DISCLAIMER: Mine? I wish.

SUMMARY: Daniel has confessed to some feelings that he's been hiding for several years. Sam and Jack have joined him in a good healthy cry.

SPOILERS: Up through Affinity. Anything else may or may not be referenced here.

FEEDBACK: I love feedback. It's the best part of writing.

Shey knew that she was alone. She knew it before she even opened her eyes to the dark of the room. She also knew, just as surely, that Daniel was with Samantha and O'Neill. They were crying together. 'And so the healing begins.'

She smiled. This was something that Daniel needed as much as the other two did. Maybe it would clear the air amongst them. The emotions that they fought so hard needed to be brought out. It was time to begin the healing.

She sat up and stretched. Today would be a good day to walk around the base outside and get some fresh air. She decided to take a shower and see if she could arrange a picnic lunch for herself and the others with the mess hall.

Everything was arranged. There would a picnic lunch brought out around noon. Leaving word with several people, Shey headed outside.

She had just stepped out into the sunshine when Cassandra pulled up. Cassie parked her car and hopped out to intercept Shey.

"Where are you going, Shey?"

"I'm going to go set up for a picnic lunch for all of us. You're invited too, of course."

"Cool. Who's going to be there?"

"I, you, Daniel, Talorn, Samantha, O'Neill, Teal'c, maybe even Jacob and General Hammond. I'm not certain that the last two will be there but I'm almost certain of the others."

"That's a lot of people for a simple picnic. Would you like some help?"

Shey smiled at the young woman's enthusiasm. "That would be wonderful. We could get to know each other a little better. After all, …"

"You'll be part of the family soon. You're going to marry Daniel aren't you?"

"I am. He's such a wonderful man. So sweet and giving. He buried so much of himself to help his friends. He always wants everyone around him to be happy, even if it means he isn't. I have never met anyone like him before. I'm so happy just being around him." Shey was practically glowing as she spoke, her love for Daniel shining through her eyes.

"I hope I have a love like that someday," Cassie said wistfully. "I hope that someday I can find that one man that will be everything to me. The one who thinks I'm everything to him as well."

"You will, Cassandra. You will."

"I hope so. I hope that I can be that happy with one person."

"Your time will come. You will see."

The two young women continued their conversation as they began to set things up for the picnic with their friends.

Daniel sat next to Sam's bed, telling two of his friends about some of the things that went through his mind when he had first returned from being ascended.

"I was so confused when you guys showed up. There was something there. Something familiar made me feel that I knew you but I couldn't remember anything. It was just a vague feeling."

"I wish we could have skipped the whole memory loss thing. It was – unsettling, to say the least."

"How do you think I felt, Jack? It was my mind they had locked up. I had to find the keys to everything all over again. It wasn't any fun at all."

"For us either, Daniel. We were so worried about you and trying to get you to remember things so that we could figure out the tablet that you brought us." Sam smiled at her friend. It wasn't the first time that they had lost Daniel. She remembered the time that Nem had programmed them to believe that Daniel was dead so that he could probe the man's mind for information about the fate of his mate.

"Thinking about Nem? What he did to you guys was wrong. He just didn't know of any other way."

"I understand that. It was the feeling that I couldn't shake that you were dead but you were alive at the same time."

"Janet told me about you going under hypnosis in order to try to figure out what happened to me. I never told you how much that meant to me."

"It was frightening. But at least Jack was there to help me through it when I realized that we had left you behind." She smiled at Jack, remembering the way he had gently held her when she had turned to him in tears realizing that they had left Daniel behind.

"I felt the same thing when you were running from the super soldier at the Alpha site. That day, I swear I wanted to kill all the Tok'ra and Jaffa that weren't helping to find you. The only person who would have been safe is your father because he was at least trying to help. I probably would have started with some serious violence if the representatives from the Tok'ra and the Jaffa hadn't left when they did. None of them seemed to realize how much danger you were in, or even why you were so important to us."

"That day, I was never so glad to see anyone as I was when Jack showed up with Dad. I felt so much relief seeing Dad alive and Jack with him. My mind almost shut down right then. It did after. Once the super soldier was dead, my brain just totally stopped working. It actually felt good to know that someone was there who could take care of things for a little bit while I pulled myself back together."

There was a knock on the door. An SF stood in the doorway, obviously waiting. "Yes?" Jack said.

"The princess asked that I inform the three of you that she was arranging a picnic lunch for all of you on the surface. She said it was much too nice a day to be stuck inside."

"Thank you, airman. We should probably head out there to see what she has for us. Doctor Brightman, would that be okay?"

"Of course. Sunshine and fresh air will do the colonel a great deal of good." The doctor smiled at Daniel and Jack. "It wouldn't hurt the two of you either."

"That sounds suspiciously like doctor's orders." Jack laughed as the doctor nodded. The men left the room so that Sam could get dressed for lunch.

Sam seemed a little tired when the three teammates arrived at the surface. Talorn and Teal'c were both waiting at the entrance to the mountain to escort them to the picnic site.

Jack was a little worried. "Are you okay, Sam?"

"I'll be fine, Jack. You guys have kept me in bed for 24 hours and not allowed me to do much before that. It's understandable that I'm a little tired. I'll be fine. Really."

Teal'c and Daniel couldn't help but notice that she leaned on Jack just a bit as they headed over to the picnic area.

When they got there, they were greeted by the sight of fried chicken, potato salad, and various other side dishes on one table while another was set with drinks, silverware and plates. Not to mention the dishes with each person's favorite dessert.

Sam was thrilled. She saw a dish with a healthy portion of blue jello in it. She walked over to the extra table and grabbed a plate to fix herself something to eat. Shey walked up to her. "Would you like a little help, Samantha?"

Sam nodded. "Thank you, Shey. How are you today?"

"Better. Especially now that I know that you and Daniel have begun the long healing process. It will take a while but I know that you can make it through."

"Thank you. I take it you told him to tell us about the Hathor incident and what happened after with Janet?"

"Yes. He still misses her a great deal. He always will. But that does not bother me. It was the other feelings that he was hiding that bothered me. It hurt me that I could not help him with that. I'm just glad that he has his teammates to help him through things like this."

"And we always will," Jack said, popping his head into view over Sam's shoulder. "All he has to do is tell us what he needs."

Daniel's head came into view alongside Shey's. "No more hiding. I promise."