Daniel's Apartment
March 31st, 2005
7:00pm
Alexia knocked loudly on the door. Hugging her jacket tightly around her, she tried to put on a happy face. The door was opened a few moments later by Daniel, "Hey," he said, motioning her in, "what's up?"
Alexia walked into his living room and stood in the middle of the floor, "I talked to General Hammond today," she said, wondering how to tell him this. He was not going to be happy.
Daniel nodded, "What did he say?" he asked.
"I'm officially off SG-1," she said, "He says I have enough training that I can start my official job."
Daniel turned to her joyfully, but stopped at the look on her face. Taking a step closer to her, he took her hands in his, "why the long face? I thought that we'd been waiting for this," he said, hoping that she hadn't changed her mind.
Alexia sighed and looked at her feet. Pulling her hands from his, she blinked back tears. The oven timer went off and Daniel took one last look at her before going to take the food out of the oven. Alexia followed him and stood behind him, "He wants me to leave for D.C. on Monday. I'm to be based there," she whispered, still looking at the ground.
Daniel nearly dropped the dish he was holding. They had never considered this. They had always assumed that she would be based at Cheyenne Mountain. He sat the dish on top of the stove and turned to her, "What?" he whispered, shocked.
Alexia nodded, and the tears began to fall, "I asked him if there was any way that I could be based at the Mountain," she said, hugging herself.
Daniel wrapped her into his arms, hugging her tightly, "What did he say?" he asked, terrified at what her answer would be.
Alexia wrapped her arms around him, "he said that he would try his best, but that considering he wasn't going to be who I reported to, he didn't know how much difference what he said would make."
"Well, we'll just have to hope for the best, won't we," Daniel said, "General Hammond can be pretty persuasive when he wants to be. What else did he say?"
Alexia pulled back and looked him in the eye, "He said that he knew why I wanted to stay."
Daniel rested his forehead against hers, he had been afraid of this, "And.."
Alexia sighed, "He said that he would try his best to get me based at the mountain, but the minute our relationship began to interfere with either your work or mine, he would make sure that I was placed on the other side of the world, whether I wanted to be or not."
"What did you say?" Daniel asked.
"I told him that wouldn't be a problem," Alexia said, "he said to come back tomorrow and he would have an answer for me."
Daniel managed a weak grin, "Well, we might as well have fun tonight," he said, taking her hand, "Come eat dinner."
They made small talk over dinner, mostly about the latest object they had found about the defense object. They very carefully avoided talk of her leaving, but it was still in each of their minds. After dinner, Daniel led Alexia to the living room. Turning on the stereo, he held his hand out to her, "Dance with me," he said, pulling her into his arms.
As Alexia let him lead her in circles around the room, she couldn't help but think about the fact that she might be leaving in just a few days. The tears began to fall before she could stop them. Daniel noticed she was crying, and wiped away her tears with his thumbs, "Don't cry, Alex, please don't cry," he said.
"I don't want to leave," she said, stopping her tears.
"I know," he answered, looking down at her, "I don't want you to leave either."
"What happens if I don't get to stay," she said, looking in his eyes.
"We'll deal with that if it happens," he said.
"But, Daniel..," she started.
Daniel placed his finger to her lips, silencing her, "Don't think about it," he whispered, looking into her eyes.
"How am I supposed to do that," Alexia whispered, her eyes locked on his.
"Like this," Daniel whispered back as he lowered his lips to hers.
Alexia let herself get lost in his kiss. She forgot about leaving and everything else just melted away. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he unconsciously pulled her closer.
Daniel pulled back first, but didn't let her go, "Wow," he whispered, "I've been wanting to do that for months."
Alexia smiled, "So have I," she admitted, as she captured his lips with hers. This time they were interrupted by a knock at the door.
Daniel and Alexia jumped apart, startled, and Daniel walked to the door. Opening it, he found Jack, Sam, and Teal'c standing outside. "We come bearing movies," Jack said, noticing that both Daniel and Alexia looked flushed, "Is this a bad time."
"No, no," Daniel answered, ushering them in, "what movies did you bring."
"Well, Teal'c decided that it was high time I saw Star Wars, and while Carter agrees with him, she brought The Matchmaker, some comedy. It's up to you guys which one to watch," Jack said, hanging up their jackets.
Alexia looked at Jack, "You've never seen Star Wars?" she asked in disbelief.
Jack grinned, "Well, ya know," he said.
"Jack, I was only seven years old when Star Wars came out, but I saw it," Daniel said, also in disbelief.
"I wasn't even born yet when it came out, and I've seen them all, numerous times," Alexia said.
"Well, then, it's unanimous, is it," Jack said, "Star Wars."
Everyone nodded, and they all found seats in Daniel's living room. Sam curled up in a chair, Teal'c sat in another. Jack sat at the foot of Sam's chair, leaning against it, and Daniel and Alexia sat on the couch.
They watched the movie in silence, each enjoying Jack's reactions to certain parts of it. When the movie was over, he turned to the rest of them, "See, do you see what you've done. Now I have to go and spend hard earned money to see the rest of them." He paused, "How many more are there again?"
"Well, at the moment, four more, but a new one comes out in two months," Sam answered, amused by Jack's reaction to the movie.
"Five!" Jack said, "that's a lot of money. See what you've done." He stood up, looking at his watch.
"Sorry, Sir," Sam said, hiding a grin, as she, too, stood up.
"But, O'Neill, it was a good movie, was it not?" Teal'c asked.
"Well, I suppose," Jack answered, "C'mon Teal'c, better get you back to the base. You ready, Carter?"
"Yes, Sir," Sam answered. Daniel and Alexia followed them to the door.
"Next time, we watch The Matchmaker," Alexia said, "it really is a great movie."
"See, Sir," Sam said, turning to Jack, "I'm not the only one who likes it."
"Yeah, yeah," Jack said, "See you later, Alex, Danny."
"Bye guys," Daniel said. Sam and Teal'c waved and then they were gone.
Alexia had forgotten about leaving during the movie, but, now, watching her best friends leave for the night brought everything back. Looking at her watch, she started to put on her jacket, "I should go, too, Daniel," she said, dreading what tomorrow would bring.
Daniel walked over to her and pulled her into his arms. Holding her tightly, he whispered in her ear, "Stay."
Just one word. How could one simple word become so complex so quickly? Alexia pulled back slightly to look at him, "I can't," she said, stiffening in his arms.
He didn't let her go. "Why not?" he asked, looking into her eyes, surprised to see a trace of fear in them. He was puzzled, "Why are you afraid of me?"
Alexia sighed, and looked at the floor, "It's not you that I'm afraid of. It's just...ever since that night...I can't...I'm scared...since Adam, and that night...," she stopped trying to explain and looked back up at him, "I don't want to disappoint you," she whispered.
Daniel hugged her tightly, understanding at once what she was talking about and also understanding her fear, "Hey," he said, "It's ok, I promise that I have no intentions of pressuring you." He pulled back and cupped her face with his hands, "Tonight, I just want to hold you. Nothing else, ok. I'll wait."
Alexia didn't know what to say, he was being so understanding. She knew she didn't deserve his concern or understanding, but she was still very grateful for it. "Are you sure?" She looked into his eyes.
In response, Daniel leaned down and kissed her, "I am not going anywhere," he said, running his hand through her hair, "This is not going to be just a fling, Alex. I fell in love with you a long time ago. You're stuck with me." He kissed her again, long and deep.
After they broke apart, Alexia looked into his eyes, "Thank you, Daniel," she whispered, "Thank you so much."
Daniel smiled gently at her, "So, will you stay?"
"Yes," she answered, "I'll stay."
Daniel grinned, "Thank you," he said, leading her towards his bedroom.
At 8:00 the next morning, Alexia found herself waiting impatiently in General Hammond's office. Nervously tapping her fingers against her knee, she waited for the General's decision.
General Hammond looked over his desk at the young girl that sat across from him. 'I hope this works,' he thought, 'God knows that some of my people need happiness. This Jack and Sam thing is killing me.' Pulling himself from his thoughts, General Hammond turned his attention back to the young girl in his office, "Dr. Miller, I have spoken to your superiors in Washington. They have agreed to let you be based here," he said, noticing the smile that lit up her features.
Alexia tried to keep a straight face, but failed immensely, and smiled, "Thank you so much, sir," she said.
"You're welcome, Doctor. However, there are a few stipulations. I had to give some reason that I needed you to stay here. The first is that you are no longer allowed to go on missions with Dr. Jackson. This is my decision, and I have my reasons for it."
Alexia nodded, but was confused, "I understand that, Sir, but I was under the impression that I would no longer be going on missions at all."
General Hammond sighed, "That's the other thing. I told the Pentagon that the reason I wanted you based at the mountain was because you were very useful on missions. Therefore, you are our reserve archeologist. If we have a mission that needs an archeologist, and no one else is available, or someone gets sick or something, you will take their place on missions. I know that you aren't very comfortable with a lot of the people on the base, and I'm sure you have a good reason, but this is the only way that they will allow you to stay here," he explained
Alexia nodded, "I'll be fine, Sir," she said, "and thank you, again."
"Ok, Dr., tomorrow you do have to go to Washington to meet your superiors and the ambassadors to the countries that you will be our liaison with. You will be there for about a month, maybe two. You have to visit the countries, you know the whole diplomacy act. Then you will return to the mountain. You will still travel a lot, but you will be here a lot of the time. Your plane leaves at 0800 hours. Dismissed," he said, handing her a plane ticket.
Alexia accepted the plane ticket and walked out the door. She walked toward Daniel's office and wondered how he was going to take the stipulations. She knew that he worried about her when they went off world together, and was trying not to think of how worried he would be when he found out that she would be going off world without him. She just hoped that the fact that she wouldn't have to move to Washington would be enough. She entered the office to find him staring off into space. She paused in the doorway, "Hey, you," she said.
He turned at the sound of her voice, "Hey, what did General Hammond say," he asked, his nervousness apparent in his voice.
"Let's go to lunch somewhere and I'll tell you before I go home to pack," she said.
Daniel felt his heart begin to rip in two, she had to go home to pack, "So, he's sending you to Washington," he said, and placed his head in his hands, "Damn it."
Alexia walked in the office and shut the door. Then she got down on her knees in front of him. Placing her hands on his knees, she lifted his chin with one hand to look into his eyes, "Just for a little while. I have to get adjusted with my new superiors, meet the leaders of the countries, and so forth. General Hammond predicts that it will take a month, two at the most. Then I get to come back home. I'm just worried about how much trouble you can get into in two months and I won't be able to be here," she explained.
Daniel pulled her to him in a bone-crushing hug, "Thank God. I was so worried," he whispered in her ear.
Alexia hugged him back, "there are a few stipulations," she said, and pulled away, avoiding his eyes. He really wasn't going to like this.
"Such as..." Daniel trailed off, waiting for her response.
"I'm no longer allowed to go on missions with you, but I will have to go on some missions as a reserve archeologist. If someone gets sick or one of the teams without an archeologist needs one," she said in a rush.
Daniel slumped back in his chair. So, in exchange for getting to have her near, he had to deal with her risking her life to go on missions. Missions that he wouldn't be able to watch her back on. Missions that he probably wouldn't even be here for. He looked at her, and noticed that she seemed very interested in the floor. She could take care of herself, that he knew, and she loved going off-world. But eight years of experience had taught him that not every mission goes according to plan. In fact, most of them don't. She was going to get hurt. He didn't know if he could deal with that. He brought her eyes to his, "Do you want this?" he whispered, cupping her cheek.
"I want to be here. With you. I don't want to move to Washington. I want to stay here with my friends and the people that care about me. I love going off-world, and while I would prefer going with you, it's the only way they'll let me stay at the mountain, and I want that more than anything," she whispered back, bringing her hand up to cover his.
Daniel smiled, "Then everything will be okay. Now let's go to lunch."