sec and let me breathe," she responded, taking a deep breath away from the body. Willing herself the courage to carry on, she pulled away from Daniel's grasp, peering back at the corpse.
"Ok, show me," she requested, breathing deeply a second time.
Nodding, Daniel moved the chest plate of the armor away from the skin and stepped back to reveal to her the tattoo.
It was faded and faint, like someone tried to remove it, and Adrienne assumed that simple laser treatments had been used since the shape was still there. A casual observer might have even thought that it was simply dirt, but to Daniel and now Adrienne, who had been taught to look for such things, it was not an accident.
"Is that what I think it is?" she asked.
"If that's your reaction, yep, I just wanted a second voice in here before I set the group into chaos," he looked at her over his glasses.
"Thanks shug, good to know when I'm being used," she joked, trying to lighten the obviously dark mood. He squeezed her arm, raising his eyebrows and making a face before addressing their still arguing colleagues.
"Guys, I've got something," he announced, each of them pausing and turning their gazes in his direction.
"Take a look at this," he said as he pulled the armor back for the group revealing the symbol, stepping back as the gathered around the table like they were before, peering at the image.
"We saw that," Dr. Keller spoke up, "it looks faded, like someone tried to remove a tattoo."
"I think that's exactly what they did, however, if you look closely, you can still make out what it is," he pointed and Sam moved closer, ahead of the others.
"No..." she breathed out.
"What?" Carson and Jennifer both asked, but Dr. Carolyn Lam was already backing away, crossing her arms and shaking her head.
"It's the symbol for the Ori...I think we know where the other homeless soldiers are going..." Sam explained.
"Then," Daniel continued, "Not to jump to conclusions," he looked at Adrienne, "but if you send one man to go to an allied planet, and dial from there, we open the gate thinking it is someone like Jonas and there you have your infiltrator, one that we just let walk right on in."
"Then, I guess it's time to share something else with you all," Dr. Lam stepped forward, opening a folder she had retrieved from a table behind her, "The Langarans did NOT kill this man, or at least not with gunfire," she showed Sam a chart, pointing to some information in the file while she explained, "Cause of death is poisoning."
"Self-induced or forced?" Sam asked. Nodding her head, as if she knew the question was coming, Dr. Lam walked over to the back table where Adrienne noticed Jonas' black backpack lying in wait. Acting like a head in a rucksack was just a normal occurrence, Carolyn brought the initial piece of evidence to join the rest of the body. Without flinching, which Adrienne found to be quite impressive, she reached inside, producing the head, holding it carefully in her gloved hands.
"I wanted to make sure I wasn't imagining things, but," Carolyn continued, holding the head under the bright light, reaching to open the mouth, with one hand. Seeing her struggle, Dr. Beckett stepped forward, pinching the cheeks of the soldier to loosen the jaw, angling the opening better to the light. Adrienne wanted to heave, was starting to actually, when she felt fingers at hers, a hand intertwining with her own. Relaxing at his comfort, at his touch, she stepped back closer to where Daniel was standing, watching the doctor reaching into the mouth of the deceased, pulling out a tiny piece of plastic which she held up for all to see.
"Based on what Dr. Jackson just said and the poisoning, I think that this is most likely part of a capsule, I still need to run some tests to be sure. If so, I think we can conclude suicide," she stated.
"Why is that?" Sam asked.
"Because, I found this fragment between the 1st and 2nd Mandibular Molars, meaning he most likely bit down to release the poison. If they had done this to him, the force needed to make it look like suicide would have probably broken his jaw, but it's completely intact. It's an unnatural motion to be made outside of the body, and there would be much more damage had there been," Carolyn explained.
"He was dead before he hit the ground? " Daniel asked, still holding on to Adrienne's hand.
"Essentially. These bullet holes in his body are ante mortem, but they're not fatal," she replied, handing Sam the folder and reaching behind herself to the small medical table, slipping the piece of plastic into a baggie.
"Ok, and no one found anything else on the body?" Sam addressed the group and got nods to the negative all around.
"Alright, I'm gonna contact Jonas. We need to get over there, soon," Sam declared and left the room, walking briskly toward her office. The doctors moved to clean up the mess, so, assuming they were finished, Adrienne pulled from Daniel's grasp, rushing to the sink, quickly scrubbing herself up to the elbows. She was just turning on the water to rinse when she glanced up to see Daniel had joined her to do the same.
"I've a new found respect for both Dana Scully and Dr. Grumpypants," she whispered to him and he chuckled lightly as he turned on the water.
"Should we be worried?" she asked.
"Yeah, sure you don't want to go back to teaching?" he answered.
"Not a chance," she replied, smiling.
"Well, I'm fairly certain that they're going to send one or both of us over there to investigate. It could get a bit... hairy..." he admitted as he ran soap up his arms, scrubbing strongly.
"Indy, at this point I've been shot at multiple times, threatened by Ori soldiers, beaten for speaking and having boobs, had my mind invaded by your father in law and brainwashed to think I was Russell Crowe. I think I'm good with hairy," she responded, drying off her arms and hands with a paper towel. He smiled back and shut off the water.
"And all of that in a little over a year," Daniel joked with a smile, "See, you fit in just fine here after all."
"Not sure if that's a good thing though shug," she added, a small shrug as she walked toward the doors. Leaving the doctors to the corpse, the two set back out for their own workspace, each silently relieved to be escaping the company of the dead.
The emergency sirens were blaring the moment they turned the corner to head down to the lab the sound of bullets firing echoing around them. Tapping his legs to look for something, anything with which to defend themselves, Daniel quickly realized that the two of them had nothing, not even so much as a pocket knife or artifact brush. Turning in a frantic circle, the archaeologist scanned their surroundings, seeing a doorway, an escape, pulling Adrienne into a supply closet.
"What are you doing?" she hissed at him, "We have to help!"
"With what weapons?" he asked her, tapping his legs a second time for effect, loudly enough so she could hear, "We were in the lab today, remember?" She made a face he couldn't see, knowing he was right, that they were effectively helpless.
"I can run, get my staff weapon, and hand to hand I'll be fine," she continued to argue, but shaking his head, and then remembering that she couldn't see, Daniel reached out for her arm, squeezing it gently.
"Ad, karate moves don't stop bullets. Let's just hang tight here for a moment. It'll at least give us some time to think of something," he countered, letting go to rub his hand up and down her bicep, hoping she wouldn't fight him further.
"Alright," she agreed, pulling away and beginning to feel her way around the closet.
There were metal shelves lining the sides and as she worked her hands around the wall she found the switch. Gingerly reaching for it to turn the light on, instinctively, not thinking, she felt his hand over hers making her pause.
"No, they'll see us," he whispered, running his hand down her back so she could feel that he was going to walk and investigate in the other direction.
"Right, sorry, just a little claustrophobic," she apologized, feeling her stomach knot.
She had nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, and THEY were on the other side.
And no one could come to help.
"You have claustrophobia?" he asked, thinking to himself yet another tidbit of info on his best friend that might have been useful to know before shoving her into a closet.
But wait?
She's shoved him into a closet before, what made this so different?
And then it hit him.
"Something like that," she answered, barely a whisper, but Daniel knew, he knew it wasn't the closet, it was the intruder, an intruder with a gun that she feared…
He shoved his gun right into my face…
I wanted to scream…
...but I couldn't fight back...
"All I have on my side are boxes of paper, you?" he changed the subject, annoyed that his search of the other side of the closet had yielded nothing.
No one was going to hurt her, he would see to that.
"Computer mess on mine. We can grab some cords to choke someone with, but other than that I've got nothing," she whispered back, hoping he couldn't hear the tension in her voice.
"Ok, I vote we get those at least," he crossed the short expanse, putting his hand on her shoulder so she could lead the way.
Another shot rang out, and she could barely make out Daniel wrapping the cord tightly around his right fist, something tense in his mannerism.
To see me suffer and die will be the last thing he does...
"Alright grab a few of those for now and let's find a place to wait," Daniel whispered, shoving a second cord into his pocket.
Anubis will be after him.
If they get Daniel, they'll hurt him, and Anubis will kill him.
The thoughts swirled through Adrienne's head as her heart raced. Part of her was scared as she relived her greatest fear all over, an intruder, with a purpose and a gun, and she, trapped with no escape. On the other hand, she knew this intruder's purpose, and that knowledge gave her an advantage.
No one was going to take Daniel from her.
Daniel's concern, on the other hand, was not on his own safety, but on that of the woman standing in this closet with him that he had come to love. Intent on defending her, Daniel turned, reaching to wrap the cord around his other hand in case their presence was detected.
There were more shots and sounds outside, Daniel taking a stance in front of the door, ready to fight, or choke, to the best of his ability, anyone that could get in here.
"Indy," Adrienne hissed, "What are you doing?"
"Get behind me," he ordered, but she shook her head in the darkness.
"No," she argued, "You said it yourself that Anubis wants you!"
"He'll take out anyone in his path Ad. Including you."
"On his way to you."
"Adrienne, I can't let you get hurt."
"And you think I can just stand here and let you?"
"Why do you have to be so damn stubborn about everything?"
"Me stubborn, oh shug, I learned from the MASTER."
"I'm not arguing with you right now, get behind me Adrienne."
"No, DANIEL, you get behind me. Anubis doesn't even know who I am."
"Why can't you just realize for one second that I can't let anything happen to you…"
"And I can? It's like you haven't even figured out that…"
"...because I love you…"
"...I love you..."
The last words out of their mouths made them both stop, turning to face one another in the dim light that was emanating from the bottom of the door.
"What did you say?" Adrienne asked first, Daniel opening his mouth to answer when the door was kicked open, a man with a gun entering, pointing it right at them.
"Who's in here!?" he shouted, "Show yourselves!"
Daniel didn't take the time to figure out friend or foe. He pushed Adrienne as far as he could into the corner and ran full force into the man, shoving his elbow into his stomach. The man was knocked backwards, the gun skidding across the floor, slamming into the far side wall with a loud crunching. Elbow to throat, Daniel pinned the man to the ground, intending on breaking his windpipe if he had to, something he would have never considered before, but considered now, anything to protect Adrienne.
"Daniel, hey, it's me, it's Sheppard," John tried to squeak out in an attempt to not lose consciousness. Recognizing the voice, Daniel backed up a bit and saw that he was indeed pinning Colonel John Sheppard to the ground. He pulled away, heart racing, sitting back on his knees.
"Sorry, I thought you were one of the intruders," he apologized as John sat up, reaching for his neck and rubbing it. Sheepishly, Daniel reached to his left, grabbing his gun and passing it over, "Did you get them?"
"Yea. Three this time, we think, since you two don't make four and five. They came in from another friendly planet, one not as well guarded as Langara, dressed like our guys. One had a call signal that had been lost, that's how they made it onto the base, but we got them, we think. This was my last sweep. You guys alright?" he asked after his brief explanation. Before answering, Daniel looked over at Adrienne, who was still shoved into the corner, her face a mixture of total shock and confusion.
"Yeah, we were caught off guard and unarmed and were trying to figure a way to help," he said as showed the computer cords and grasped them indicating their intention to choke.
"Not bad," Sheppard complimented, standing and reaching down to help his attacker. Once upright, Daniel looked back at Adrienne and then to Sheppard who seemed very concerned to see his assistant standing there with a look of shock on her face. The colonel went to open his mouth, and ask if everything was alright once more, when Daniel gave a nod of affirmation.
"We're ok, just shaken up," the archaeologist added.
"You sure?"
"Positive," Daniel assured him.
"Ok, Sam said once we were secure for everyone to head to the briefing room," Sheppard added, Daniel nodding in understanding.
"We'll head right down," he answered and the colonel left, leaving the two archaeologists standing and facing one another.
"We should um..." Adrienne stammered, her heart pounding in her chest…
He said he loves me…
"...head down, probably, see what's going on," she finished.
"Right," Daniel agreed, "let's make sure everyone else is okay."
I said it.
She said it.
Shit…
Together, and in silence, they walked briskly to the briefing room.
"Alright, I think we need to focus on the positives of the situation. Knowing some of what Anubis is up to and how he's forming his new army is valuable information," Sam said to a full briefing room, including the now brought into everything Atlantis crew.
"And they are not Jaffa," Teal'c made clear to the group.
"No, these are Ori soldiers, dressed as Jaffa. However, since we can't seem to get our hands on a live one just yet we still have no idea if they have been altered in a way that our medical tests can't reveal," Sam continued.
"You mean that out of FOUR attempted infiltrators, we have been unable to get ONE living intruder," Richard Woolsey spoke up from the table.
"No sir," Sam answered, "Both the one from Langara and the one who we believe was the leader of this mission ingested some type of poison upon discovery. The other two we shot to defend our people," she emphasized the last three words.
"Then, I think we need to send those bodies to Area 51 for a more thorough examination," Woolsey continued as Dr. Lam made a face showing her disgust.
"If that's what the IOA is recommending..." Sam agreed without agreeing.
"It is," Woolsey stood his ground.
"Then, I must inform each of you that we are changing the codes for our allies and making sure that they are only given to those with top level security clearance, no direct reports," Sam continued, retaking control of the meeting.
"What about the Tok'ra?" Daniel asked and by the hurt look on Sam's face he could tell that he shouldn't have. They hadn't been in contact with the Tok'ra in years, and the only code they would have would be one of the now outdated ones, ones that were going to be considered compromised.
"We will not be opening the iris for anyone without the proper code. Even the Tok'ra," she answered stoically.
Daniel nodded his head, not saying anything further; it would be hardest for her, between Martuff, her father...
"I'll be meeting with Dr. Beckett as soon as he looks over the bodies and I will go through some more information and notify each of you then of our next steps. Dismissed," Sam said, shutting off the SmartBoard, crossing her arms, more self comforting than authoritatively but Daniel would have to check on her later.
Shooting her a friendly glance, hoping she saw it and knew she could come down if she needed him, he stood, looking down at his assistant and reaching out his hand.
"Help up?" he asked, trying to read her face because he knew that she heard him and she still had a look on her face that he couldn't read.
"I'm ok," she answered, standing, her heart still in her throat.
He said it.
"Guess the back is better," he tried to kid, say something, anything other than what he was thinking, and she smiled, nodding.
I said it.
But she did too...
"Yeah, thanks shug," she answered quietly, "But I think I'm gonna go rest it. Watch some vampires or something."
Daniel forced a smile.
"I think that's a good idea," he replied, "I'll text you or message or whatever if something else arises."
She reached out, squeezing his arm gently before turning and leaving the briefing room.
Daniel watched her leave, and stood for just a moment, alone in the seemingly massive room, lost in his thoughts.
She'd said 'I love you' clear as day.
And, he had said it too, without hesitation.
Daniel, you're in love with that woman.
He heard Jack's words in his head, his words and his insistence that Daniel come to him should he finally admit to himself that Jack was right.
He'd run every scenario through his head, every scenario about Adrienne losing her job, being shipped off to Area 51, or worse, Adrienne dying in his arms.
But he couldn't carry on like this much longer.
He loved Adrienne, more than he had ever loved anyone in his entire life.
Don't fuck it up.
"I hate when Vala's right," he muttered, taking a breath and powering out of the briefing room.
"Fuck rules," he muttered, heading past the lab and to the elevators.
"Fuck the IOA," he added as he stopped at the elevators, pressing the button to go up.
"Fuck Woolsey," he continued as the elevator doors opened, Daniel stepping inside, pressing the button for the housing level, his mind made up.
He stood in silence, watching the levels tick up one after another, debating at every floor to hit the emergency stop and head back to the lab.
But he didn't.
"Fuck Anubis," he finally said as the elevator doors open, Daniel powering onto his destination.
On the other side of the door Daniel swallowed strongly.
Vala was right, hell, everyone was right. He'd looked up the rules so very many times, found the regulations and they would have to keep it quiet, not really tell anyone that they were involved, but he just couldn't keep his feelings to himself any longer.
He stood at her door, breathing in deeply, his mind in total chaos.
Should he?
Shouldn't he?
Was this a mistake?
"No," he coached himself, "I can do this."
He willed himself to knock, but he stood there, not moving.
They could talk about it like two adults…
Couldn't they?
They slept in the same bed, often, they ate nearly every meal together, they were the first and last person that one another talked to every day. She knew everything about him, everything, even details about past relationships and his personal life, and he knew the same about her.
Wasn't that love, real love?
Taking another breath, Daniel reached out his hand to knock, when the door opened, Adrienne standing there in running clothes and gym bag.
Her back must really be feeling better.
"Hey Indy," she said, confused, surprised, with some sort of strange look on her face.
"Hey."
Great one idiot, open your mouth…
"Did you need something?" she now asked, lowering her bag and furrowing her brow in concern.
"Uh, no, well, I…" he started to stammer, "I mean, I just, well, I was going to head to the lab but I, was, well…"
She laughed lightly.
"Do you wanna come in?" she asked, "I was just gonna blow off steam, but I honestly don't have a run on my schedule."
He stood there for a moment, frozen in time.
"Dammit Daniel," she said, stepping back and opening her door wider, "Come in."
Swallowing, he took a step forward, into her room, his thoughts a swirl of chaos.
Daniel, you love that woman.
Don't fuck it up.
Tell her you idiot, you already have.
Adrienne, I love you...
Adrienne looked at him, trying to read his face, but failing, shutting the door to her quarters and setting down her bag to face him, when he was there, reaching his hands behind her, one behind her head, the other holding her tightly against him, bringing his lips to hers.
She didn't pull away.
They stood there, in the doorway of her room, kissing passionately for what seemed to be an eternity until she pulled from his embrace slightly, resting her hand on his cheek.
"Wasn't expecting that..." she uttered, barely, still in shock as he watched her blush, giggling lightly.
"I'm just happy you didn't run away screaming," he answered.
"You had me pinned," she teased back, pulling him closer to her, not to kiss again, but to crawl into his arms and let him know that this was alright.
"We probably need to talk," she whispered from his chest, not moving, not even trying to escape, letting herself melt into him.
"We do, but can we sit? It's been a long day," he replied, holding her head to him, kissing it lightly. Backing away she ran her hand down his arm, clasping his fingers, pulling him to the bed, directing him to sit. He did, watching as she crawled up beside him, pulling off her running shoes and tossing them aside before crossing her legs and picking her nails.
"Did you mean what you said back there?" she started, Daniel making sure to look straight into her eyes.
"Yeah, I did," he answered honestly, "Did you?"
"Yeah," she replied, continuing to pick her nails, "But Indy we're…"
"Fifteen years apart in age, boss and assistant, team members, I could go on, but yeah," he agreed, "I've been through it all. Over and over. For a while now. "
She laughed.
"And I don't just care," he added.
"Me neither," was her reply.
"We just…" he paused for a moment, "Work. Not like in the lab but…"
She laughed, "Daniel, I know what you meant. We do."
"I tend to have a terrible track record though…" he now noted, but Adrienne just shrugged.
"So you've shared," she said with a light laugh, "But who doesn't?"
She had a point.
"And I am the worst person ever to remember an important date, dinner plans, notice a new hairstyle, be able to actually express what I am feeling in intelligible words…"
Adriene couldn't help but laugh harder.
"Like you are now?" she teased, "Are you trying to talk me out of this?"
He chuckled softly, "Not a chance. Just wanted to be clear as to what you were getting into."
Daniel reached out for her again, wanting to do nothing more than hold her, now that it seemed to be ok to do so, but she paused, pulling from his grasp.
"There is one thing, I'm…" she started but was unable to finish, Daniel frowning in confusion.
"You what Ad?" he asked sincerely, the cajun woman taking a deep breath before continuing.
"I've never told anyone what happened to me but you, not the police, not anyone, not even Joshua," she started right in, her eyes darting downward in shame. He'd suspected that by her actions before, but let her talk, reaching over to hold her leg.
"Needless to say when I didn't let my boyfriend touch me anymore, that didn't go over so well," she added, finally peering up at him.
"Was that what ended it?" Daniel ventured, remembering she had mentioned how different they were but maybe this was a detail she had left out.
"Point for Indy," she tried to joke.
"I'm getting pretty good at these, do I ever get to cash them in?" he grinned in reply, taking her hand in his own. She smiled softly, squeezing him back before biting her lip and continuing.
"So, the rest of it, I don't care. Age difference, the rules, we can figure out a way all around that. But, I'm not sure if I ever can, well, be physically intimate with someone again," she finally said it aloud, starting to pull away but he held her fingers fast, not letting her escape.
"And?" he led.
"I mean, if, well, you, it's not fair..." she stammered some more, confused, scared, pulling away again and this time he let her, inching his way over beside her on the bed.
"Hang on," he said quickly, leaping up and removing his shoes before returning to her side, reaching out his arms for her.
"What are you doing?" she asked, confused, but letting him pull her to him.
"Holding you, if that's alright? That's kinda why I came here. I figured I'd make sure that I hadn't just imagined what happened down there and then we could be here, together, really together and watch whatever godafwul film that you decided to torture me with tonight," he answered as if she were insane, as if she had said nothing.
"Daniel, I don't think you're understanding me," Adrienne continued, turning to gaze into his eyes.
"Understanding what?" he shrugged.
"Understanding that I can't be what you want..."
"Is your name Doctor Adrienne Margaret Rowan? Are you a crazy cajun archaeologist with terrible taste in music and an addiction to Mexican food? Do you have more holes in your head than one of those overpriced neon sweaters?"
She frowned at him.
"Ok, just checking. You never know around here. That's all I want, all I need, just you. Didn't I just say we work, the way we are. I just want to keep that, and maybe toss in the occasional door pinning and not be so worried or confused when you fall asleep across my lap?"
Adrienne sat there, both in shock, and laughing at his general silliness.
He didn't care.
"So, is it zombies, vampires, werewolves or god forbid something even more gory than that?" he added, sitting back against the headboard and pulling her to him.
Not for a moment did he hesitate or say a word in argument; he just blew it off like it didn't matter. He wanted her, he loved her, just for who she was and nothing else.
Daniel Jackson, where did you come from?
"I love you Daniel," she finally let the words cross her lips again, peering back up at him.
"I love you too," he whispered, kissing her lightly, readjusting her in his arms to hold her close.
"No more dying if I'm investing myself in this," she joked from his embrace.
"No more telling me how you feel when I'm unconscious," he countered.
"Wait, you heard me?" she said as she sat up, confused, "You weren't even breathing!"
"Well, technically I heard Vala, but, wait," he paused, "I was definitely breathing."
"She said you didn't hear anything?!"
"What are you talking about Ad?"
"Why did Vala lie to me?"
"Did you mean when Kasuf came? Wait, what happened? Is that what you were crying about!?"
"Did you tell Vala to lie to me?"
"Yea, she's been my friend longer, but wait, what…" he started to ask and then started laughing, "We're ridiculous. Does it matter? Does any of it matter?"
Adrienne lay back into his arms, chuckling.
"It doesn't," she admitted, " 'Cept I'm gonna kick Vala's ass. Traitor."
"In all fairness she went a little attack dog on your behalf," Daniel whispered as he held her, "So you might wanna cut her some slack."
Adrienne laughed.
"Fine, but one more thing? No more telling me serious things when we think we might be killed by a resurrected System Lord," she requested.
"It would be a lot easier to tell you serious things if I didn't have to worry about you trying to be a superhero all of the time and make me think I'll lose you," he couldn't resist, thrusting his hands in front of his face in case she went to hit him, laughing from behind his palms.
"You're so awful to me," she laughed, pushing him down so that he was laying on the bed, curling into his arms.
"You trained me well you know," he answered as he complied, moving so that they were laying down together, like they had so many times but without the hesitation now, just together and close.
"No movie?" he whispered, kissing her temple.
"Can we just lay here?" she requested quietly.
"Whatever you want."
Adrienne didn't answer with words, just nestled closer to him, wrapping her arms so tightly around him.
She told him.
He told her.
What in the hell were they going to do now?