A Lonely Lady by Betty Bokor
Sam/Daniel. Daniel is feeling lonely and tries to find a solution.
Spoilers: All seasons, including 9.
Disclaimer: The Stargate original characters belong to MGM/Showtime, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corp. This was written strictly for the purpose of entertainment. No attempt at copyright infringement has been made.

Lonely Lady

Chapter 3

Sam was surprised that Jack had chosen a nice restaurant downtown and had skipped their usual place, O'Malley's. After ordering their dinners, there was an uncomfortable silence and she tried to break it.

"So, what brought you here, general?"

"For crying out loud, Sam, we're having a nice private dinner. Couldn't you just call me Jack?"

"Yes, sir," she smiled. "Yes, Jack."

"Better. Now you tell me, what are you and Danny-boy doing in the evenings?"

She thought it was interesting that he had changed the subject, but decided not to push. "Daniel started it. I think we was feeling lonely, or that he was not contributing enough, I don't know," –Jack made a gesture of understanding– "Yeah, I know, only Daniel… Anyway, he found this nursing home and he goes there every week to keep company to one of the ladies. He says he reminds him of his grandmother, Nick's wife."

"I don't know anything about her. Was she there in the picture when his parents died?" Jack asked.

"No; she had died before that."

"Let me guess; Daniel saw her die."

Sam seemed surprised. "Yeah." Jack nodded his head in confirmation. "She used to take care of Daniel while his parents where on the digs. She would stay in a city nearby and keep Daniel. She had an aneurysm when he was five. He called the emergency services. It looks like she had taught him how to do it in case there ever was an accident or so."

"I tell you, Sam, no breaks for that kid."

"He doesn't remember much else about her. After she passed away, he had to spend all the time in the digs with his parents, until, you know-"

"I know."

"In any case, visiting Dottie has helped him get some of the good memories back and he enjoys it a lot. I joined him three weeks ago and it's been fun. Daniel plans all these activities for them. Today he brought a young artist to help them do art with mosaics, you know? Those little-"

"I know what mosaics are, Sam."

"Yeah, those. I thought it was going to be hard, but he said 'Imagine you are building a piece of technology' and it was fun. You should have seen what he did. I would have bought it in an instant if I had seen it in an art store. He was concentrating so hard-"

"Like when he handles an artifact," Jack supplied.

"Exactly. He gave the piece to Dottie; she was flabbergasted. The teacher was very impressed."

"And she was drooling for him like the nurses at the base."

Sam laughed. "Yeah, I thought so. But his piece was really good," she added with conviction.

"Danny-boy is always good at everything he does, isn't he?"

Sam smiled and nodded softly.

The meal arrived just then and they changed subjects. After dinner was finished and while they were waiting for dessert, Jack said, "Well, Sam, I'll tell you what brought me here today." Sam waited expectantly. "You know that we have to share the discoveries we make through the Program with other nations, right?" he said in a low voice.

"Yes, I know, I remember when the treaty was signed."

"Well, we've been thinking we need someone in Washington deciding exactly what and when to share-"

"I thought we couldn't choose-"

"Not really."

"Oh, I see."

"Yep. Anyway, we've thought you would be perfect for that position. You know this technology better than anyone else, and you've been at Area 51… You would not be going out anymore, you know," he made a gesture to avoid mentioning the gate, "but everything would pass through your hands before we share it."

"I'm very honored, sir- Jack." She was surprised; she had not expected anything like it. "I enjoyed very much the years I spent working at the Pentagon. It would be great to go back to old friends and places."

"Well, you just have to say yes. You would be working with Colonel Davis."

"Do I get some time to think about it?"

"If you need to," he saw in her eyes that she was not decided. "I'll be back here in three weeks. You can tell me by then."

"That would be great, thank you."

They went on to lighter matters when the waiter came with the dessert and afterwards Jack took her home.

All the way home Sam was worried that Daniel could be waiting for her at her house. She knew it was an unfounded fear, because Daniel did not let himself into her house without a serious reason, but she still had butterflies in her stomach thinking about it. She was also worried about what Jack expected her to do. All those years of flirting could come to something tangible tonight, but suddenly, she was not ready.

She faked a yawn and then apologized. "I'm sorry. This week's mission was hard; it's just catching up with me."

Jack got the hint and said, "We're near now. I'll see you in and we'll talk in three weeks." She assented. A couple of minutes later he parked in front of her house; she got out and he said, "Hope you have a good night, Sam."

"Thank you, sir," she said, reverting to the official mode, "and thank you for the offer. I will think about it."

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Sam decided to take the weekend to think things over and avoided calling Daniel during that time. She was surprised that he did not try to call her either. The mystery was solved on Monday when she discovered that Daniel and Teal'c had been sent on Saturday morning to Area 51 to help with the translation of a series of inscriptions found inside an artifact that had been previously unopened.

Her teammates did not return until Wednesday night and on Thursday morning SG-1 left on a mission derived from what they had discovered at Area 51. Before leaving, Daniel made sure that Walter would cover his Friday visit if he were not back on time. He was right. He not only did not come back by Friday, but when the team finally made it back, on Monday afternoon, Cameron and Daniel had been seriously injured.

While she sat between her two teammates' beds at the infirmary, keeping vigil the same way as Teal'c on the other side of Daniel's bed, Sam thought that if Daniel didn't make it –the thought scared her more than anything she had ever endured– she would immediately leave for Washington and never come back. She realized then that probably it was Daniel the reason why she couldn't make up her mind about D.C.

Going back to the Pentagon not only meant a new job and old friends; it obviously opened the possibility to a relationship with Jack. She was not certain that it was Jack's intention to pursue one. In any case, the move would clearly make it easier. Perhaps he had even created the position to allow her to be near him, but what if Jack simply continued his flirting game until the day he retired? Or even further. She had concluded a while ago that Jack would never be ready to start another relationship; had she been wrong?

Daniel stirred a little and Sam concentrated on him. Teal'c got up and went in search of Dr. Lam. Among all the tubes and devices attached to Daniel, Sam saw a blue pair of eyes blinking in the pale face.

"Hey, Danny. Don't try to talk; you have a tube in your throat. Dr. Lam is coming." She softly caressed his forehead and he closed his eyes. "Don't go back to sleep, please, stay with us." He blinked again and Teal'c approached them.

"Dr. Lam is coming. She was in the mess." Daniel looked at him and Teal'c understood what he wanted to know in an instant. "Colonel Mitchell is well. He was awake this morning. He is recovering from his injuries in the next bed."

Sam could see the relief in Daniel's face. It would never cease to amaze her how even in a daze Daniel could worry for others. Carolyn got there at that moment and the teammates left her with the patient. A while later she went back to look for them and found them outside the Infirmary.

"He's doing better. He's breathing on his own, so he doesn't need to be intubated. If he keeps healing from his injuries and there are no complications, perhaps I'll let you take him home for the weekend. Of course, he wants to leave now, but I told him that's not possible. His heart stopped twice yesterday, once before and once during surgery. We need to keep him here longer, until we know he'll do fine on his own."

Teal'c and Sam immediately started planning what to do. They finally settled on moving both Daniel and Cameron to Daniel's house, because it was far bigger than Cam's apartment. They would both move to the house until their friends did better and take care of them as long as necessary. Having them both in one house would reduce the efforts and simplify the tasks. Their military minds planned it all in detail.

By midday on Friday, they were all installed in Daniel's house. After lunch, while Cam and Daniel rested in their rooms, Sam and Teal'c set off to find a place for all the groceries and other supplies they had brought to the house. Because SG-1 would be on stand down while their teammates recovered, they had decided to limit their trips out of the house. It had been snowing all week and the weather didn't seem to be getting better.

Sam wanted to check on the patients before she put her own stuff away. Teal'c would be sleeping in the guest room, in the bed opposite Cam's, and she would do it on the day bed in the room Daniel had chosen for his home office. Cam was still sleeping, but when she entered Daniel's master bedroom she found that he was not there. She remembered clearly Carolyn's warnings about getting up and walking around, so she approached the bathroom door and knocked.

"Daniel, are you in there?"

"Yes."

"Are you all right? Do you need help?"

"I-" She heard a loud sigh and the door opened from the inside. "I need to wash my hair, Sam. I really do. It's driving me crazy. The nurses gave me a bath this morning, but my hair feels terrible and I'm not allowed to take a shower yet," he said with a frustrated tone.

"You are not allowed to get up, either, Daniel," she said with worry. Then she saw the discomfort on Daniel's face and she gave in. "Wait a second." She picked up a chair from Daniel's bedside and put it with its back against the sink. "There, sit in here. I'll wash your hair."

Daniel sat on the chair and reclined his head against the sink. Sam took care of his hair as fast as she could, then wrapped his head in a towel, and took him back to bed. She made him sit near the headboard and knelt on the bed to dry his hair.

"You make me feel like a child, Sam," he told her with a smile. "My mother used to do it this way."

"My mom, too," she smiled back. "There; you're done. Lean back and I'll fix your covers." He obeyed quietly. "Now, promise me you're not getting out of there unless it's an emergency."

"Yes, mom," he smiled again. Then he added, "Who's going to see Dottie today?"

"I will; don't worry. Now, take a nap. I'll come see you when I come back. Teal'c is in the next room with Cam. Call him if you need anything."

Daniel assented and closed his eyes. Sam silently left the room.

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