Daniel thought the smell that hit him as he entered the front door of her apartment was strange, not in general, but just that it was coming from Adrienne's apartment. It smelled like cake, unburned cake, which made it all that much stranger considering Adrienne claimed that she couldn't cook.
Frowning, he tossed his jacket onto the sofa and followed the smell, his stomach beginning to rumble violently.
As he turned the corner, there was Adrienne; standing in her kitchen baking cupcakes and shocked just wasn't strong enough a word to express what he was feeling right at that very moment.
"Ad?" he asked, confirming for himself that she was standing there, over a stove, looking like June Cleaver, her worst nightmare. Dropping a pan onto the floor, empty thankfully, Adrienne whipped around quickly glaring at him.
"Don't you call anymore?" she asked, looking nervous as if he had caught her doing something inappropriate rather than baking.
"No, I don't, I have a key, what are you doing?" he asked, wanting to hear the words come out of her mouth, trying and failing to hide the smile on his face.
"I'm baking cupcakes for Jack and Sam's anniversary," she stated, turning around again quickly like nothing had happened, temporarily ignoring the cookie sheet sitting at her feet.
"Oh really," he continued, as he approached the counter, kneeling to pick up the forgotten piece of cookware to set it on the counter beside her, puzzled now for more than one reason. First, her own birthday was just a few days ago and she had so quickly moved on to someone else's celebration. Second, Jack was at area 51, but Daniel just figured that she was doing this for Sam alone, who had seemed bummed out about the entire situation.
Thirdly, he thought she couldn't bake...
"Yes really," she spat but didn't look at him, just stepped back, pulling out a pan of cupcakes and switching them for a tray of mix sitting in little cups to her right. Without a word, she set the cooked treats onto the stovetop and returned to stirring in a large bowl.
"I thought you couldn't cook. Or bake?" Daniel asked, now confused. Adrienne always joked that she ate raw food because she was so bad at cooking but now, here she was, all decked out in an apron looking like she knew exactly what she was doing. There was a hesitation as she stirred furiously until she dropped the spoon into the bowl, sighing and turning back around to face him.
"Promise not to tell?" she asked, looking at him sheepishly. Tell what, he thought, what grand secret could possibly be behind her ability to make desserts, so he nodded in the affirmative.
"I can cook alright. And bake. And a lot of other shit I say on base that I can't do," Adrienne said, this time lining a new baking tray with little paper cups, very certain as to what she was doing.
"Ok, so then why are you telling everyone otherwise?" he asked, mystified.
Scowling, Adrienne grabbed a large spoon off of the counter, beginning to ladle the mix into the cups, answering him without eye contact.
"Because, just, I can do a lot of things ok. A lot. Not because I'm perfect, or want to be better than everybody, or whatever you used to say about me. I just can do a lot of things because when I find something that I feel I need to learn how to do, I learn it, make sure I can do it well and then do it. It's what you do when you have to survive. People don't like that though; that's not how you make friends. So, if I have a bunch of things people can tease me about, then it just makes things easier," she answered, quietly.
Daniel breathed out, taking in her words.
Yeah, he could see that.
In fact, he had seen Sam go through the same thing for years, because, heaven forbid, the woman was an accomplished member of the military and a PhD.
"Well, I have been with you long enough to know that you still can't tell time, or know your left from right, so there's always that to tease you about," he joked as he walked over to the bowl of batter and moved to stick his finger in.
"You wanna keep that," Adrienne hissed, grabbing his finger as fast as lightning. He smiled, cursing her black belt reflexes, glancing over at her. She must have been baking all day; she was covered in flour and there was even a spot on her nose, barely visible against her pale skin. It looked so cute, in fact, despite her hatred of anything domestic; she looked absolutely beautiful standing there like this.
"Trust me, they'll be good," she said, as if he didn't believe her, "I'll even give you one when that group comes out since I have batch one packed away already."
Smiling softly, dear lord, if he kissed her right now would she explode about being made some housewife, she pointed over to some carefully placed cardboard boxes when it occurred to Daniel, the one thing she hadn't explained away.
"If you're planning on hiding that you can bake, how are you going to give Sam cupcakes?" he asked and Adrienne, rolling her eyes, pointed back over to the cardboard boxes for a second time.
Confused, Daniel walked over to them seeing that they were all stamped "Metro Cupcakes Inc."
"Really?" he asked over his shoulder, unable to believe the lengths that she was going to to keep this ridiculous secret.
"Yeah, I told them it was for my daughter's class. They gave me five boxes," Adrienne smiled and kept baking.
Daniel shook his head, deciding to ignore the daughter comment but it got him thinking that maybe, just maybe she'd been thinking a little more about his, well, sort of question from the week before...
"Ja-wer, you take neuroticism to a whole new level," he said instead, walking back over to the fridge, opening the door and starting to dig.
"There's no junk cher," she called over her shoulder, switching out more finished cupcakes, knowing that with the smell of one kind of sugar present that Daniel would be seeking out another.
He didn't reply, however, rummaging around a moment longer before standing from her fridge, a vitamin water in one hand and a Snickers bar in the other. She looked at him funny, wondering where it came from as he waved the candy bar at her grinning.
"Took your advice; I hid some stuff here," Daniel smiled and shut the door, Adrienne rolling her eyes.
"Indy, you're way too comfortable here," she joked as he finally came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her ear. Smiling, she leaned back on him, cuddling herself into his gentle embrace.
"I was waiting for that," she said, resting the back of her head on his shoulder.
"You looked busy," he whispered, squeezing her tighter, "Are you almost finished?"
"This batch that I'm spooning is my last tray," she answered, pulling away, reluctantly he could tell, but intent on finishing. Not wanting to let go himself, Daniel pulled her into his embrace for one quick second, kissing her a second time before releasing her, taking his snack back out into the living room.
"Can I still have one?" he asked again, smiling at the doorway.
"Go find something to do and let me finish," Adrienne responded, turning back to her task. Knowing she'd give in, Daniel didn't respond, walking to the living room to grab a book from his satchel.
He was much more nervous than he should have been.
It really wasn't a big deal, not a holiday, no stupid one or two month anniversary like they were teenagers, not her birthday…
For that, he had gotten her bug detailed, something she had complained about forever.
This, however, was jewelry and it was his test.
He hadn't planned it that way, it just worked out like that last week when Daniel was with Teal'c helping him select some more appropriate clothing for being seen around Earth. The warrior had been spending so much time with the Jaffa council and with his new granddaughter Nia'lyn that his wardrobe was severely out of date, severely, much to Adrienne and Vala's gentle teasing. Not that Teal'c cared that much about fashion, but he did care about standing out more so than his gold tattoo made him stand out already, as did the IOA. Daniel had volunteered to take him to the mall to keep the entire affair low key, especially with Vala agreeing herself to tend to the task.
That would have been anything but low key.
After they had finished at one large department store, Teal'c set out for the only store that had shoes in his size, a smaller shop located at the far side of the mall. There was a nice sales lady there to help, so Daniel didn't feel the need to hover, moseying his way slowly toward the food court to get himself a pretzel when he saw it.
In a very simple gold and glass display case, right in the front of the jewelry store just two doors down from the shoe shop was the necklace, a blood red ruby in the simple shape of a teardrop.
It looked like a drop of blood.
Daniel's first thought was Adrienne and her obsession with vampire novels and that vampire show and that vampire man…
His second thought, however, was the stone.
It was his birthstone, his birthstone that he would give to her as a symbol of offering his heart to her, forever, before he could figure out what would be acceptable to her in terms of a marriage-type partnership. He couldn't think of a better gift for now, a better way to test and see if she was ready to take the step that he knew in his heart he was ready to do.
Decision made, he walked right in and bought it, no questions asked, forgetting the pretzel completely...
He wasn't nervous until he got home. He had just bought her a gift, an expensive gift, not a book, or a Nerf gun, or a dinner, like he had before but a real gift, jewelry. Jewelry was a serious gift, he knew that standing in the jewelry store but at home, standing in his bedroom with the box in his hand, his heart raced.
Adrienne didn't accept the traditional male/female gender roles that were dictated to her by her Louisiana upbringing; she hated flowers and candy and Valentine's Day.
Would she hate this too?
Would she think he was patronizing her?
Last week he'd shoved the box back into the drawer, making himself obsess over it for days when he made his decision. If she liked it, if she understood what he was trying to say, he would stop playing around on the internet, call Jack and go back to the jewelry store and buy her a diamond or whatever she deemed acceptable.
If she didn't like it, if she told him that their opinions on the future and forever didn't align…
...well, he hadn't thought that far ahead.
Now, however, he sat on her sofa, looking at the box in his hands, opening it once more, the blood red stone glistening in the low light, his heart went into overdrive.
He shut it again quickly.
"Ok, here, you get one, but Indy I swear, if I get up in the middle of the night to find you eating anymore I will kill you. And you need to keep in mind that I know where you sleep," she reached behind him on the sofa, passing him a cupcake. Surprised by her arrival, he quickly slid the box underneath his knee and reached behind, taking the small dessert. The lighting in the kitchen had been bad, he thought she was making chocolate, but that was not what was being placed into his hand.
"It's red velvet. It's a girl thing, well, and a Southern thing," she said, reading his mind. Smiling, her eyes eager for his response, she walked around the sofa, crawling close to him, watching as he peeled back the wrapper and took a bite.
"Dear God," he said to her mouth full of cake, his eyes wide with surprise and shock.
"Chew Indy, then critique," Adrienne laughed, biting her lip lightly, clearly satisfied. He swallowed quickly, amazed, peering back at her.
"You made this? From scratch?" he asked, not believing it himself.
"Yea," she answered, her face flushing.
"Then I'm mad at you," he replied, taking another bite while Adrienne looked at him strangely. Seeing that she didn't get his joke, he couldn't laugh, the dessert was too good to waste a speck, he held up a finger as he swallowed before continuing.
"You cook like this and you've been holding out of me! I've been living on Chinese take-out and pizza for years and I'm seeing someone that bakes like this! And you can cook too! I think you owe me, what, a year and a half of back cooking," he explained, smiling, hoping she would catch on.
"A year and a half?" she asked, counting in her head how long they had been seeing one another, six months she thought, was it six months, she never remembered stuff like that. They'd only know each other for about two years when she caught on, punching his arm.
"Yes, I demand back cooking from the time you first told me I was alright to hang out with and that was about a year and a half ago," he said as he finished the cake, peeking over his glasses carefully, hoping that she didn't take it the wrong way.
She didn't, smiling, taking the wrapper and placing it on the coffee table, leaning over into his arm and cuddling close, turning her body to lay her head on his chest. She shifted her body once more, wanting to lie in his arms when she felt something hard poking the underside of her thigh.
"Ow, I must have left a book on here," Adrienne said as she reached under herself and pulled out not a book, but the box, holding it in her hand confused. Daniel's heart stopped as Adrienne turned the long black rectangle over and over in her hand, a smirk across her face as she handed it back to him.
"Did you lose something?" she asked, smiling slightly and Daniel shook his head, taking a breath before he spoke.
"I was waiting until I had something nice and romantic to say, but I'm at a loss. Open it; it's for you," he said instead, knowing that with Adrienne it was best that he keep it simple and direct, that and he really hadn't been planning anything.
Her eyes were bright with excitement, warming his heart. She was excited, she was really excited, and she held the box carefully in one hand opening it slowly with the other.
"Wow," she breathed out as the lid popped open, Daniel sitting in suspense trying to gauge her response.
'Why? You did the car and the dinner last week?" she asked, shocked, speechless as she looked at him, but he laughed, her reaction assuring him, telling him that this was alright.
"Do I need a reason? I just saw it and thought of you. It reminded me of...Eric," he teased, not wanting to give away his true intention, just yet anyway, and thankfully, Adrienne began to laugh.
"It does look like a drop of blood doesn't it?" she agreed, reaching to take it out of the box but Daniel pushed her hands away, grabbing the chain and undoing the clasp, placing it tenderly on her neck. She touched it lightly as it reached her collarbone, her deep chocolate eyes gazing up slowly to meet his.
"But, it's not just the vampire thing. It's a ruby, a real ruby, well lab-created, I know how you feel about otherwise. A ruby is my birthstone, but you probably already know that. I wanted to give you something to make you always think of me like I always think of you," he finished quietly. He hadn't prepared that speech and he wasn't sure what she would say when she sat up quickly, throwing her arms around his neck.
"I love you Daniel. So very much. And I love it, it's just perfect," she said in his ear, kissing him slowly.
"I love you too Adrienne," he answered as she pulled away, knowing he had made the right choice.
Not to self, he thought, jewelry does not scare or offend her.
Daniel awoke the next morning regretting it was Monday.
He never used to regret Mondays before, but before he didn't have a reason to stay in bed. Reaching behind to shut off the alarm, the annoying buzz not what he wanted to hear right now, he was careful not to wake Adrienne just yet since they had a bit longer that she could sleep, mentally ordering himself to wake up in twenty minutes. Gazing down at her breathtaking form, he kissed her bare shoulder, slipping his arm back around her waist, and pulling her close, feeling her cuddle herself to him.
He slept more than twenty minutes.
This time, the phone ringing woke him and he reached behind himself once again, grabbing it from the nightstand. Rolling onto his back, his left arm still trapped behind Adrienne's neck, he flicked the screen with his right, not bothering to read the name on the screen.
"Hello," Daniel answered, still half asleep.
"Hey there Danny Boy, did you guys decide to sleep in?" Cameron teased and Daniel could hear laughter in the background. Sleep in, he thought, sitting up straight in the bed, jerking his arm from his sleeping bedmate, looking at the clock.
It was almost 10 a.m.
Sleeping in was a nice way to put it.
"Shit," Daniel hissed, glancing over at Adrienne, who was still fast asleep, as always; the woman could sleep through anything.
Damn comfortable Adrienne...
"Yeah, spare us the details. We have, HAD, a briefing at 10 and Sam says she can have the Odyssey beam you guys in, but we would all rather that you guys were clothed before we do," Cameron choked out between bouts of laughter, Daniel frowning at the phone.
He's loving this, Daniel thought, they're all just getting a kick out of this.
"Dammit Cam, just, well, stall or something. Tell Sam to give us thirty minutes and then beam us up. Just, please, make us not the topic of conversation, ok?" Daniel pleaded, standing from the bed, turning to lean back over to Adrienne who just pulled the blanket up higher onto shoulder. Sighing, Daniel hung up on Cameron, who must have handed the phone to Vala as she was making obscene noises into the phone, noises that he didn't want to hear.
"Adrienne, ja-wer, wake up," Daniel whispered softly and she rolled over to face him, the ruby sparkling against her throat. To him, she was breathtaking anyway, but the stone just accentuated her beauty, making him lose his concentration for a moment.
"Good morning my love," she answered, reaching up for him but instead of melting into her arms like he desperately wanted to do, he clasped her forearms, pulling her in an upright position.
"Come on Ad, it's 10 a.m. You now have ME operating on Cajun time," he joked as Adrienne sat up unwillingly, grumbling and rubbing her eyes.
"Ugh, is it really?" she asked, looking over at the clock as if she thought he was kidding, which he had to admit, he did to her a lot to get her moving.
"Yes, really. We have thirty minutes to get decent before we're being zapped to work. Let's get moving," Daniel replied, pulling at her arms again. Grunting, she really isn't awake yet he thought, trying not to laugh, she stood unwillingly, trudging toward the shower.
They were beamed directly into the briefing room to the sounds of kissing noises and other sexual jokes. Red in the face, Adrienne set her stack of cupcake boxes on the table in front of Sam, looking away as she took a seat by Vala. Daniel slipped in beside her, red in the face himself, trying not to look at his old friend who was shaking her head at both of them.
"Now that we're all here..." she began, Adrienne flushing for a second time. She and Daniel looked over at each other quickly and broke their glance, both feeling a serious talk coming on, as Vala leaned over to Adrienne, bringing her lips to her ear.
"First, I hate you. Second, well, I hate you," she joked, sitting back as Adrienne covered her mouth so she would not laugh.
"Despite the fact that I don't like using you all as my trading emissaries, once more I'll be using you all as my trading emissaries," Sam began, Cameron laughing, shaking his head. It was one of the things that they were getting used to, either as spies after Anubis or trading emissaries, and he would take the latter any day.
"With the way things have been going with trading partners and Anubis poking around, trading is slim, as is our supply of naquada, which we need if we have any hope of defending ourselves," Sam began as she clicked on her smartboard. Behind her were some pie charts and other things that Daniel didn't need to read; they were things that he was just complaining to Adrienne about the other night and he wasn't thrilled to see a visual reminder of Anubis' ability to kick their asses should he arrive to do so.
"We know that SG-7 has established a pretty good relationship with this world, P98-452, also known as Pusflet, and they seem willing to discuss an exchange of naquada for farming supplies. It's a good situation for us, they haven't been contacted by Anubis or any of his men and they understand the nature of the situation. SG-7 has started everything, but I would just feel better with a situation like this, an agreement that we need so badly, for you guys to close the deal," Sam explained, handing out folders as she cued up the first slide, another set of diagrams.
More charts, Daniel thought, we're going to be here for a while, opening the folder as he glanced quickly at Adrienne, trying to give her a quick smile before they began.
Daniel was right about being there for a while. Almost ninety minutes later Sam closed the meeting, shutting off the smartboard, Daniel's head throbbing with information, although it could be his medication, that tended to give him headaches too. Having his to-do list ready to go, he stood, everyone stood to leave, stretching and moaning, everyone except Adrienne who leapt up calling for everyone's attention.
He smiled, remembering last night and once again thankful that this wonderful caring person was such an important part of his life.
"Hey everyone! Today is Sam's anniversary! Of her promotion and marrying Jack! Let's celebrate!" she announced happily, shoving the folder away while her teammates just stopped, frowning at her, clearly wanting out of this room as soon as possible, but undeterred, Adrienne made a face, pointing to the boxes.
"I brought cupcakes," she smiled, the team suddenly making a mad dash for the boxes, Adrienne smiling, noticing Daniel looking at her wanting to expose her secret. She shook her head in the negative, telling him with her eyes that this was a secret to keep between them. There was happy chattering, thank you, and a box and a half was quickly demolished. Within moments, the group had eaten their fill and moved on, leaving Sam with dozens more cupcakes.
"I bought plenty knowing this crowd. Take them home to Jack. Happy Anniversary Sam," Adrienne said sweetly, walking over to hug her friend. Smiling, Sam hugged her back and thanked her, gathering the cupcake boxes to do just that, knowing Jack would appreciate the gesture as well.
"I'm gonna start getting ready, Ad," Daniel said, leaning over, kissing her goodbye lightly, leaving to head back to the lab. Sam thought she heard him whisper I love you before he left the blushing Cajun woman as she repacked the pastries, resisting the urge to tear up right there. They were so happy and she couldn't have been more pleased to see that her old friend had found such happiness, in fact, she was just waiting for the day he came to her office telling her that he was going to propose.
She didn't think that was going to take him very long.
"This is the last one Sam," Adrienne said, bringing over the final box of cakes, "I'll go put them in your office."
"Thanks again Adrienne, that was really sweet. They're delicious. How long did they take you to make? I'd hate to think that you spent your whole Sunday baking just for me," Sam said.
"No, it's no big deal Sam. I bought them last night after I ran errands," Adrienne responded but Sam shook her head.
"Addy, nice try, but Metro doesn't do Red Velvet with Sugar Icing. They use Cream Cheese," the general corrected, pointing down at her own second cupcake on a napkin. Adrienne smiled slyly and Sam laughed, reading her face.
"Your secret's safe with me, but you'd better watch your back. If Daniel gets wind of this you'll be baking until the end of time..." Sam raised her eyebrows, laughing some more and Adrienne was nodding, rolling her eyes, giving her every indication that he had found out and was already requesting.
"Chocolate walnut if he hasn't asked yet," the general added, "I have the recipe. But make him wait for a special occasion."
"He hasn't, but thanks. I like to keep information like that handy," Adrienne replied, biting her lower lip.
Adorable, Sam thought, they're so adorable, and she turned to bid Adrienne farewell when she saw a sparkle at the archaeologist's neck, a red glisten, lit by the fluorescents in the room. Reaching out she grabbed Adrienne by the shoulder, moving for her neck to examine the gem.
"Oh wow," Sam said, impressed by the large stone resting softly at her collarbone, "did he?"
Adrienne just smiled and nodded her head, "Yea."
Sam looked surprised but went back to her desk, her head shaking, "I guess he's not totally hopeless," she said out loud, thinking to herself if he was ready for that a diamond had to be soon to follow.
Still blushing, Adrienne laughed, "It still surprises me."
Pale cajun cheeks as red as ever, Adrienne waved goodbye as she headed for the lab.
The team left promptly at 8 a.m. the next morning.
This time, Daniel made sure that he and Adrienne didn't oversleep, determined he was going to make her run on his time and not the reverse.
As soon as they crossed over, a small army of mounted knights and vassals were waiting to greet them, large finely dressed men on a team of some of the most beautiful horses that Adrienne had ever seen. Excited, she leaned over to Vala, her eyes as wide as saucers.
"Kinda disappointed I didn't wear my Ren Faire costume," she whispered and Vala laughed, figuring that would be her friend's first reaction. Daniel, however, just ignored them, having just given up on trying to make the two of them behave.
"Good morning SG-1, my name is Ailwin and I am the liege lord for this province," a burly man with reddish hair and beard walked over to them, the knights parting like the Red Sea to clear a path.
"Good morning," Daniel answered back since Cam had declared him in charge of all things geeky or diplomatic, this co-leadership starting to be something the colonel didn't hesitate to take advantage of. Cameron could be diplomatic, or geeky for that matter, if he needed to, but he much preferred deferring to folks who did that sort of thing on a regular basis.
"As I'm sure you've been told I'm Dr. Daniel Jackson and this is my team, Colonel Cameron Mitchell, Teal'c, Vala Mal Doran and Dr. Adrienne Rowan."
"My lover Dr. Adrienne Rowan," Vala whispered to Adrienne who promptly kicked her, crimson flushing in her cheeks. This time, however, Adrienne could see Daniel waving his hand behind himself in a 'cut it out' motion, so she complied, shaking her head for Vala to stop.
"It's true though," Vala whispered anyway.
"Excellent," Ailwin continued, "I am pleased to meet you all. Right this way," he indicated, walking between the men on horseback a second time, expecting them to follow, which Daniel did immediately, Adrienne lagging behind staring out into the distance.
"It's just so cool," Adrienne whispered over to Vala, pointing to a small manor house situated at the base of the castle, the center focus point of the surprisingly neat medieval village.
"Not really. We saw a lot of this when we were chasing down the Ori. After a while it just gives you the creeps," she replied quietly.
Remembering, and wishing she hadn't said anything, Adrienne nodded and walked on, looking ahead for Daniel.
As Daniel had expected once he got a handle on the layout of the village, they were set up in the manor house, which apparently had been converted to guest usage once the castle had been completed. As normal, there were quarters for the men and for the woman which Vala picked up on right away and began her typical torture of Adrienne, torture that included a variety of comments about Daniel and Adrienne sneaking out to make whoopie in the woods.
Blushing, Adrienne just walked away, admittedly disappointed that she would have to sleep for at least tonight not wrapped in his warm embrace. Adrienne went to grab Daniel, inform him of the arrangements when she saw him being whisked away by their host, legal pad out already writing feverishly. She was sad for a moment, having to remind herself that this was her job and this was what they needed to continue to do if they wanted to continue working together and being together, so she distracted herself with setting up for the night.
For the remainder of the day Daniel met with Ailwin and the village leaders, apparently meetings that she didn't need to attend, so Adrienne and the team set out for the town, eager to explore.
"Put that thing away Addy, you're scaring the villagers," Cameron teased Adrienne as she used her iPad to take photos, flashing the contraption all around her, snapping uncontrollably.
"Girl you know better, to them, it looks like you're using some crazy spelled mirror," he explained as she frowned at him, like Daniel did, so much like Daniel, trying not to laugh at her expression. For as smart as she was, Adrienne sometimes forgot that her fun technological gadgets tended to freak people out and she blushed, pausing to kneel and remove her pack, switching to her less intimidating digital camera.
The team wandered around for a bit longer, Adrienne continuing to snap pictures, stopping to speak to villages and take some video footage, yammering on about societal roles and Goa'uld and Ori religious influence. She was very excited, but Cam was starting to wish that she had gone with Daniel, because she was right in that nerd zone that Cameron never understood, for years, as Daniel fell into it, and now, with Addy, had yet another person who would just yammer on about various cultural considerations.
No wonder Daniel had fallen for her, he and Adrienne were definitely on the same wavelength.
The sun rose to its final peak, reminding the group that it was midday already, so they decided to eat lunch under some trees on the outskirts of the village, Cam hoping to get a break from the anthropology lesson.
"I love an easy mission," he said with a sigh as he removed his jacket, setting it down to make himself a seat, "not getting shot at. No worrying. Just come, walk around, relax and let Jackson run his mouth."
Adrienne laughed, opening her bottle of water and leaning against the tree, no longer talking but finally relaxing.
"What are you laughing at Addy? You know how he gets and yet you choose to spend every waking moment with him. Wait, I take that back, every waking, sleeping and whatever you guys do in between moments," Cameron teased and Adrienne reached over, grabbing a rock and tossing it playfully in his direction. Teal'c was laughing loudly and Vala just crossed her arms, happy someone else was doing the picking. Smiling, Adrienne just lay back on her jacket to relax looking up at the clouds when she saw that the colonel had moved over to sit beside her.
"You guys really are serious aren't you?" Cameron asked, wondering how far it had come since they had last talked, but Adrienne just shrugged.
"Yeah, we are," Adrienne answered honestly. She'd told herself that if he asked her to marry him that she would, but he hadn't asked that specifically, just told her that he wanted to spend forever with her, which she wasn't quite sure exactly what that meant.
Maybe he didn't want to get married again.
"And you're ok with that?" Cam pried, opening up a container of sliced cucumbers and offering her some, which she took gratefully.
"I am," she started to explain, popping a cuke in her mouth quickly, "He respects me for who I am, and he respects my career goals. He's an actual partner, ya know? And he doesn't seem to want a traditional wife, he seems to want a real partner. I didn't think that existed, at least, maybe because of my limited experience outside of Nola."
Cam nodded, understanding. It made sense though, not just for what he knew of Addy over the course of their friendship, but of Daniel as well. The team teased him, relentlessly at times, about women throwing themselves at him. In fact, Cam had watched Vala go from a badass pirate, to, what could be best described at times, as a blithering bimbo, all to gain the attention and sympathy of Daniel, who, outside of what Teal'c claimed happened on the Odyssey in an alternate timeline, could have cared less. In fact, Jack often joked that women loved him but he had no clue that they even existed, until Addy came along.
Addy, who from day one, demanded professional respect and courtesy and would set into Daniel the moment he tried anything he had ever tried to pull with Vala or any other woman, aside from Sam, for that matter.
Dr. Adrienne Rowan was a force to be reckoned with, and Cameron could see how Daniel had fallen so hard and fast for someone that seemed to be made for him.
Before the conversation could go any further, as if his ears were burning, they heard Daniel's voice coming over Cam's radio.
"Cam, can you read me?" he asked. Swallowing his water, the colonel squeezed the button, turning his head to answer.
"Yep, we're just relaxing and letting you do all of the work. How's it going?" Cameron replied casually.
"Interesting... can you guys head back?" Daniel responded, the team looking at one another strangely. Puzzled, Cameron clicked the talk button once more.
"How interesting?" he asked, cutting his eyes at Adrienne who shrugged at his non-verbal question.
"Just head back..." Daniel requested, ending the conversation, and Cameron, once again, looked over at Adrienne.
"I speak Daniel but I can't read his mind," she joked with a shrug and stood, heading back to the castle as requested, the team reluctantly joining her.
When they arrived Daniel was waiting for them outside of the castle and without a word, he motioned them toward the guest house. Confused, everyone followed him in and to the common room where he leaned back on the central table, looking at his friends.
"Who can ride a horse?" Daniel asked calmly and Adrienne immediately raised her hand, remembering many summers with Aunt Barbara and her cousin Rae. Frowning, Daniel shook his head.
"Who else can ride a horse?" he corrected, ignoring the glare he was receiving from his bewildered significant other. Cameron raised his hand now, of course, having grown up on a farm and Daniel nodded but was still making a face.
"They smell bad," Vala replied as Daniel shook his head in the negative, now peering over at the final member of their party.
"Teal'c can you ride a horse?" Daniel now asked, confusing Adrienne further; why would it matter if Teal'c could ride a horse? The Jaffa shook his head no as well and Daniel sighed, looking back at them as if he was finally ready to explain.
"Can't you ride a horse?" Vala inquired, "I'm pretty sure I remember you riding in on a white horse to rescue Addy one time."
Daniel frowned.
"Everyone, raise your hand if you remember Daniel riding in on a white horse to save his lady love?" she continued.
Cam, Teal'c and Adrienne raised their hands.
"Vala, I can't do this because I have to negotiate this deal," Daniel hissed.
"Do what Indy?' Adrienne asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.
"Well it appears that we're going to get our trade deal, provided we're able to meet one...stipulation," Daniel began carefully.
"Why do I have a feeling that this stipulation involves me doing something crazy that I would rather not do?" Cameron stated.
"Here a tourney is usually called to celebrate new alliances. The proper documents are signed following the event provided the visitors can supply a knight capable to face theirs," Daniel continued, everyone staring at him puzzled, everyone but Adrienne.
"Cam's gotta joust?" she asked in disbelief, Vala frowning in her friend's direction.
"How did you know what gibberish he was talking about? I thought you studied those toga people?" Vala asked.
"I do, but I've been to enough Renaissance Faires to know where this is going. He doesn't have to win, though, right? Just take a few blows, enough in the final bout where the king eventually steps in, calls it a draw, honors both men, and what have ya?" Adrienne peered over at Daniel clarifying and he nodded.
"That's about right. Cameron just needs to stay upright for a few passes and then the show is over," Daniel agreed, Cameron already shaking his head no.
"Nuh uh," he began, "not only do you expect me to ride a horse I don't know, but I have to ride a horse with a stick and try not to get poked by someone else's stick. Do we really need this naquada that bad?" Cameron asked a question everyone knew the answer to.
"Yeah," Daniel replied, "we do. I mean, I can head back to base and see if we have anyone who has done this before but in all honesty you're a team leader. It would probably look best if you did it. I would, but I can't. I'm the diplomat so to speak, and they are requesting our champion."
Looking at the ceiling, muttering something about his grandma and his life, Cam took a deep breath before glaring back at Daniel, the expression on his face not one of contentment.
"Alright, alright. I can sword fight, I did all of that crazy King Arthur shit with the Ori so I guess that makes me the official knight of the group. Maybe I need to go with Addy to those geek fests of hers to prepare for future contests you guys decide to volunteer me for," he agreed, reluctantly, Adrienne suppressing a giggle at his reaction.
"I'll buy ya some sexy breeches when the Fredericksburg Faire comes to town, shug, I promise," she offered as Cameron shook his head, Daniel standing from the table, clasping his hands together nervously before leading him to the armory to select his attire.
The tournament took a few days to prepare so the team got to enjoy the amenities of Pusflet a little longer than they had originally anticipated.
On Daniel's orders, Vala had radioed back to Sam that they were staying for a few days and she insisted that she would send whatever the team needed to make this trip a success, excited and hopeful that this was going to all work out as planned. Most of the members of the team were bored, but Adrienne was thrilled to be living a live Renaissance Faire, dragging Vala around the entire village explaining things and shopping.
Adrienne found her translation skills and talents with a knife paid off and she was able to swap reading documents and writing letters for some illiterate villagers for various things she and Vala wanted to purchase, or could challenge more arrogant male merchants to a knife throwing contest for an apple or two. Daniel just let them be, figuring that Adrienne was at least keeping Vala out of trouble, although he did wonder how he was going to explain to Sam the three baskets of dresses the cajun was bringing back through the gate...
The general, hell, the entire team had made a few comments but it was true; he did let Adrienne get away with a bit more than he should because he loved her and he couldn't help himself.
Vala had noticed too, but she didn't seem to mind anymore. In fact, she acted like she was Adrienne's personal bodyguard and threatened to do severe bodily harm to Daniel should he hurt her. He had no intention of doing so, in fact it was quite the opposite. He was starting to figure out if he should include Vala in his proposal scheme, but he couldn't help but wonder what harm would come to him if he did, unintentionally, hurt her…
Teal'c stood back from Cameron as he fastened the last bit of armor to his chest, Daniel looking to Adrienne for the final inspection. It had been three very exciting days for the cajun woman, but she was also missing sleeping curled up to Daniel, so she wanted this over as soon as possible.
"Is it put on correctly Lady Rowan?" her lover asked, knowing Adrienne would know and she made a face at him because she did, and not for any professional historical reasons but for geeky ones that he would mock later.
"Yea smartass, it is. I think he's ready to go. How do ya feel mon ami?" she asked Cameron, reaching her hand out for his shoulder.
"Like a very hot canned ham. Do I have to wear this wool crap underneath?" he questioned.
"ColonelMitchell, that protects your skin from the metal and lessens the impact," Teal'c explained.
"T, can we not use the word impact? Or blow? Or anything that reminds me that that huge Orbert fellow I met yesterday is going to ride at me with a small tree," Cam requested, Adrienne once again trying not to laugh.
Yesterday, Cameron had gotten an impromptu riding and jousting lesson from a very large and very friendly man named Orbert. After helping Cameron drive his lance into a straw figure a few times and after showing him how to do it himself, thereby destroying the target entirely, Orbert then announced that he would be Cameron's opponent.
Adrienne was still surprised that Cam hadn't fainted right then and there.
"You've got this Cam," Vala assured him, although Daniel knew she was lying. At this point, everyone just wanted to get this over with, with their team leader in one piece. Daniel, only partly feeling guilty for being the team leader not about to get slammed with a large lance, excused himself to sit with Ailwin, kissing Adrienne lightly before leaving, as Cameron mounted up to meet his fate.
Adrienne was spellbound as she walked beside Cam's steed, gazing out into the main arena area. They had seen the setup from the outside, but there was no way that she could have truly understood what it looked like inside.
Flanked by large sheets of brightly painted canvas in green and blue, the colors of Ailwin's family, were wooden foundations, home to rows and rows of bleachers, carefully crafted in only two days' time, complete with intricate carvings of war scenes and hand railings. There was a main box, where Ailwin was sitting watching and Adrienne could see Daniel joining him, his perfect tall frame kneeling down to duck under a canvas canopy as bright as the flags surrounding it. The central part of the arena was just like she had seen at her 'geeks fests' and on movies, two lanes separated by wooden railing, the scoring flags waiting in the center to be moved to their correct positions, a light blue and black flag to represent their team.
She wondered if that was Daniel's doing, the SGC flag flashing through her memory, as they walked out to the starting line. Instantly, popping out of seemingly nowhere, they were greeted by a small squire wearing the same colors as the canvas and the flags billowing over them.
"The name of your knight my lady," he asked Vala and she smiled at the title, answering him with a blush in her cheeks. Nodding, the young boy repeated the name carefully, running over to make the announcement.
"Announcing, Sir Cameron of the Taur'i!" the boy shouted to the crowd. From atop the brown steed Cameron was smiling from ear to ear, his copper colored armor wrapped all around him. The helmet was covering most of his face, but the grin was clear and one could just make out his green eyes sparkling with pride from inside the helmet. He sat up a bit, regal and proud, his appearance all the knight he was being asked to play.
"Sir Cameron, I like that. From now on you all can call me Sir Cameron!" he declared in jest.
"Sir Cameron," Vala shouted, "Try not to get your ass knocked off the horse."
The squire shouted once more, ordering the start of the match and Adrienne, the only other team member with much horse experience, began leading the stallion to the starting line, having assigned herself the task of being his squire.
Finally out of earshot, Cameron glanced down at her, those smiling lips now looking deadly serious.
"Tell me I'm not gonna die," Cameron said quietly to Adrienne.
"You're not gonna die, Sir Cameron" she replied plainly, distracted as her eyes scanned the horse and rider one final time in case she had missed anything. For all of the times Daniel teased her about working off of movie knowledge he was sure relying on that knowledge now.
"That didn't sound confident," he joked, turning his head and raising his eyebrows.
"You're gonna be fine. Just hold on and point stick. Easy as pie," she smiled and handed him the reins, backing up from the animal.
Looking ahead, and breathing deep, "Sir" Cameron rode forward picking up his lance and holding it under his arm.
"Announcing, Sir Orbert of Glasdonn," the squire shouted as Adrienne made it back to her friends, the three gazing out as Orbert, riding out in black armor on a large black horse, entered the arena. Horse and man combined must have stood a good 15 feet off of the ground, maybe more, and his red beard poked out from the sides slightly, like flames, making him much more intimidating.
"Holy shit," Vala breathed out.
"That is no joke ValaMalDoran," Teal'c answered. Remaining silent, hoping for the best, Adrienne just shook her head, crossing her arms tightly across her chest.
The contest began with the sounding of a horn, a loud brass echo into the air, vibrating in the fields around them and Cameron took off just as he had been trained, his lance pointed at Orbert and Orbert's giant lance pointing at him. The colonel wasn't joking when he said small tree, Adrienne thought, one man clearly dwarfing the other as they approached one another, all three members of SG-1 holding their breath as they awaited impact.
Daniel watched the two men ride, lances out and ready, their steeds carrying them swiftly toward their opponent.
Come on Cam, he thought, immediately thankful he wasn't out there, but feeling guilty at the same time.
Time seemed to speed up and the two men were suddenly on one another, Cameron's lance pointed at Orbert's chest moving closer and closer until the crash of metal on metal, echoing louder than the trumpets had before. Daniel almost stood and shouted, but restrained himself, shocked however, that Cam had hit him, a direct point on that large and very skilled man...
...who now wasn't moving, who didn't budge an inch, who apparently wasn't even trying to hit him this round...
Daniel actually felt the blood leave his face; this was not good, not at all, his concern not lessened as he heard Ailwin laughing beside him.
"Orbert likes to play in the first pass," he explained, "feel out his opponent."
"Play," Daniel repeated sardonically, "nice."
Breathing out, he looked back at the competition field as the men went to the opposite sides to ride again. Daniel squinted, trying to see if he could gauge how Cam was doing, but the colonel gave him no indications one way or the other, just rode over and back to the starting line to go once more.
Maybe Cameron thought he did well, it was a good clean hit.
Please don't let your guard down, Daniel thought, please realize what just happened.
Sitting there, wishing he had a way to communicate that to Cam, Daniel tried not to worry as the squire trumpeted again, the men riding toward one another for a second time and it was clear by his stance that this round Orbert wasn't playing. He rode powerfully towards Cameron, lance holding strong and pointed at his opponent's chest but Cam held his lance as well, riding hard and fast, his gaze on Orbert.
And then there was the impact, loud, fast, more powerful than before and Daniel looked up just as Orbert's lance slammed directly into Cameron's chest, making a disgusting, gut wrenching, crunching sound as it did. Daniel couldn't tell if there was damage to the lance or to his friend, but Cam just kept riding toward the sideline, to where the team was waiting.
He seemed alright, fortunately, so Daniel let out a sigh of relief and prepared himself mentally for the next set of passes.
They saw he was beginning to slump over as he rode toward them, the butt of his lance being the only thing holding him upright. He seemed to have wedged the lance underneath himself for just that purpose, to keep him upright, and he was hanging on to it as Vala ran to pull him down off of the horse.
"Cam, Cameron, wake up, Cameron," she was saying as she struggled with his head weight, the lance not only holding him upright but pinning him to the horse. Teal'c and Adrienne rushed to help her, dragging him to the ground beside the animal, pulling off the helmet.
"Can't breathe," he whispered hoarsely as Teal'c began undoing the armor. Vala sat on her knees, Cameron's head in her lap, smoothing his hair, Adrienne rolling up the tunic the minute that Teal'c pulled the chest plate away, her eyes widening.
"What?" Vala asked, "What's wrong?"
Shaking her head, Adrienne cut her eyes silently at Cameron's chest and back at her friend. Vala leaned in and could see a large black bruise spreading across his sternum, Adrienne looking her directly in the eyes, mouthing no.
"That's better," Cam said, interrupting the women's silent communication, pulling from Vala as he tried to sit, but she held him down, raising her eyebrows at Adrienne.
"Val, girl, I'm fine. That damn armor was just too tight," Cameron tried to argue, looking up to Adrienne for support and over to Teal'c, who was standing with the horse shaking his head no as well.
"CameronMitchell, you cannot ride again," Teal'c stated in their stead but the colonel sat up, shrugging off Vala and pushing Adrienne aside.
"Yes I can, just tie the armor a bit looser," but as soon as he was up and the words were out of his mouth he reached for his chest, his face telling everyone that he now understood their objections. Seeing in the others that they didn't have the heart to tell him, Adrienne leaned over him gently, taking on the task herself.
"Shug, you aren't going anywhere," she said, pulling him back down to lay on the ground and he let out a sigh, allowing her, adjusting his position to help him breathe easier on the ground.
"It's a lot harder than it looks like in the damn movies," Cameron admitted, breathing in and out slowly as he reached for his rapidly blackening chest. Vala shook her head and stood, brushing off her pants as she looked back at the group.
"I'll go tell Daniel, unless you want to go over there and kiss him first to make it better," she looked at Adrienne.
"Nuh uh. I'm with him and I don't like giving him bad news. You can be my guest mon ami," Adrienne replied.
Scowling, Vala peeked over at Teal'c who was starting to pull the horse away from them and back over to the stable and to Adrienne who instead of running to inform the other squire that her knight resigned, was standing there, staring out into space.
We need this, she thought, we need this naquada. If we lose power on Atlantis we need to at least have the Odyssey and Daedalus ready to go...
"Suit me up," she declared, her gaze clearly locked on Daniel who was looking in their direction, trying to figure out the cause of the delay. Unable to believe her ears, Vala whipped her head around, shaking her head.
"No way Addy, not happening. You do realize that if you get smashed to bits this will somehow get blamed on me!" she hissed.
Ignoring her, Adrienne turned to Teal'c.
"We need this, suit me up," she ordered and held her arms out but Teal'c hesitated, peering around her shoulder over to Vala. Angry, Adrienne spun around to look at Vala who had kneeled once more by Cameron.
"Can YOU ride a horse?" Adrienne asked and Vala shook her head, giving Adrienne the answer she wanted, so the cajun now turned back to Teal'c.
"And you?" she clarified.
"Riding such a beast is primitive AdrienneRowan," Teal'c responded, Adrienne nodding, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Look, this is our only shot at getting this trade agreement, ok? And in case you two haven't noticed, we haven't been doing that great in that department. I get to hear about it daily," Adrienne kneeled over Cameron herself this time, starting to pull the armor off of his legs.
"Addy, that asshole hits hard," Cam warned, pointing to his chest, trying to sit up so she could see, to make her understand the mistake that she was about to make.
"Hopefully, I'm not as big of a target," Adrienne grinned a bit, hoping her shorter build and smaller frame would work to her advantage and hoping to hide her fear. Knowing this was a battle that they were not going to win, her friends looked at her, glancing at each other before kneeling down to start removing the rest of the armor from Cameron.
"I hope your friend is not hurt badly," Ailwin leaned over to Daniel stating quietly enough for the other nobles not to hear but loud enough to get his point across.
"No, I'm sure he's fine," Daniel replied, trying to see what was going on over by the stables. Cam had taken a pretty powerful blow to the chest and Daniel had seen him retreat to the sidelines.
This is why he wanted Teal'c to do it, the Jaffa could take a blow better than anyone he had ever seen, but his inability to ride a horse prevented that.
Daniel was just about to excuse himself to check when he saw the brown stallion re-enter the arena once more and he breathed a sigh of relief as Cameron seemed to ride the horse effortlessly, as if he hadn't taken a major hit at all.
Smiling, Daniel looked back over to Ailwin.
"There we are, everything's just fine," Daniel said, sitting back, relieved, to watch the contest continue.
Cameron lined the horse up again, carefully, expertly, but he looked like he was struggling a bit with the lance, probably a result of the earlier blow. Knowing this was something that he just had to accept, Daniel just sat there hoping that his friend had everything under control.
The small squire entered the arena once more and blew the trumpet to indicate the second bout. There was no hesitation in the colonel's movements and Daniel saw Cameron pull the horse a bit to begin his pass once more. Lances up, the two horses, the brown steed of his friend and the black steed of Orbert, ran strongly to face one another advancing closer and closer when Daniel saw the tip of Cameron's lance falter slightly.
Shit, he thought to himself, that blow must have bruised his arm too, but Daniel didn't have time to dwell on it since the men were together once more, however, just as the two men should have had impact, Cam dipped down, not striking Orbert but dodging his lance completely, pulling the lance over his lap, as his horse passed on by.
He ducked, Daniel thought, is ducking even allowed in jousting, as Ailwin was laughing loudly beside him. Daniel turned, slightly embarrassed to face him and apologize for Cam's little stunt.
"Your Mitchell is a tricky man! A tricky man. But Orbert will not be fooled into slipping off of his horse by his own accord," Ailwin said with a deep chuckle, thankfully not angry, but Daniel still frowned, glancing back to see Cam turning around to make his second pass returning him to his teammates.
He looked down the line to see if maybe the others were in on this little tactic that the colonel was trying now and saw Teal'c and Vala standing there waiting, but not Adrienne.
Odd, where did she go, he thought, maybe she was behind this madness, she usually was.
Daniel shook his head, hoping that his assistant, his girlfriend, the woman he loved, was not doing anything too drastic to try to improve their current situation, focusing ahead on Cameron to watch him make the next pass.
The colonel was adjusting himself awkwardly and appeared as if he was struggling to hold the lance. Daniel saw him pull it back into his lap a second time, reaching to mess with the helmet again.
It was strange, it looked as though he was adjusting the armor as if it was too big for him, in fact, the colonel appeared just a bit smaller than before. Maybe Cam had removed the under padding because it was pushing in on him too much, Daniel thought, knowing that the woolen undergarments under metal covering were not very comfortable nor light. If he did, he hoped Cameron knew what he was doing because knights wore those garments for a reason, Egyptologist or not, even he knew that.
There was the sound of the trumpet once more and the horses tore off towards one another, Cam galloping to Orbert, his lance holding strong this time, leaning forward on the beast, preparing for impact.
Good, Daniel thought, he's actually going to joust this time and not play.
His teammate came riding in faster and faster, the sun glaring down on the two men and their horses when Daniel noticed a flash of red light, and looked over at his friends, hoping that no one decided to use the P-90 as a distraction or some other form of cheating; the ducking before was bad enough. As the sun shone brighter, some overhead clouds being whisked away by a light breeze, Daniel saw that it wasn't a red light, it was a red sparkle, in the shape of a teardrop, or a drop of blood.
His heart stopped as Daniel stood from his seat, his eyes wide.
Adrienne continued to hold up the lance, determination in her face, riding toward the large and experienced knight. She couldn't see his face, only his eyes, black as night and piercing. He was utterly terrifying, but Adrienne didn't look away, just rode on, knowing this was something that had to be done.
She just hurt so badly...
Daniel was petrified with fear; he had no idea what to do.
Should he stop the joust and reveal the deception, thus saving Adrienne from whatever was about to happen?
Why did she do things like this?
Why did she insist on, again and again, putting herself in harm's way?
Yes, she was tough, the toughest Earth woman that he had ever met, but Adrienne didn't have the experience that Vala or Sam had, even two years later she still took unnecessary risks or risked her safety in a moment's notice.
It was one of the many ways that she was exactly like him…
Sure, she had been off-world sure plenty of times, but, unlike him, Adrienne's ideas often came from something she read, or worse, saw on one of her TV shows, not actual experience.
She was going to kill herself, his heart was racing, he felt like he was going to be sick as he stood again, unable to speak.
Why does everything I love get taken away from me?
Don't falter, don't falter, Adrienne repeated the mantra inside her head, keeping her gaze on Orbert and aiming her very sore arm at his chest.
This thing is so damn heavy, she thought, but forced herself to focus, repeating don't falter to herself once more.
I can't let everyone down.
Daniel couldn't watch but he couldn't tear his glance away, his heart beating so loudly in his chest it was a wonder that no one had heard. They were almost at one another when time itself seemed to slow to a crawl, Daniel only able to focus on the necklace, the small droplet of gemstone blood, hoping that it wouldn't soon be covered in droplets of its real counterpart.
The hooves were beating faster and faster, the only thing faster was the beating of his own heart, the necklace bouncing off of her chest plate in the same rhythm.
And then they hit.
I've lost her...
There was no way that Adrienne could have prepared herself for the sheer force of impact that came from the lance, no amount of reading, fighting with Teal'c or Ronan, or other experiences with her friends could have given her any idea of the pain that she was experiencing right now. Had she known that it would have hurt this bad, she never would have hopped on that horse like she had a clue as to what she was doing, but she hadn't, and she did, and here she was, her chest throbbing uncontrollably. She looked down at her arm to see that the lance was gone and went to move it to see where her staff had fallen, but she couldn't move her arm, she couldn't feel her arm and the ground was fuzzy and then she was falling...
Daniel saw that Orbert's lance missed its mark, instead of slamming Adrienne in the chest, possibly cracking a rib or worse, as it had hit her upper right arm. He saw her stay true to target as long as she could, but her lance just tapped his torso, bouncing to the ground and he glanced up, seeing that Adrienne was still on the horse.
He had no idea how, but by some miracle she was still upright.
The crowd was screaming and yelling, the judges were trying to determine points since she was clearly still on the horse and had hit something and he was leaning over the edge trying to listen in on the shouting when out of the corner of his eye he saw her move her head, looking at her arm.
It wasn't moving, he noted as he glanced back at her again, to see that she was looking at her arm like she was willing it to move.
And then she fell; she just toppled off the horse, her body slowly cascading to the ground. No longer caring about appearances, Daniel leapt to his feet.
It's not fair...
"Addy!" Vala was screaming and running down the sand path, heading straight for her. She saw Daniel leaping over the stands making his way to the arena as well, so apparently he had figured out that it was Adrienne that was on that horse, not Cameron.
He was going to kill her.
Reaching Adrienne first, Vala ripped off the helmet, finding her friend unconscious.
"Addy, Adrienne," Vala repeated her name over and over, slapping her face, "Addy, wake-up. Wake-up dammit! Wake the FUCK up!"
She was screaming as Daniel almost fell into her, skidding on his knees over to Adrienne, grabbing her face in his hands.
"Adrienne, ja-wer, please, please wake up. Why do you do this to me? Adrienne, please wake-up," Daniel was pleading with her, tears forming in his eyes, as a crowd began to gather, Orbert taking center standing over him.
"That's a woman," he stated, looking around him to the people beginning to gather. He shouted up to Ailwin, "they made me fight a woman!"
He seemed angry, angry that he had been put in a position to possibly hurt her, dropping to his knees by Daniel.
"Undo her chest plate," he ordered, "give her some air."
Vala did as she was told, while Daniel began to quickly unfasten the armor at her arms and she started to stir, the rush of air waking her as Orbert had suggested. Adrienne looked over just as Vala tossed the breastplate aside.
"Vala, did I do it? Did I knock him off?" Adrienne asked, her voice weak and Vala snorted.
"No, and you almost got yourself killed. Why don't you listen to me? Ever?" Vala responded harshly, beginning to unfasten the wool under armor. Turning her head, she now noticed that Daniel was looking down at her, and she took a deep breath.
"Hey cher," she said, trying to smile, "Can I preface this with an I love you?"
Daniel started to answer but he was interrupted by Orbert laughing loudly, slapping him on the back.
"Wait, is this your woman! Your woman!" Daniel couldn't tell if Orbert was asking or declaring but he began to laugh louder. For the life of him Daniel couldn't figure out what was so funny as he looked at Adrienne laying there in pain, the hand lifting from his back and Orbert peering over his shoulder at Ailwin who was now joining the crowd that had gathered.
"Majesty," Orbert addressed his liege lord, "This is a woman. You saw, was I not fighting a man?!"
"Yes Orbert, I did," Ailwin said and nodded his head in agreement, the group looking over at Cameron as he approached, hanging onto Teal'c's shoulder, still in obvious pain.
"I thought I hit you hard enough to knock you off! But then you stayed upright and rode on! I thought to myself what a man!" Orbert was roaring with laughter now as he addressed the injured colonel, turning his attention now to Daniel.
"But your WOMAN stepped in for him! She rode with the lance and faced me with no fear!" he declared, slapping Daniel on the back a second time before dropping to his knees at Adrienne.
"This is a WOMAN!" he declared, looking around at the other knights in attendance who were nodding their heads in agreement.
Daniel was shocked; they were actually impressed that she stepped in for Cameron.
What in the world was going on?
Shoving Daniel forcefully out of the way, Orbert leaned over Adrienne, gently taking her hand into his own.
"My lady," he began, "where do you ail?" he asked politely and Adrienne smiled.
"Everywhere," she tried to joke, her face wincing in pain. Smiling himself, he leaned over lifting her up into his arms and turned to face the healers on the sidelines.
"Get over here you fools! We have a jouster down on the field, what are you idiots staring at?!" he shouted as he walked Adrienne over to his personal prep tent.
Confused for only a moment, the healers grabbed their bags and rushed over to follow him while Daniel stood, watching the opposing knight carry Adrienne gently and respectfully to the tent in complete shock.
"Trade with our world must mean a great deal to your people if your woman would pretend to be a man and face Orbert," Daniel heard a voice behind him say, turning to see that it was Ailwin, looking as equally impressed, but Daniel, still worried about Adrienne, did not reply.
Ailwin sensed his hesitation.
"Do not worry. Orbert is quite impressed; he will see that she is cared for. However, I would worry about him trying to steal her away," Ailwin joked and Daniel finally eased just a bit, looking over at his host.
"Yes, yes this trade deal means a great deal. We need that mineral for our starships and to protect our world and worlds like yours," Daniel conceded honestly as Ailwin smiled.
"We are agreed then. Any people that would not only face the joust, but have a woman amongst them brave enough to step in for her companions are a people with courage and valor. Let us go to my tent and discuss this trade agreement," Ailwin spoke, placing his hand on Daniel's back to lead him to finish the negotiation.
Pausing for a moment, Daniel looked at where Orbert was ducking down, carrying Adrienne into the tent, Ailwin glancing back, laughing once more.
"Again, do not worry. They will care for her," Ailwin assured him just as Vala walked up beside Daniel.
"I'll go deal with her. If you botch this after what she just did, she'll kick your ass," Vala warned, dashing off after Adrienne.
Frowning, in worry still, Daniel let Ailwin lead him away.
Adrienne was sitting in her quarters trying to figure out how to turn the pages in her book while her arm was in a sling. Fortunately her arm hadn't been broken, however it had been painfully dislocated.
Orbert had put it back into place for her and that had hurt more than getting slammed with the lance in the first place.
She really needed to consider more carefully her crazy movie ideas before she did them.
Once she'd been patched up, she, Vala and Cameron, barely walking himself, had returned to base while Teal'c and Daniel worked out the trade agreement. Thankfully, Dr. Beckett met them at the gate so Adrienne didn't have to endure another lecture from Carolyn, who had informed her that each time she had to repair Adrienne based on what she called her own stupidity she was going to insure that Adrienne felt every stitch, every swab, and every repair. Adrienne knew she was just worried, Carolyn was quite a caring person inside, she just used her grumpy exterior to try to keep them all in line. Adjusting herself yet again to no avail, she had just about given up on reading at all when there was a knock at her door.
"If you don't have the code I probably don't want to talk to you!" she shouted, knowing only her fellow team members could really get in. There was tapping, the familiar bing bong of buttons and the door opened, Daniel slipping in through the entrance. He must have just gotten back from the planet and he didn't look happy, that familiar frown across his face.
"Oh no, did the trade agreement fall through?" Adrienne asked, tossing the book aside to give up completely.
"No, it went well. Better than expected. Apparently, everyone was quite impressed with your little performance," Daniel said as he approached the bed, Adrienne scooting forward to let him sit. He sat and she tried to move her body to lean against him, but he stopped her, shaking his head slowly. She looked up at him surprised for a moment and then understanding, realizing that her little performance was about to blow up in her face.
"Daniel, look, I know what you're gonna say, and once again, I'm sorry. It's my Daniel mantra 'I'm sorry'," she said, looking into his eyes.
"Adrienne, I'm not looking for an apology. I'm," he said quickly and started to sit up straighter, pulling away from her even more.
"You're what?" Adrienne asked, confused.
"Ad, I'm not sure what to do. Before, well, before us, yeah I worried about you of course I did, we all worried about each other. But things are different now," Daniel began, his voice faltering. Concerned, she reached out for his face but he grabbed her hand, holding it tightly in his and continued.
"Adrienne I love you, more than I have ever loved anyone else in my entire life, but I've had a few days to think about everything. To think about what happened, what you did and I've realized that I can't do this. I can't spend every mission, every waking second wondering if you're doing something that will take you away from me. And it's not fair to the team, they're worrying about us and this more than, well, just more," Daniel kept talking, finding the words hard to say, Adrienne growing sick.
No, she thought, not after everything, no, she couldn't lose him like this, over this.
She felt tears in her eyes and glanced up to see Daniel looking at her, appearing as if he was going to start crying himself.
"And, it's not fair to you. What you did on Pusflet is exactly the kind of thing any of us would do, and you shouldn't hesitate from doing what is right for your team, or your career, because of me," he choked up a bit before continuing, "It's a perfect example of me holding you back."
It was then that Adrienne started to cry. Breathing in, he leaned forward to kiss her softly, wrapping his arms around her and holding her for a moment before pulling away.
"I love you. Just don't apologize for doing what's right, what you are supposed to do on a team. I'm gonna talk to Sam, but I'll be back later to check on you. Rest, ok?"
She nodded slowly, her heart breaking.
She did it, he was at his breaking point, and she was on the edge of losing him, and, by his words, she had already lost her team.
He kissed her forehead and stood, opening the door and slipping out in search of Sam.
Adrienne just sobbed.
Vala struggled with the tray of food as she keyed in Adrienne's room code, trying to balance the assortment of insanity that she had collected for her friend. Finally the light turned green and Vala reached for the doorknob, letting herself in, yelling as she stepped.
"Addy I did the best I could but I have no idea if I got the right amount of carbs or proteins or whatever the hell else you need," Vala explained, kicking the door behind her to face Adrienne, who was laying on her side, the good side, in the bed, not speaking or moving. Sighing, Vala set the tray on her desk and walked over to her, pulling up a chair and taking a seat.
"Addy, if you're hurting I'm sure that Carson will be happy to give you some more meds," Vala offered, leaning forward, placing her hands on her knees to brace herself, examining her face to see if Adrienne was trying to hide the pain and saw that she was crying, and it looked like she had been crying for a while.
"Adrienne, this is stupid. No one is doubting how tough you are. I'm gonna call Carson right now," Vala said and stood when Adrienne started crying again, harder, a heavy mournful sob that was painful enough to watch let alone to experience. Shaking her head, now angry at her friend's stubbornness, Vala started over to the phone when she heard Adrienne mumble behind her.
"It's not my arm," she said and Vala stopped, whipping around, slamming her palms to her hips.
"Whatever, there's nothing wrong with some good pain killers every now and then. And anyway, you're gonna want me to call and ask before Dr. Lam gets here because she'll say no," Vala replied and Adrienne picked her head up a bit.
"Vala please, don't call the docs ok. It's not my arm," she said between crying breaths, "It's Daniel."
"What did that asshole do this time? Did he come in and fuss at you? He'll get over it; he always does. I've told you a million times that you can't show weakness with him, he'll just walk all over you," Vala responded, approaching Adrienne again but she just cried harder, curling herself into a ball. Vala looked at her in shock, watching her friend as she convulsed and shook, having a complete emotional meltdown, a melt down that could only mean one thing.
"No," Vala began, shaking her head, "there's no way. Adrienne, did he come in here and?" Vala didn't want to say it; there was no way that he would just march in here and end it all after everything they had been through, had gone through to be together, but Adrienne was just crying harder.
"He's," Adrienne sobbed, "Gonna talk to Sam and the team, I'm gonna be off the team and I think he's gonna leave me, but he was so distant and I just don't know and he left, he didn't even lay here with me, he just left, I'm gonna be shipped off to Area 51 or something, why would he…"
At a loss for words, Vala walked over and sat on the bed with Adrienne, comforting her until she was calm. It didn't take long before Adrienne was asleep again and Vala stood…
...Fuming.
Daniel heard boots coming down the hallway, fast, and he didn't look up, assuming it was Sam coming to chat with him as he requested or get the report from the mission. He didn't have it ready, he'd been staring at the computer screen for two hours at least and had typed nothing; he couldn't bring himself to even type her name so he just sat there, staring, trying not to cry.
She could have died.
And I hold her back.
How do Sam and Jack do this?
Can I do this?
What if she says no, and for good reason...
The boots entered the lab, approaching him swiftly, but he continued to stare at the screen, trying to compose himself before addressing Sam.
"Daniel?" it was Vala's voice, surprisingly, and he looked up to see what she wanted when he saw a fist heading toward his face. He didn't have time to duck, to speak, or to move, and her fist hit him square on the cheekbone sending him, still in his desk chair, crashing to the floor.
"What in the HELL is wrong with you?" she screamed. Daniel started to speak but Vala cocked her fist again daring him to utter a sound.
"One word and I make the other side match," she said, "you will sit there and you will listen to me. Do we understand one another?" Daniel nodded, holding his cheek.
"We don't choose a lot of things in life. Sometimes awful goddam things happen to us and we can't do a damn thing about it and those things shape us, they make us who we are. Adrienne has spent her entire life worrying and caring about other people. She doesn't do things like jump up and joust or work her way into a slave facility or any other thing she has done that pisses you off for attention, she has done them for you. Or for me. Or for someone else. Of all of the people I have met in my life, that woman is one of the most caring selfless people that I have ever known. So, you don't love her anymore, that's fine, then end it, but what you just did to her is cowardly and disgusting," Vala raged.
"Wait what?" Daniel tried to speak, "End what? Do what to her? I just told her I needed to talk to Sam."
Ignoring him, Vala kicked his leg hard, painfully hard, and he shut his mouth quickly.
"Did I say I was finished? You and I have been through a lot together, and I think I know you pretty well. I know you well enough to know that you do love her, and, although I do not understand for the life of me why, she loves you too. You're just scared, scared of losing her, like Shar'e, like Janet. But Daniel, that's life. Is it even worth living if you spend it trying to shut yourself off from caring about anyone just so you don't get hurt? So what, are we next? Daniel's going to cut everyone off so he can just go about his business, not caring about anyone or anything? You think becoming emotionally void will protect you from ever being hurt again? If there is some big man in the sky making people or something like your religious people say, he made Adrienne for you. If you are too stupid to see that you don't deserve her but to be honest, I don't think you deserve her anyway," Vala spat as Daniel stood, holding one hand out in case she were to sock him again, pointing to his desk with the other.
"And if you go to Sam to get her removed from the team, make sure you add me to the list. We can start our own team. Daniel's exes. And every time we do something good we can laugh about how much of an ass and a coward you are and how we are all much better off without you," she added, crossing her arms and staring him down.
"Jesus Vala, I did not, nor do I intend to end things with Adrienne," he finally was able to say, pointing to the middle drawer in his desk, "I just went and told her that I had done a lot of thinking over these past few days and it's not fair to either of us to keep worrying about the other like we do and that I needed to talk to Sam. That's it. Probably a poor choice of words but I was cryptic for a damn reason."
"What reason?"
"Open the damn drawer Vala."
Frowning, Vala shoved past him, opening the desk drawer to see a small black box sitting on top of his papers.
Her jaw dropped.
"Is that?"
"Yea, that is," he replied as he rubbed his face, "I was so impressed with what she did, terrified yes, but impressed yet again, and I wanted to talk to Sam before I asked, not only to deal with any blowback but to get her advice on being married to someone you work closely with. Addy was more concerned with my being angry than with the trade deal, or her own healing, and that's not fair to her. Worrying about my reaction to things needs to not interfere with her professional choices. I just wanted to talk to Sam and get my own head straight before I think of some way to ask."
"You're not getting her kicked off the team?"
Daniel frowned, "No, why would I do that?"
"And you didn't just break up with her?"
"Evidently I did because I have no ability to articulate my thoughts and feelings like a goddamn adult," he grumbled, reaching for the box and putting it into his pocket. Vala stood at his desk as he marched to the door, reaching her hand up as she spoke.
"Sorry, then?"
Daniel sighed, stopping at the door, turning and shaking his head, "No, I'm glad Adrienne has a friend like you," he admitted, rubbing his cheek, "Because otherwise I'd have left my hopefully future wife sobbing in her room like she had done something wrong when I'm just terrible at relationships."
Vala smiled.
"But next time, maybe not a punch to the face?" he asked with a shrug.
"Work on there not being a next time," Vala warned.
Not wanting to argue, Daniel left the lab, headed back to Adrienne's quarters.
Sam couldn't seem to find anybody, which was pretty rare. Cam and Addy were not badly hurt and they had secured the trade agreement, however, come report time there was no one to be found. Cam was no longer in the infirmary and since he and Teal'c were both off base Sam figured they had gone for drinks, drinks she had to agree that Cam needed considering his temporary foray into the Middle Ages, and drinks he was sure Teal'c would purchase for his friend. Much to her surprise though, the lab was empty and Vala wasn't answering either of her phones, so Sam decided to just go get what she needed from Adrienne, who she knew was in bed trying to keep her arm still so it didn't swell further.
Rounding the corner to Adrienne's room, she found Daniel, standing at her door, not entering, not moving, transfixed at the keypad. His arms were crossed and he was just staring, his face a slew of emotions.
Sam smiled, walking over to him.
Of course he was here, she thought, I should have tried here first.
What she couldn't figure out, however, was why he was standing outside with that look on his face.
"Is she asleep?" Sam asked as she reached him, trying to gauge what was going on. Lifting his head slowly, Daniel looked up and over at her.
"I'm not sure," he answered quietly, diverting his eyes away quickly.
"Well, I need to talk to her so let's go find out," Sam said, stepping forward, expecting him to enter her key code, but he didn't, just stood there, staring again.
"Is something wrong?" she asked but Daniel simply breathed in, not answering, sniffing in slightly.
"Are you two alright?" Sam pushed, although she was fairly certain she knew where this was going.
Daniel shook his head, "Nope. I screwed up again."
"How?" Sam asked.
Sighing, Daniel produced a box from his pocket, a black box and handed it over.
"In my poor attempt to hide that before I cleared it with you," he began to explain, "I fumbled and babbled my way into Adrienne thinking that I wanted her off the team and that I don't want us to be together anymore."
Sam started to open the box and stopped, because she knew what was inside.
"Believe it or not this is actually easier to clear with the powers that be than what Jack so lovingly refers to as your adult slumber parties," she answered, passing it back.
Daniel laughed slightly, taking a breath before looking over at her.
"How do you do it? You and Jack? That man could have killed her. Just about anything we do could kill either of us," Daniel continued as Sam nodded.
"He could have. Maybe tomorrow she gets shot again or next week poisoned. Hell, I could go home and find Jack dead in our bed from a stroke or heart attack. Daniel, it's a risk you take with any relationship, not just one with people in positions like ours," Sam replied, Daniel lifting his eyes back to the keypad.
"I was so thrilled when I got this," he whispered, showing her the box again, "and I wanted to make it perfect and now I'm not sure if she's just gonna throw me out of there and tell me to get lost."
I want to spend the rest of my existence with Adrienne and nothing good ever happens to me.
I'll just lose her too.
Smiling, Sam leaned across him, typing in Adrienne's code on the keypad. The light went green and Sam turned the knob, stepping back and out of the way.
"You never know until you try. This may be exactly where you were supposed to be. You might be surprised. Now, I'd really like to have a report by tomorrow night, if at all possible," Sam requested, smiling once more before walking away.
Taking a breath, Daniel entered the room, closing the door quietly behind him, to see Adrienne laying on her side in the bed. There was a tray of food untouched on the desk, a tray someone, probably Vala, must have brought her, but she didn't seem to even know it was there. Letting out that same breath, he made sure that the door was locked and walked over to the bed, stopping at the end. She didn't look up at him, didn't even acknowledge that he was there, just lay there in silence, her hands tucked under her cheek.
He started to speak but couldn't bring himself to form the words, his heart broken as he looked back down at her.
"Ad," he finally whispered, "Are you awake?"
She glanced up at him, her face red and tear streaked and she didn't speak, just scooted back on the bed, making room.
Without a word he got in beside her and rolled over to face her, wrapping his arm around her waist, trying to hold her to him the best he could without hurting her wrapped arm.
"I screwed up again," he started, reaching to wipe a tear from her cheek. She peered up at him, her facial expression changing as she got a good look at him.
"Cher," she asked, sitting up the best she could with her arm, "What happened to your face?"
"Your 'sister' happened to my face," he said with a smirk, "Because she was under the impression that I was having you removed from the team and that we were breaking up…"
"Well, you came in here and I thought you were gonna hold me and stay but instead you-" Adrienne began, but Daniel reached over, clasping his hand over her mouth gently.
"Instead, I royally fucked up, again, because I wanted to check on you but what I really needed to do was to speak with Sam, but I came here, rambled some anxiety fueled nonsense that was not even what I meant or wanted to say, made you think I was leaving you, kicking you off the team, which was not my intention at all, I really just wanted to get to Sam as soon as possible and ask about this…" he paused, sitting up and adjusting to reach into his pocket. Confused, Adrienne sat the rest of the way as Daniel produced a small black box, handing it over.
"I wanted to make sure all hell wasn't gonna break loose and to get a better handle on how in the hell she and Jack do it without having a daily panic attack."
Silent, Adrienne took the box and opened it. Inside was a ring, a crude but beautiful ring, made of what looked to be raw gold. There was a square center stone, a ruby it appeared to be, flanked by two round sapphires.
Her eyes widened and she gazed back at Daniel.
"Is this?" she asked, her heart racing as Daniel nodded slowly.
"Yea," he answered with a sigh, "During the negotiation Ailwen referred to you as my wife and I corrected him, and we just got to talking and he had his jeweler make it. It was perfect, and it just seemed so much better than something from a store. Well, what I've seen at least, I've been looking for a while…" he trailed, sighing out, trying to read her face, "Ad, I'm sorry, I know I should have talked with you about this, but I was trying to figure out how to surprise you with something special and perfect because you deserve that…"
He paused, collecting his thoughts again, "But, after earlier, and my inability to talk about relationships in any way, shape or form, I understand if you want me to leave."
She shook her head quickly, "I don't want you to leave, ever."
"Thank God," he breathed out a sign of relief, the tenseness in his shoulders subsiding, "Because the way Vala came storming into my lab I was certain I had pushed you to your limit with me."
"While I should never admit this," the cajun countered with a grin, "that limit is a lot further away than you believe."
"So plenty of room for me to botch yet another important aspect of our relationship unintentionally because I'm hopeless?" he asked with a smile.
"Just more training that needs to be done on my part I guess," she teased, and he reached for the hand holding the box, taking both into his.
"Is this for real?" she now asked as he nodded.
"That was the plan," he answered, "If you'd have me."
"Daniel, I never…" she started, Daniel sighing out, trying to hold himself together.
"I know, which is why I'm struggling with this because I want to honor your wishes and beliefs, and not just push mine onto you."
"You haven't pushed anything onto me," she assured him, "I would tell you if you had."
Daniel didn't reply, just sat there in shock and confusion, trying to interpret her words.
"Trust me," she continued, shutting the box and handing it back over to him, "the one thing I refuse to do in this, in us, is to allow myself to be talked into something that I don't wanna do…"
She paused, as Daniel sat there, looking nervous and confused.
"I do though," she added, smiling softly, "Want you to ask."
He peered up at her, shocked, "Wait, really?"
"Yeah," she assured, biting her lower lip.
"Now?"
"Unless you had something else planned…"
"No, well, I was working on it but, I mean, well, now you've seen it and I…"
"Then just ask," she requested sweetly, interrupting his ramble. Daniel smiled, peering back at her.
"How?" he asked, those nerves returning.
"The traditional way is fine," she said with a smile. He had been right from the get go; he was really bad at all of this. But, terrible at relationships or not, she loved him, just for who he was.
"I thought you hated tradition," he teased, but he was standing, pulling her so that she was seated on the edge of the bed.
"I'll make an exception just this once."
His heart was pounding in his chest. He had never asked anyone this question before, his one and only marriage in his life had been thrust upon him. He'd hoped to plan something, a dinner, something unique off world, anything, but here he was in her quarters, the small box in his hand.
Nothing with the two of them ever seemed to go like it was supposed to.
Maybe that was just how it was meant to be.
"You ok Daniel?" she asked from the bed, gazing up at him, "We don't have to do this…"
Determined, he shook his head, dropping to one knee and opening the box.
"I don't have to do this," he countered, "I want to. More than anything."
She smiled, biting her lower lip slightly.
"Adrienne," he continued, looking into her eyes, "you're the one person I never thought existed, that I honestly could have never dreamed of existing. And then one day, you were just dropped into my life, and I didn't know what to do or to think, but now? Now, I can't imagine living a moment let alone a lifetime if you're not a part of it, right there beside me, risking yourself jousting in a suit of armor, fighting back to back to escape a sticky situation, or just sitting with me to have a cup of coffee and talk. You've become the most important part of my life and I want this, I want you, with me, forever," he paused again, taking a breath.
"Adrienne, my love, my soul, my everything, will you marry me?"
"Yes," she said, tears forming in her eyes, "Yes Daniel, I'll marry you."
She said yes...
"Really?" he asked, even though he had had the conversations with her, about forever, about them being permanent, he had always worried that when, or if the time came, that she would tell him that marriage wasn't for her, that she didn't want a traditional relationship.
She said yes...
"Of course ya cooyon," she said, reaching for his hand with her good arm, pulling him to her, "You've changed my life too, and I think I can reconsider my stance on some things."
Adrienne's going to be my wife…
Overjoyed, Daniel stood, thankful her good arm right now was her left, pulling the ring from the box and slipping it onto her finger. The sizing was correct, he had guessed well, and it looked breathtakingly beautiful on her hand.
She said yes.
She was his.
Forever.
He watched as she looked at the ring on her hand, tears cascading down her face, her smile beaming. He couldn't resist, reaching his hand to her face to kiss her softly and slowly, before pulling away slightly.
"I love you," he whispered, and she smiled, pulling him to lay with her.
"I love you too," she said, crawling into his arms.
He couldn't believe it; she said yes.
He was going to marry Adrienne.
Laying back against him the best she could with her injury, Adrienne peered down at her left hand, looking at the ring as it sparkled in the dim light of her room. It was beautiful, it was perfect, and he was right, given who they were, it was so much better than something from a jewelry store.
"You really like it?" he asked at her ear, kissing it lightly.
"So much," she sighed out, "I love it so much."
He held her in his arms, reaching for the remote and switching on her TV, hoping that she would finally relax.
"Daniel?"
"Yeah."
"One more thing?" she asked quietly.
"Anything ja-wer," he whispered, holding onto her.
"Injury lets me break the diet plan. I want cheesecake for breakfast. With dark chocolate crust," she said with a giggle and Daniel kissed her head with a smile.
"If my fiancée wants cheesecake for breakfast, then cheesecake she shall have."
She chuckled in reply, noting his word choice, snuggling back into him as she switched the channel to Chiller, unsurprisingly. Daniel went to adjust so he was holding her better when he heard a buzz, feeling a vibration in his back pocket. Frowning, he pulled out his phone, hoping no one was calling him away.
It was Vala.
I'm assuming you're fixing your fuck up, so I finished the mission report.
You can thank me by making it up to her.
"Sam?" Adrienne asked as Daniel shook his head.
"Your pitbull," he replied, "Taking care of things for me, well us."
"Good," was all she answered, "because I want to lay in your arms all night. Uninterrupted."
"Done," he said as he shut off his cell phone, tossing it onto her nightstand and wrapping his arms around her again.
It didn't matter, the fear, the hurt, nothing mattered now, all that mattered was right here, right now.
And she said yes.
It was late as Daniel sat in his lab. He left Adrienne's room a few hours ago after finally convincing her to take more pain medication which had knocked her out cold. Unable to sleep himself, he decided to work and had come down to double check Vala's mission report. She had done a good job, a great job even, making him less annoyed by the soreness on his cheek that was her doing. Knowing Adrienne's injury would keep her out of work for a few days, he decided to take a peek at their schedule, to see what of her workload he might be able to help with so that she didn't stress. He had just about gotten everything taken care of, and in such a fashion that would not send her over the edge from work related stress, when he couldn't resist any longer…
Reaching for his phone, Daniel opened up his messages, firing off the one message to the one person he needed to say something to right now.
To use the words of my fiancée, thank you for your "mad hiring skills."
Sam didn't reply with words, instead with one small image.