Chapter 1

"Hey, Daniel," Sam greeted him as she walked into his office.

Daniel raised his head up from the cradle his arms provided on his desk and looked at her bleary-eyed.

"Oh, hey, Sam." He said as he rubbed his face with his hands, then continued through his hair. He looked around for his glasses and found them on his keyboard.

"What's up?" he asked as he put his glasses on and attempted to focus on Sam.

"Daniel, how long has it been since you've been back to your apartment and slept in a real bed?" Sam wanted to know.

"Um…."

"Have you been sleeping in your office?" She asked, worried.

"Um…."

"Have you at least gone to your quarters to sleep?" This time she was upset.

"Um…"

"DANIEL!" She admonished. "Alright, get your stuff together, you're coming home with me," she ordered.

"Why?" He demanded.

"Because we have not talked in quite awhile and we need to catch up. And my guest room has a much better bed than your office does."

"But we talk every day, and my quarters has a bed." He whined

"We talk about work every day, and my guest room mattress is much more expensive and comfortable than government issue."

"What do we have to talk about, other than work?" he asked, while getting his stuff together as Sam had demanded. He was going with her but not without grumbling about it.

"We are friends, Daniel, and friends talk about more than work. We need to have a nice deep discussion that we have not been able to do in forever." She explained.

"I know where this is going, you know." He replied. "You think I need to talk about Vala."

"You do need to talk about it," she replied as they walked out the door and turned down the hall.

"So, you want to play the part of my therapist, really?" he asked.

"You're lonely, don't deny it," she stopped him before he could get a word in, "and you need someone to talk to. I'm lonely too, and I could use a friend to talk to, also."

The elevator arrived, and it was empty, so they continued their conversation while headed up. "Jack being in Washington is really tough on you, isn't it?" He asked, with sympathy.

"See, this is what friends do, talk. This is what we both need."

"Yeah, you're right. You cooking?"

"Yep, Jack's special," she nodded.

"So, takeout." It a was a comment, not a question.

Chapter 2

The ride to Sam's house was quiet, except for her radio, which was turned down low, to an oldies station.

Daniel sat with his head back against the headrest, relaxing. Sitting in his office under the mountain was stressful, he admitted, even though he loved his work. He needed to get outside more, see the trees, smell the fresh, un-recirculated air.

Yeah, right, he saw trees and smelled fresh air almost every time they walked through the gate. The difference was home, versus an alien plant. Down time versus work. Not getting shot at while running for the Stargate versus, well, getting shot at while running for the Stargate. Maybe a night off from everything was what he needed.

While he was thinking about relaxing and trying to let the tension out of his muscles, he picked up the song on the radio. He wasn't too familiar with country music, but the voice sounded familiar.

"It ain't cool, to be crazy about you

It ain't suave or debonair

To let you know I care, Like I do

It ain't smart to be so reckless with my heart

I should have known right from the start

I'd end up like a fool

Believe me it ain't cool"

That just about covers it, he thought as he sat forward to turn the radio off.

"You think I'm taking this the wrong way, don't you?" Daniel asked as they turned into Sam's driveway.

"I think you are thinking about it the wrong way," she replied as they got out of the car. "Let's go inside and get food ordered and glass of wine, then we can talk."

"So, tell me what's going on with you and Jack," Daniel requested as he sat on the couch. "You talk to him pretty often, don't you?"

Sam looked at him for a long minute, letting him know she knew he was trying to put off the personal conversation he was wary of.

Sam sat down her purse and walked to the kitchen to get a glass of wine for them both. She handed the glass to him as she walked by to the other end of the couch.

"We talk as much as we can. Me being off world, his meetings running long, the time zone difference, it all makes it too difficult to connect every day. We do good to talk twice a week. I can't talk to him while I'm on base because of the non-existent cell phone reception and we can't talk about us on a government phone line. It's tough."

"I'm sorry, Sam. I know it must be tough. Going from seeing him and working around him every day for 8 years to barely getting to talk is a huge thing to get used to."

"He tried flying in on the weekends we both had off, but it's a 4-hour flight, 7 if you add in airport time and travel time. He was exhausted by the time he got here. Our time together was feeling so rushed. So now, it's only every other weekend. "We are trying to find a way for both of us to have a week off at the same time, but that hasn't worked so well, either. It'd be just our luck that we'd both get a week and one of us would get called in on an emergency of some kind."

"It seems like there is always something keeping you apart," Daniel nodded.

"Are you saying that about us, or you and Vala?" Sam asked.

"I was talking about you, there is no 'me and Vala'," he said as he put his head back on the couch and closed his eyes.

"Have you tried apologizing to her?" Sam knew he had, but she needed a place to start the conversation.

"Of course, I did!" That made him sit up and look at her. "All it did was cause a fight."

"And she's still not talking to you. You know this is making Mitchell crazy." Sam grinned.

"Oh right, it's Mitchell I'm worried about. Sorry I forgot that part." Daniel laid his head back on the couch again.

"Want to tell me about the fight?"

Daniel sighed and stared at the ceiling for bit. "She said I didn't trust her, but what was I supposed to think, Sam?"

"You were supposed to have realized that she has changed over the past two years or so. We've even talked about this, Daniel. How she's not the same person that came through the gate, or even the one that came back from the Ori. Having a family, people who trust her," she paused for a second and said quietly, "people who love her, have changed the way she sees things."

"She's still a flirt, she still likes to be the center of attention, and that's what caused this." He replied.

"No, Daniel, that's NOT what caused this. A cocky Major who thought he could have whatever he wanted caused this. Why do you continue to blame Vala for an idiot backing her into a corner at that party and forcing a kiss on her?" Sam's raised voice said she wasn't happy with him.

"You've seen how she fights! She could have held him off if she had wanted to."

"She didn't want to cause a scene. You know the damage one incident could cause. It would undo all the work she's put in to prove she's not the person she used to be. If she had raised her voice, or hit him, the damage would be done, permanently. People would be talking about what a loose cannon she is. If you hadn't turned and run so quickly, you would have seen how she handled it, and we wouldn't be having this discussion."

"I couldn't stand there and watch them make-out, so I left," Daniel said quietly. "And I know what she did. I've heard the story from just about everyone on base, but only after she chased me down in the parking lot and I said something really stupid that made her mad and leave."

"Did you know that nice, quiet squeeze she put on his throat left a bruise from her thumb on his jugular? He tried telling his commanding officer it was a hickey, but news like that gets around and he's in trouble. I haven't heard what his Colonel is going to do about it, but he assaulted a member of SG1, so it's probably not going to be pretty. He's new on base, so he didn't know who she was, but he's going to pay for it, that's for sure."

"No, I hadn't heard that part. Serves him right, he shouldn't be treating any woman like that."

"Don't get mad at me, Daniel, but you know if she wasn't single, if she had someone there by her side, she wouldn't get hit on like that."

"She basically told me the same thing in the parking lot." He was quiet for minute before he continued, "I told her I didn't know she needed a bodyguard to keep the men away from her."

"Damn, Daniel," Sam was astonished at his response.

"I was hurt, mad, scared, maybe all of the above, I don't know. I wasn't thinking straight." Daniel ran his hand through hair. "I tried talking to her the next day and apologize for the stupid remark. She told me it wasn't what I said that hurt so bad, but the fact that I didn't trust her. She shoved me out of her room and slammed the door. I haven't talked to her this whole week."

"She's asked Cam for some downtime, so we'll be going out without her this week," Sam informed him.

"Of course, she has." Daniel sounded defeated.

Sam sat her wine glass down and leaned toward Daniel. "Look, I know you're scared, I was too, still am, really. We've put so many years into wanting to be together, what happens if reality doesn't live up to the dream? Ten years down the drain? It's terrifying."

"I don't know if I can handle losing someone else I love, Sam. I just shut down, and it took me this long to even think about someone else after losing Sha're," Daniel said

"You're miserable right now! You already love her, losing her will hurt just as bad, whether you attempt a relationship or not," Sam threw her hands up.

"You know, it's not just you that has a lot to lose if it doesn't work out, she has a lot riding on it too. She has affiliated herself with the Tau'ri, and everyone out there knows it. She'll have a hard time making it on her own now. She placed a really large bet on you and has spent all this time hoping it will pay off. She wouldn't throw that away for a kiss with a stranger. After all she's lost in her life, she's willing to try again, she thinks you are worth it."

Chapter 3 –

The next morning, on the way to the base, Daniel asked Sam to stop at grocery store that was on their way. When they stopped, he said he'd be right back and left before Sam could get her seat belt unbuckled. He wasn't gone but a few minutes when he came back with a large spray of flowers wrapped in plastic.

"Grocery store flowers, Daniel? Really?" Sam was incredulous.

"Florists aren't open this early and I really don't have time to do anything else before we leave this morning," he explained. He got out his pen and wrote "Can we please talk when I get back?" on a small card and tucked it in the bouquet.

Sam smiled, happy that he was making the effort and hoping Vala wouldn't realize it was a last-minute effort.

Daniel stood at Vala's door for a minute thinking about what he would say if she opened the door unexpectedly but realized they didn't have time for even a quick discussion before he had to be in the briefing room. He propped the bouquet up against the door frame so they would fall over when she opened the door and get her attention. He didn't want her stepping on them, or even tripping over them when she left the room.

The team was off world for three days, it was only supposed to be two, but the people were very friendly and were more interested in showing them around and introducing everyone in their village, and the neighboring one, before they would even think about talking trade agreements. There was a small naquadah mine that had been abandoned, so they had to wait until the village council was willing to meet with them.

As soon as the post-mission medical exam was over, Daniel rushed through a shower and putting on clean clothes. He made it a point to walk very casually to his office, but everyone saw the hurry he was in. He entered an empty office that looked exactly as he had left it. Vala had not done any work, or messed with his stuff, or left him a note, or anything.

He left and headed for his quarters. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, just anything to let him know that Vala had gotten the flowers and appreciated them. He went to his room and briefly looked around but didn't see any evidence of her being there.

Daniel changed his clothes, grabbed his car keys, and headed for the surface. When he got to his apartment, he dug through several boxes that he'd never bothered to unpack, until he found the item he was looking for. Next, he went in search of the decorative box he knew he wanted to put it in. With both gifts in hand, he headed back to the base.

He went straight to Vala's room and knocked on the door. "Vala, please open the door, I need to apologize, and I'd like to do it in person, not through a door." He waited a few seconds and tried again, "Vala, I'm really sorry, please." No response.

He turned around and opened the door to his room, propping it open with the chair from his desk. The bed was the only other place to sit, so he grabbed a book off his desk and sat on the end of the bed, in full view of the door.

He sat there for an hour, wondering where she could be and if she went so far as to stay with Sam in order to hide from him. He picked up his phone and was about to call Sam when Vala walked into view. She stopped just short of his door when she saw it was open. Realizing she was stuck and how rude it would be if she turned around and walked away, she moved to stand just outside his door, looking in. "Hi." He could tell she was uncomfortable.

"Hey," he said standing. "Come in and talk with me?"

Playing with her fingers, she took two steps in, not far enough in to be able to close the door.

"I left you flowers before we went on the mission. I would have done better, but florists aren't open…." he trailed off. "Yeah, it was lame, I should have done better."

"The flowers were nice, but they don't make up for the way you treat me. You don't want me, but you don't want anyone else to want me either, and I'm tired of it. I love you, Daniel, I've made that very clear over the years. I've stuck around even when you treated me badly. I've saved your ass many times out in the field. I even stepped in front of Tomin and his staff weapon for you and that hurt, but this hurts worse. I can't go on like this forever. Our relationship has been stuck in the middle of nowhere for too long."

"I know, and I'm very sorry. Sam pointed a few things out to me this weekend. I'm scared of having a relationship because I'm scared of loosing someone I love again. It broke me the first time and it took me a very long time to get over it. I kept thinking how it would affect me if we got together and it didn't work out, or I lost you in battle. Sam reminded me that since I'm already in love with you, it didn't matter if we were in a relationship or not, it was going to hurt just as bad, no matter when or how I lost you."

Vala's eyes had started filling with tears at his admission. "Daniel?"

He didn't let her get any farther. He quickly walked over to her and wrapped her in his arms. "Yes, I love you, Vala. So much it hurts most of the time. And yes, I want you and no, I don't want anyone else to want you. And I don't want to lose you, due to my fears, to another man, or in battle. I will do everything in my power to keep that from happening."

He pulled away from her slightly and asked, "Can I give you a gift anyway? Not as an apology, but to show my love?"

She nodded.

He walked over to his desk and picked up the small, ornate box and handed it to her.

"I found this on a dig I was on a long time ago. It's been packed away, and this is the first time I'd thought of it in years." He explained

Vala opened the box and pulled out a very old amulet.

Daniel set the amulet in her hand and enclosed his hand over it. "It's an Egyptian heart amulet. The ancient Egyptians thought the heart was the source of, intelligence, feelings, memory and even the soul. They would put the amulet in the mummy wrappings over the heart to ensure the deceased would have a heart in the afterlife. I want you to know, you have my heart, even into the afterlife."

Vala's tears were free falling by now. "Oh Daniel, that is so romantic," she sobbed, "but please tell me you didn't take this out of a mummy, you didn't take his heart from him in his afterlife."

Daniel chuckled. "No, no. The tomb was that of a well-respected jewelry maker. The amulet and box were in the tomb, along with a lot of other jewelry. It's new, if anything 3500 years old can be called new."

Vala laughed and launched herself at Daniel. He caught her and spun them around so he could close the door to his room and lock it.