"Hey.." She said with a smile.
"Welcome home," he replied. Struck with a sudden impulse he swept her up into his arms and she laughed.
"What are you doing?"
"Carrying you over the threshold." He said with a boyish grin. Her only response was to push his glasses further up his nose before they slid completely off. Daniel let her down slowly once they were back into the living room.
"I love your place," she said, taking it all in, moving to a book shelf and reverently picking up an artifact from some unnamed planet. "It's so...you." she continued, putting it down and turning to look at him.
"Sam got you some things to wear, you can freshen up while I get dinner on the table." he offered, still grinning. Sarah just smiled and headed into the bedroom, moving to the various bags sitting neatly on the bed. My, Major Carter certainly had a wonderful taste in nightcloths, she thought as she looked over a wonderfully silky pink nightgown that would leave very little to Daniel's imagination. Digging through the rest of the bags she found a warm sweater and slipped it over her head along with some draw string pants and headed back out just in time to see Daniel put the food on the table.
"It smells wonderful...is that..?"
"Yes it is. I didn't know if you'd remember."
"How could I forget? We lived of this stuff." she said, picking up a sweet roll and nibbling on an edge as she sat.
"Do you know what today is...?" Daniel asked as he poured them both a glass of wine. Sarah racked her brain. An old anniversary maybe? "Valentine's day." he said with a flourish, sitting.
Sarah laughed, "Such a romantic Dr. Jackson."
Daniel quickly set the food on the table and sat as well and they started in with a voracious appetites. They didn't bother speaking, they didn't need to and the silence was comfortable.
When dinner was over the headed to the big comfy couch. Daniel sat at an angle to the corner and pulled Sarah down so she was nestled up between him and the couch back. He contemplatively twirled a curl around his finger as she pressed her ear over his heart, the steady, calm beating relaxing her into almost a trance like state.
And suddenly, she was no longer in Daniel's apartment, their apartment. She was in a dark room and she was very very afraid. She knew her lord was coming and she knew he was displeased. Anubis was well known for his fury. She remembered a meeting. With other system lords. And she remembered being sold out. His anger would be swift....
"Sarah! Sarah!" She dimly heard and felt a shaking. "Sarah!" the voice was clearer now and she was once again in Daniel's living room. Blinking she looked to the voice to see a very concerned pair of blue eyes looking at her. "What happened? You just tensed up..."
Sarah looked at him, then away, shaking her head. "I was remembering..."
The next morning dawned grey and unhappy. It had been a rough night for Colorado Springs and those on the 8th floor of one particular apartment building. Sarah woke up 3 different times, shaking and drenched with sweat. All Daniel could do was hold her, try to calm her. She refused to talk about her dreams, was almost in tears with insistence, and he didn't want to upset her any more than she already was.
He finally rolled out of bed around 8, letting her rest as he headed to the kitchen to see what he could make them for breakfast. He took a few minutes out to call in and ask the General if it'd be alright if he took the next few days off. He didn't need to give details, both Dr. Fraiser and Dr. Mackenzie briefed him on the transitional period Dr. Gardner would be going through. He wished Daniel good luck and gave them until the following Monday. One week to work out thousands of years worth of memories and then they could afford no more time. He didn't let himself think of what would happen if Sarah couldn't deal with it.
Making as little noise as possible, he dug out dishes and pans and started making breakfast. He never noticed two tiny, size 7 feet pad into the room and lean against the door way, watching. He'd turned the radio on softly as to not wake her and was mouthing along to Carol King's "One Fine Day", giving his butt a little shake in all the appropriate places. It finally ended and she had to clap, causing him to whip around, almost dropping the skillet and she didn't bother to hide a giggle.
"It's not nice when you sneak up on people," he said, almost pouting.
"So sorry..." she said with a wicked grin.
"Oh yeah?!" he said, dropping the skillet in the sink and moving over to her, hauling her over his shoulder and heading back to the bedroom. Neither remember breakfast.
The week went by more smoothly as they fell into a routine. If she had any more nightmares, she hid them well from him. They'd seen about getting her various bank accounts and such reactivated with a little political fanangaling, and she'd gotten a car. They also went to Denver for a day and she did some serious shopping and got a really good start on rebuilding her wardrobe. They'd taken in an opera while they were there, had wined and dined and spent the night in one of the fanciest hotels the city could offer. It had been so easy to fall back into their easy relationship, talking about work, new findings, research ideas, theories.
Finally, Monday rolled around. They were both up early, and reached the SGC before 8. Everyone they met had heard of her, and welcomed her warmly. Finally they got down to the sub level where Daniel's office was tucked away. He proudly unlocked the door and swung it open.
"Oh Daniel...it's a mess!" was the first thing Sarah said, shaking her head.
"It's not that bad!" He said with a small grin, knowing it was a little...unorganized. Sarah just shot him a look and rolled up her sleeves before digging in. He watched for a few minutes before a voice cleared behind him and he turned.
"Hey Daniel," said Sam with a smile, two cups of coffee in hand.
"Wow...you must have missed me..." He said with a grin, taking the cups and putting one on the table Sarah's working at, who never even looked up as she took it and sipped it.
"Of course I missed you, we always miss you!" Sam said with a grin. "And I needed to tell you we have a briefing in an hour with Hammond."
Daniel winced. He knew that he wouldn't be able to just sit on the side lines forever, but he didn't want to leave Sarah alone quite yet. She had yet to look up from her work, papers spread everywhere and being pulled from every folder, nook and cranny to try to get them into some form of organizational order.
"I'll be there," Daniel said, Sam giving him a little pat. "When are we going off world?"
"After dinner tonight. It's supposed to just be for a day. There's some strange structures and writings around the gate.." Sam said, the last part coaxingly.
Daniel had to smile, "See you in an hour then."
"See you there," Sam said in the way of a farewell, again heading out.
Daniel's attention once more turned back towards Sara who was rummaging through one of the many filing cabinets. "Are you going to be okay?"
She glanced up, awarding him with a smile, "I'm going to miss you, but I'll manage." she reassured him. "Time to be a big girl, stand on my own two feet." He looked skeptical. "Really, I'll be fine!" she reiterated.
"Alright, alright!" He smiled, raising his hands in defeat and moved over to her, pulling the folders from her hands and dropping them, pulling her into his arms.
"So THAT'S how it got so messy..." she said with a teasing grin before kissing him.
An hour later, Daniel raced into the briefing room a few minutes late, his hair happily mussed. Hammond didn't have the heart to chide him and Jack's grin promised no end of ribbing.
"PX2-434, uninhabited to our knowledge. Our survey picked up some structures, nothing to advanced or well structured, they look like pillars of some kind." Hammond said, showing the pictures that they recovered on the view screen.
"Greek...or maybe Phonecian." Daniel offered to anyone who was paying enough attention to care.
"I need to you to go and see if there are any signs of life. If not, maybe find out why. Simple recon, in and out in a day." Hammond finished, looking at each and every one of them like a father telling his children exactly what they'd be able to get before going into a candy store. "You leave at 1900. Dismissed." Everyone took a breath as he left.
"It's almost as if he doesn't trust us." Jack said dryly, standing and cracking his back.
"Well sir, we do seem to have a habit of making normal situations....messy." Carter said, standing as well.
"Messy? Messy?!" Jack exclaimed, feigning disbelief. "We get the job done, don't we?"
"After making a pretty big splash, yeah." she conceded, the two arguing playfully as they headed down the hall.
Teal'c cocked his head to the side. "DanielJackson, I do believe Colonel O'Neil and Major Carter are acting strangely."
"Huh?" Daniel said, looking after the two. "Oh...that. Yeah, they've changed..but for the better I think. I wouldn't worry about it."
"I am not worried. I am most glad that Colonel O'Neil and Major Carter have stopped masking their feelings for one another. I do not understand those of your regulations that have prohibited them from exploring their natural feelings towards one another."
Daniel blinked. Jack and Sam...."together"? He hadn't noticed. Then again, he had been pretty wrapped up in himself the last few months. A lot suddenly made sense. Jack defending Carter in some inane argument they had with some brass, looks across the briefing table, leaving together at night...a lot made sense.
"You know what? I agree." Daniel said with a smile. He was happy for his friends, but hoped they knew what risk they were taking. He had no doubt Hammond wouldn't raise an issue with it as long as their work didn't suffer, but one never knew. Some private Jack managed to tick off might send in a complaint, some visiting brass my catch a hint of what they deem to be improper. He realized that Teal'c was waiting for him to stop thinking so he could speak once more and he gave the large man his attention.
"I was meaning to ask you about Dr. Gardner. Although I do not wish to interfere, I do realize she has undergone many changes. I could perhapse show her some of the easier aspects of the Kel'Nor'Rem to help her focus her mind and control what memories she still has from carrying Osiris within her."
Daniel smiled. This was his friends way of saying that he welcomed Sarah into the proverbial fold, and that he'd stand by her and defend her in his place if it ever came to that. "Thanks Teal'c. I'm sure she'd like that." Teal'c nodded and headed out.
Daniel sat for a moment, smiling and thinking. Things were going so well.
Later that night at 1900, the gate was activated. He had a tearful goodbye with Sarah who had tried so hard to act nonchalant, but tears finally fell. She didn't ask him not to go, she just asked that he came home in one piece. He promised to do so with a gentle kiss and left her in his office, not wanting her to walk down to the gate room with him, a little choked up himself.
"How do you do it?" he asked Jack while walking down the hall to the gate room."
"Leave loved ones behind? You just...do it. You can't let yourself think of it and you try not to think about them while you're gone or it'll drive you nuts." Jack said softly, no joking in his tone. "You remind yourself why you do it, to keep them safe. And at night, you remind yourself you're a few hours closer to being able to be back." and with that, Jack gave him a pat on the shoulder and he grinned, "Besides, ya still got me."
Daniel laughed, "Gunna cuddle up tonight or is Sam the jealous type?" he teased right back.
"With you? I think she can assume I'm safe. So...just how many people know about all of us?"
"Pretty much everyone." Daniel said with a smirk and Jack winced.
"And here I thought we were being sneaky."
"Some things you just can't hide." Was all Daniel said as he walked into the gate room.
And some things shouldn't be hidden.
"Welcome home," he replied. Struck with a sudden impulse he swept her up into his arms and she laughed.
"What are you doing?"
"Carrying you over the threshold." He said with a boyish grin. Her only response was to push his glasses further up his nose before they slid completely off. Daniel let her down slowly once they were back into the living room.
"I love your place," she said, taking it all in, moving to a book shelf and reverently picking up an artifact from some unnamed planet. "It's so...you." she continued, putting it down and turning to look at him.
"Sam got you some things to wear, you can freshen up while I get dinner on the table." he offered, still grinning. Sarah just smiled and headed into the bedroom, moving to the various bags sitting neatly on the bed. My, Major Carter certainly had a wonderful taste in nightcloths, she thought as she looked over a wonderfully silky pink nightgown that would leave very little to Daniel's imagination. Digging through the rest of the bags she found a warm sweater and slipped it over her head along with some draw string pants and headed back out just in time to see Daniel put the food on the table.
"It smells wonderful...is that..?"
"Yes it is. I didn't know if you'd remember."
"How could I forget? We lived of this stuff." she said, picking up a sweet roll and nibbling on an edge as she sat.
"Do you know what today is...?" Daniel asked as he poured them both a glass of wine. Sarah racked her brain. An old anniversary maybe? "Valentine's day." he said with a flourish, sitting.
Sarah laughed, "Such a romantic Dr. Jackson."
Daniel quickly set the food on the table and sat as well and they started in with a voracious appetites. They didn't bother speaking, they didn't need to and the silence was comfortable.
When dinner was over the headed to the big comfy couch. Daniel sat at an angle to the corner and pulled Sarah down so she was nestled up between him and the couch back. He contemplatively twirled a curl around his finger as she pressed her ear over his heart, the steady, calm beating relaxing her into almost a trance like state.
And suddenly, she was no longer in Daniel's apartment, their apartment. She was in a dark room and she was very very afraid. She knew her lord was coming and she knew he was displeased. Anubis was well known for his fury. She remembered a meeting. With other system lords. And she remembered being sold out. His anger would be swift....
"Sarah! Sarah!" She dimly heard and felt a shaking. "Sarah!" the voice was clearer now and she was once again in Daniel's living room. Blinking she looked to the voice to see a very concerned pair of blue eyes looking at her. "What happened? You just tensed up..."
Sarah looked at him, then away, shaking her head. "I was remembering..."
The next morning dawned grey and unhappy. It had been a rough night for Colorado Springs and those on the 8th floor of one particular apartment building. Sarah woke up 3 different times, shaking and drenched with sweat. All Daniel could do was hold her, try to calm her. She refused to talk about her dreams, was almost in tears with insistence, and he didn't want to upset her any more than she already was.
He finally rolled out of bed around 8, letting her rest as he headed to the kitchen to see what he could make them for breakfast. He took a few minutes out to call in and ask the General if it'd be alright if he took the next few days off. He didn't need to give details, both Dr. Fraiser and Dr. Mackenzie briefed him on the transitional period Dr. Gardner would be going through. He wished Daniel good luck and gave them until the following Monday. One week to work out thousands of years worth of memories and then they could afford no more time. He didn't let himself think of what would happen if Sarah couldn't deal with it.
Making as little noise as possible, he dug out dishes and pans and started making breakfast. He never noticed two tiny, size 7 feet pad into the room and lean against the door way, watching. He'd turned the radio on softly as to not wake her and was mouthing along to Carol King's "One Fine Day", giving his butt a little shake in all the appropriate places. It finally ended and she had to clap, causing him to whip around, almost dropping the skillet and she didn't bother to hide a giggle.
"It's not nice when you sneak up on people," he said, almost pouting.
"So sorry..." she said with a wicked grin.
"Oh yeah?!" he said, dropping the skillet in the sink and moving over to her, hauling her over his shoulder and heading back to the bedroom. Neither remember breakfast.
The week went by more smoothly as they fell into a routine. If she had any more nightmares, she hid them well from him. They'd seen about getting her various bank accounts and such reactivated with a little political fanangaling, and she'd gotten a car. They also went to Denver for a day and she did some serious shopping and got a really good start on rebuilding her wardrobe. They'd taken in an opera while they were there, had wined and dined and spent the night in one of the fanciest hotels the city could offer. It had been so easy to fall back into their easy relationship, talking about work, new findings, research ideas, theories.
Finally, Monday rolled around. They were both up early, and reached the SGC before 8. Everyone they met had heard of her, and welcomed her warmly. Finally they got down to the sub level where Daniel's office was tucked away. He proudly unlocked the door and swung it open.
"Oh Daniel...it's a mess!" was the first thing Sarah said, shaking her head.
"It's not that bad!" He said with a small grin, knowing it was a little...unorganized. Sarah just shot him a look and rolled up her sleeves before digging in. He watched for a few minutes before a voice cleared behind him and he turned.
"Hey Daniel," said Sam with a smile, two cups of coffee in hand.
"Wow...you must have missed me..." He said with a grin, taking the cups and putting one on the table Sarah's working at, who never even looked up as she took it and sipped it.
"Of course I missed you, we always miss you!" Sam said with a grin. "And I needed to tell you we have a briefing in an hour with Hammond."
Daniel winced. He knew that he wouldn't be able to just sit on the side lines forever, but he didn't want to leave Sarah alone quite yet. She had yet to look up from her work, papers spread everywhere and being pulled from every folder, nook and cranny to try to get them into some form of organizational order.
"I'll be there," Daniel said, Sam giving him a little pat. "When are we going off world?"
"After dinner tonight. It's supposed to just be for a day. There's some strange structures and writings around the gate.." Sam said, the last part coaxingly.
Daniel had to smile, "See you in an hour then."
"See you there," Sam said in the way of a farewell, again heading out.
Daniel's attention once more turned back towards Sara who was rummaging through one of the many filing cabinets. "Are you going to be okay?"
She glanced up, awarding him with a smile, "I'm going to miss you, but I'll manage." she reassured him. "Time to be a big girl, stand on my own two feet." He looked skeptical. "Really, I'll be fine!" she reiterated.
"Alright, alright!" He smiled, raising his hands in defeat and moved over to her, pulling the folders from her hands and dropping them, pulling her into his arms.
"So THAT'S how it got so messy..." she said with a teasing grin before kissing him.
An hour later, Daniel raced into the briefing room a few minutes late, his hair happily mussed. Hammond didn't have the heart to chide him and Jack's grin promised no end of ribbing.
"PX2-434, uninhabited to our knowledge. Our survey picked up some structures, nothing to advanced or well structured, they look like pillars of some kind." Hammond said, showing the pictures that they recovered on the view screen.
"Greek...or maybe Phonecian." Daniel offered to anyone who was paying enough attention to care.
"I need to you to go and see if there are any signs of life. If not, maybe find out why. Simple recon, in and out in a day." Hammond finished, looking at each and every one of them like a father telling his children exactly what they'd be able to get before going into a candy store. "You leave at 1900. Dismissed." Everyone took a breath as he left.
"It's almost as if he doesn't trust us." Jack said dryly, standing and cracking his back.
"Well sir, we do seem to have a habit of making normal situations....messy." Carter said, standing as well.
"Messy? Messy?!" Jack exclaimed, feigning disbelief. "We get the job done, don't we?"
"After making a pretty big splash, yeah." she conceded, the two arguing playfully as they headed down the hall.
Teal'c cocked his head to the side. "DanielJackson, I do believe Colonel O'Neil and Major Carter are acting strangely."
"Huh?" Daniel said, looking after the two. "Oh...that. Yeah, they've changed..but for the better I think. I wouldn't worry about it."
"I am not worried. I am most glad that Colonel O'Neil and Major Carter have stopped masking their feelings for one another. I do not understand those of your regulations that have prohibited them from exploring their natural feelings towards one another."
Daniel blinked. Jack and Sam...."together"? He hadn't noticed. Then again, he had been pretty wrapped up in himself the last few months. A lot suddenly made sense. Jack defending Carter in some inane argument they had with some brass, looks across the briefing table, leaving together at night...a lot made sense.
"You know what? I agree." Daniel said with a smile. He was happy for his friends, but hoped they knew what risk they were taking. He had no doubt Hammond wouldn't raise an issue with it as long as their work didn't suffer, but one never knew. Some private Jack managed to tick off might send in a complaint, some visiting brass my catch a hint of what they deem to be improper. He realized that Teal'c was waiting for him to stop thinking so he could speak once more and he gave the large man his attention.
"I was meaning to ask you about Dr. Gardner. Although I do not wish to interfere, I do realize she has undergone many changes. I could perhapse show her some of the easier aspects of the Kel'Nor'Rem to help her focus her mind and control what memories she still has from carrying Osiris within her."
Daniel smiled. This was his friends way of saying that he welcomed Sarah into the proverbial fold, and that he'd stand by her and defend her in his place if it ever came to that. "Thanks Teal'c. I'm sure she'd like that." Teal'c nodded and headed out.
Daniel sat for a moment, smiling and thinking. Things were going so well.
Later that night at 1900, the gate was activated. He had a tearful goodbye with Sarah who had tried so hard to act nonchalant, but tears finally fell. She didn't ask him not to go, she just asked that he came home in one piece. He promised to do so with a gentle kiss and left her in his office, not wanting her to walk down to the gate room with him, a little choked up himself.
"How do you do it?" he asked Jack while walking down the hall to the gate room."
"Leave loved ones behind? You just...do it. You can't let yourself think of it and you try not to think about them while you're gone or it'll drive you nuts." Jack said softly, no joking in his tone. "You remind yourself why you do it, to keep them safe. And at night, you remind yourself you're a few hours closer to being able to be back." and with that, Jack gave him a pat on the shoulder and he grinned, "Besides, ya still got me."
Daniel laughed, "Gunna cuddle up tonight or is Sam the jealous type?" he teased right back.
"With you? I think she can assume I'm safe. So...just how many people know about all of us?"
"Pretty much everyone." Daniel said with a smirk and Jack winced.
"And here I thought we were being sneaky."
"Some things you just can't hide." Was all Daniel said as he walked into the gate room.
And some things shouldn't be hidden.