A Lost City, A New World, by DrGemini86
Summary: Daniel is ready to consider dating again, but not everyone is happy. Set during and after Lost City. Daniel/Elizabeth, Sam/Daniel, probably a bit of Sam/Jack.
Rating: T
Season: 7-8
Genre: New Romance, UST
Spoilers: season 10 aired in 2006, behave.
Author Notes: Recent musings on SGA: Rising and SG1: Lost City had me wondering about Daniel/Elizabeth (he pretty much fan-boyed her when they met; at least in my mind's eye).
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Daniel Jackson had got to do a lot of things during his tenure at Stargate Command; a ridiculous amount of things. For one shining moment, finally meeting Doctor Elizabeth Weir was almost 'up there' with decoding the Unas language; in one blind, insane moment, it threatened to eclipse opening the Stargate, until his rational mind chastised him for being completely foolish. But he admitted, if only to himself, that at least an admiration for her was acceptable – he had referenced her work when he had drafted the initial treaty between the Tok'ra and Earth. For another very, very brief moment, he had forgotten whom she had replaced; although that was hardly her fault. Still, it took all that he had to act 'normal' around her, whatever 'normal' was in his line of employment.
He felt himself inexplicably bumbling around her, racing to get words out, racing to convey to her the seriousness of her role, of Stargate Command's work; of its importance to humankind, to the galaxy, to peace overall. He could almost hear Jack in his head chastising him for not finishing sentences as his mind raced faster than his mouth could convey. Jack. How stupid he felt as once more his friend came to the fore: Jack had stupidly downloaded an Ancient repository into his head. Again. Jack had protected him in doing so, but still. Perhaps there was an element of scientific curiosity or just plain selfishness, but he had wanted to know what it had felt like; he wanted to experience it for himself, to get a better insight into the race who had built the Stargates, whose Lost City they had been searching for. They could only hope the Asgard would help them again once they had learned what they had needed to, before they would lose Jack for good.
The success of their overall mission relied on too many variables: on whether Teal'c and Bra'tac could get enough ships to help Earth; whether Weir would let them use the Prometheus; whether Jack could hold on until he suddenly found the Lost City; whether they would indeed find the Lost City; whether the President or Kinsey would keep Stargate Command open. True, they had been through a vast multitude of life and death scenarios, and come out tops much of the time, they couldn't take their 'luck' for granted. Losing Janet had brought that home all too clearly.
His thoughts dwelt on Weir again. He found himself thinking about her an absurd amount. And them came that feeling in his stomach, which he hadn't felt in a long time. Alone in the dimly-lit locker room, he smiled to himself slightly. He expected to feel guilt: after all, he had joined the Stargate program to find Sha're. But the years had changed Daniel Jackson; even if not her, he felt he could move on with his life again. It didn't mean he didn't love Sha're – of course he did – but he had been alone a long time; 'dying' had changed him.
In olive green BDUs, he sat on a bench, hunched over, as he thought of how he had felt when his friends had found him nearly a year ago, in their quest for the Lost City. And for the first time, he allowed himself to dwell on his initial reaction to seeing Sam on Vis Uban. Without his memories, he had seen her; finally seen her. But then came the guilt and a passing instinct that perhaps maybe he had hurt her and his punishment had been to lose himself. And then of course he had spent the past years regaining his memories, reliving past traumas and experiencing new ones; but he had a new purpose, a fresh zeal finally; he felt stronger, more grounded and confident. He recalled a pop-psychology article in one of Cassie's magazines which claimed that it could take over a hundred days to 'get over an ex'. While there was no 'ex' to speak of, he mapped that claim onto the present year and felt that maybe he could start again.
His musings were interrupted by the door opening slowly. He closed his eyes, hoping for more time. He looked up to see a concerned looking Sam in the doorway. He smiled wryly and nodded, pushing his glasses back up his nose. She looked at him for a moment before entering the locker room and sitting down next to him, her gaze dropping to her hands in her lap, as though waiting for him to speak. He glanced at her and asked,
"How's Jack doing?"
She glanced at him and said with a sigh, "He's still packing; I brought him a naquadah generator and then he carried on getting supplies." She ran a hand through her hair and asked, glancing at him again, "What do you think of Doctor Weir?"
He replied with a small smile, "She's got big shoes to fill."
He felt his stomach tighten as he thought of saying something to her. Perhaps he was being foolish. He hesitated. As though sensing this, she looked at him in concern.
"Daniel?"
His face reddening, he looked down at the floor. She waited, sensing something was off. Maybe he felt guilty; she knew he had wanted to download the Ancient repository; she sensed that he was jealous at some level, as though he was still feeling unimportant, as though he felt he didn't belong. She felt sadness for a very brief moment. Regardless of the time that had passed, his increase in confidence over the past year, his insecurity and doubts were still there, lurking beneath the surface. But he had been through a lot; more than most people in a lifetime; they all had.
"It's nothing."
Knowing full well that each time they stepped through the Stargate could be the last time, she nudged him and said with a small smirk, "Daniel."
He glanced at her again, this time looking awkward. "It's really embarrassing."
She quipped with another smirk, hoping the dim light would hide the hue of her suddenly hot cheeks, "As embarrassing as being found naked on a strange world?"
He chuckled softly, recalling Vis Uban, not for the first time. When he stopped, he shook his head and looked at her. He said, a touch bashful, "It's just funny how we realise things when we have much bigger things afoot."
She said nothing, silently prompting him to continue. He looked at the ground again and then back at her. He said, his face hopeful, "I was just thinking – rather selfishly of course – that I'm finally ready to start dating again." He shrugged, saying self-deprecatingly. "Not that I would know what to do these days." He smiled again, scratching behind his ear nervously. "When all this was over..." The if was implied, as ever. "... I was thinking of maybe asking Doctor Weir out for a drink or a meal."
As he made to get up, feeling both embarrassed yet unburdened at musing out loud, Sam remained seated, her ears suddenly feeling full of sound, of her heartbeat, as her stomach felt as though it had plummeted into her boots. She became very aware of her breathing, of her heart rate too, as she felt rooted to the spot as he, unaware of her state, continued to his locker to retrieve something. She quickly gathered her wits, feeling very confused at her own reaction to what he had said. Before she knew it, he was at the door and she followed him, her heartbeat still feeling very loud as she tried to process what he had said to her, almost missing him speaking again.
"Let's find Jack; he must be done by now."