Wait for it.... :)

Jennifer stepped back through the gate with SG-17. It was mid-December, a Friday and the gateroom actually had a few things which reminded everyone that Earth was going to celebrate a holiday – a wreath here, some garland there. It was a nice touch, not overdone.

"Okay, people, have the meds check you out and debrief in 30 minutes," Colonel Taylor called out authoritatively. "Nice job, SG-17," he added, an approving tone in his voice.

As she came down the ramp, Jennifer immediately recognized one of the med techs; it was her old roommate, now Captain, Hatterfield. She had opted to pursue a medical degree; a compromise with her parents who had never approved of her military service choice. She would now have a medical degree and use it in military service.

"Captain Satterfield," the new rank rolling smoothly and approvingly off her tongue. Jennifer gave her an impromptu hug. "How are you?"

"Hi Jen, I'm well, thanks," she said, returning the hug with a smile. "You look good; gate travel really works for you," she added.

Jennifer noticed something sparkly on her friend's ring finger. "Well, it certainly looks like medical studies have been pretty good to you!" she said enthusiastically, admiring her friend's engagement ring.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that – that was my condition for moving in with Bob when we left the barracks, and this was my moving in gift," she said with a smile. "The folks approve of him, and so do I," she added happily.

"Oh, that's terrific, he's a lucky guy," Jennifer said. "Hey, it's almost Christmas and I haven't seen you guys since last Christmas. Do you want to get together?" she asked.

"Oh, we should!! What are you doing tonight?" Hatterfield asked.

Jennifer thought for a second. SG-1 was off-world so there wasn't any lab work to be done. "Not a damn thing; shall we do it?"

"Absolutely," came the captain's merry reply.

"Not without me," came a booming voice from the observation room. They looked up to see the tall, dark haired, lanky Lieutenant Grogan grinning down at them. Under the fine tutelage of Sergeants Siler and Davis, he was learning the ropes of gate-room operation.

"Hey you! Come on down here," Jennifer yelled.

Sergeant Siler stood by, amused by the antics of this next generation of troops. "Well, Lieutenant, I don't know how things work among officers, but we generally have a standing rule about things like that in the observation room, sir," he intoned seriously.

Lieutenant Grogan looked at him quizzically.

Sergeant Siler sighed. "When two beautiful women tell you to get somewhere, you get there," he waved him off.

Lieutenant Grogan grinned and raced down to the gate-room, where Hailey and Satterfield were happily discussing the arrangements.

"Hey stranger," Jennifer said greeting him with a big hug.

"Hey there yourself," he returned the greeting and the hug enthusiastically. He looked from one to the other. "So, what's the plan?"

"O'Malley's, 20:30 hours," Satterfield said to him in an authoritative tone.

"Yes ma'am," he replied with a salute.

"Okay, you two, dismissed," Satterfield said with a grin.

Jennifer nudged Lieutenant Grogan. "Look at her, she's already forgotten where she started," she said with mock annoyance.

"Well, we'll just have to remind her of her roots at O'Malley's," Lieutenant Grogan said with a mischievous smile. Satterfield had always been the lightest drinker among them, while Grogan, who towered above her and outweighed her, could usually handle double of whatever she took.

Satterfield gave him a dark look, but grinned widely, as Jennifer headed off to her debrief.

SG-1 came down the ramp about an hour after SG-17. Their mission was also successful, and they were looking forward to celebrating in their typical manner – a beer at O'Malley's after medical checkout and debrief.

The debrief was mercifully short, and they agreed to meet at the bar at 21:00. Janet had offered her car to Jonas, as she would be working late that night; he would bring Teal'c back when he returned to pick her up and they would go home together. Then, Jack, Sam and Daniel could go directly to their own homes.

They walked into the bar. It was busy; a lot of college kids home for the holidays hanging out with their friends. But, what caught their eye was the young group of SGC soldiers in the corner. Satterfield, Grogan and Hailey were laughing with two other people and seemed to be having a good time.

"Should we say hello?" Sam asked, stealing a glance at Daniel to see his reaction at the sight of Lieutenant Hailey.

"Nah," Jack replied. He watched them. "They don't need a bunch of broken down old warhorses like us to crash their fun; if we catch their eye, let's just nod approvingly," he said dryly, with his usual sarcasm. Secretly, it pleased him to see them carrying on the tradition; it helped him to feel that he really could retire someday and this next generation would make him proud.

The group watched as the first round arrived. The younger people then raised their glass in a toast. Above the din, they heard the distinct words "To Eliot" as they clinked their glasses in unison.

Daniel smiled to himself as he heard the toast; he knew that SG-1 had done the same thing every time they had ended a mission successfully while he was ascended. It was a tradition. But, he also knew that it had a bit more meaning for Lieutenant Hailey.

He looked directly at Jennifer then; she didn't know he was there yet. He hadn't seen her since Thanksgiving. She was wearing her hair down, the way he liked it. She looked good, as always, he thought to himself.

The waitress pointed them to a corner table on the opposite side of the room from the younger group. This suited Jack just fine. The corner tables were special and hard to come by; O'Malley's appreciated the business that the base personnel gave them and made special arrangements for them without asking.

As they seated themselves at the table, Daniel realized that he was able to see Jennifer directly across the room from where they were. He noticed her friend, Colonel Taylor's daughter, was among the crowd; she was seated practically in the lap of Lieutenant Grogan. Jennifer was laughing at some exchange between Lieutenant Grogan and Hilary. She's beautiful when she laughs, he thought.

She looked right at him then, as if she'd known he was thinking about her, then suddenly realized who it was. He smiled at her. She smiled back, putting her head on her hand and giving him the slightest wave with her fingers, then looked back at something her friends were saying. He appreciated her discretion; it was hard to explain what was going on between yourself and another person when you weren't quite sure.

Jennifer's heart skipped a beat at the sight of the blue-eyed archaeologist; she hadn't seen him since Thanksgiving. She hadn't been expecting to see him; the SG teams were working around the clock as the close of the year approached. In order to justify the large budget that the Stargate program would require for the upcoming year, all of the currently budgeted funds had to be used up by the end of the year. The chevrons were locking in almost at the same time as General Hammond was giving the authorizations. These missions were shorter, less intense, but there were a lot more of them; firing up the gate itself was a good way to eat up the funds and convince the bureaucrats that the pursuit of better technologies and alternate energy sources was worth the effort. January would be a paperwork nightmare, but right now, there were places to go and worlds to explore.

In fact, if she were honest with herself, Jennifer had to admit it had been a little easier for her not to see him; the effect that the mere sight of him had on her just reminded her how strong her feelings were for him. It was exciting, but it felt almost overwhelming, like she was in over her head. She'd never felt that way with anyone else.

Jack watched Daniel; he and Sam exchanged wry glances, the subject of his almost relationship with the young lieutenant had been the subject of whispered gossip between them for a while.

"Daniel, if you really wanted to go sit with the kids, you should have said so," Jack remarked with a grin.

"What, I'm fine," he said, looking around at his friends. "What are we drinking to, here?" he said, raising his glass. He loved these people, and he cherished the times that they spent together like this, even if I am distracted, he pointed out to himself.

Jonas smiled inwardly. He'd seen them together at the skating rink and the Christmas tree lot on Thanksgiving; he could see that they were pretty smitten with each other. He understood their need for discretion in the matter; similar to the way Janet keeps me at arm's length, he thought. But I'm wearing her down, he thought to himself with another inward grin, reminded of one or two particular instances when the pretty doctor had let him kiss her and not in the patient-doctor fashion, either.

"Well, let's drink to health and happiness, that's always good for a start," Jonas said, raising his glass to meet Daniel's.

"Yeah, that's good for a start," Sam echoed as she raised her glass. Teal'c and Jack followed suit.

The conversation this time ran to who was doing what for the holidays, and discussion of their next mission. They had one more scheduled to leave on Sunday, so they could be back by Christmas Eve. It was a diplomatic mission, in the continuing effort to maintain smooth relations with the Tokra, and while SG-3 usually handled these, SG-1 had been granted the assignment so Sam could see Jacob before Christmas.

As nonchalant as he tried to be, Daniel couldn't help sneaking the occasional glance over at her. It was nice to see her so happy, so at ease with her friends. Not unlike a few times we've spent together, he thought.

Jonas and Teal'c pretended not to notice this behavior; Sam and Jack contented themselves with the exchange of wry grins over his head.

Across the room, Jennifer had a feeling that he was watching her. That's just wishful thinking, she advised herself. Her friends didn't notice, they were happily chatting amongst themselves. She was happy for them; Hilary and Grogan make a cute couple, she thought, and Major Bob Chao and Satterfield looked as happy as they ever had when she and Jennifer were still roommates. She had missed this type of camaraderie and was really glad that she had come out with them. She was as relaxed as she had been in a while. Like when I was with Daniel, she thought to herself. She shook off the thought as one of her friends asked her what she was doing for the holidays.

"I've got duty that day," she said nonchalantly. "It's good pay, though," she said, fending off any sympathy for her chosen plight of working on Christmas.

SG-1 had been in the bar for almost two hours when Jonas' pager went off. He looked down. "That's Janet; she's ready to go. That's my cue," he said, as he got up and put on his jacket. "Teal'c, you ready?" he asked.

"Indeed, I am ready to go, Jonasquinn," he answered, getting up and donning his own jacket.

"Yeah, well, it's past my bedtime, anyway," Jack said, getting up from his seat.

Sam stifled a yawn as she rose and put on her jacket. "God, I'm getting too old for these late nights," she said with a grin.

Only Daniel remained seated at the table, with a half full glass of beer in front of him.

"Hey, you old folks go on ahead, I'm going to finish my beer and then head out. I live closer than any of you anyway," he added, trying to keep them from digging for the truth, which he didn't really know himself.

Jack and Sam exchanged another wry glance. "Okey dokey, then, Danny boy. Well, we're out of here," Jack said as the four of them headed out.

Jennifer watched as the four of them left, then looked over and noticed that Daniel was still there. She wondered why he had stayed behind, realizing she was secretly hoping he had a desire to see her. That uncomfortable feeling that she was in over her head with these feelings started creeping up on her; she turned then to listen more intently to the discussion of her friends' wedding plans.

Daniel finished his beer, thinking to himself how ridiculous he must look, a geeky old archaeologist drinking a beer all by himself in the corner of a bar in the middle of December while everyone else around him was having a good time with a bunch of other people. Okay, he told himself, since you don't have any idea why you're still here or what you should do since you are still here, it's time to go home.

He got up from the table. Trying to kill a little more time, not really wanting to admit to himself why he was doing so, he visited the men's room. As he was leaving the men's room, he put on his jacket, and caught her eye. She smiled at him again.

He smiled back. Not knowing what else to do, he waved nonchalantly and kept on going out the door. You don't really like crowds, anyway. She's having fun with the younger people and you can see her some other time, he tried to placate himself.

As he left, Jennifer realized that she was disappointed that he had gone and she didn't get a chance to speak to him. You weren't exactly expecting him to come over here, were you, she chided herself. He's not comfortable around groups, she reminded herself, much less groups of people he doesn't know really well, who are younger than he is, her thoughts added.

Still, she found herself wishing that they had had a chance to at least say hello to each other. I guess I just miss him, she decided. On this note, the nagging, overwhelmed sense she had regarding her feelings about him returned. She shook it off again, laughing as Bob teased Satterfield about wanting pink in their wedding color scheme.

Out in the parking lot, Daniel got into the car and turned over the engine, waiting for it to warm up. He was looking at the front door, when he realized that he was just waiting for her to come out. And then what, Jackson, he thought. I guess we'll just have to see 'and then what', he retorted to himself.

He spied another car leaving a space that was directly in front of the building. He parked in the space, leaving him a perfect view of the door, and since it was the only entrance into the establishment, he knew she would see him too. Now he only had to hope that they weren't planning to close the place. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, only that he really would like to say hello to her. He wondered momentarily if this was how stalkers got started.

Inside, the gathering of the younger crew was breaking up. "Well, you and I have shifts tomorrow morning, m'dear, there's still a lot of missions coming in and out," Major Chao reminded his wife to be. Satterfield made a face.

"Yeah, you're right, we should go." They shrugged into their jackets, bade goodbye to their friends and headed out.

"And you've got a curfew and I really don't think we should upset your Dad," Lieutenant Grogan said to Hilary. It was Hilary's turn to make a face. They got up to go, donning their own jackets and other winter paraphernalia – scarves and gloves and the like.

As they stepped outside, Jennifer noticed the brown Volvo right in front, running quietly. The driver's door opened just then, and Daniel got out, smiling at her. She was taken aback for a moment; he waited for me, she realized, incredulous, her heart skipping another beat. The sense of being overwhelmed by her feelings for him was pushed aside by a warm hunch that they could be mutual.

The other two didn't take notice right away. Suddenly remembering that she was without a vehicle, Hilary asked "Oh, hey, Jen, you want John to give you a ride back to the barracks after he drops me at home?" She turned to Lieutenant Grogan. "Hon, you wouldn't mind, would you?" she asked in a hopeful voice.

"No, no, of course not. Whaddya say, Jen?" he asked jovially.

She smiled at the offer; it gave her a good feeling that her friends were so considerate. "Oh, thanks a lot, but, I think I've got a ride," she said, looking over at Daniel. He had walked around and was leaning on the passenger side of the car, arms folded, head down slightly in characteristic Daniel fashion.

Hilary followed her gaze, and smiled at the sight of the archaeologist. She waved at him, enthusiastically. He looked ill at ease, then, at the friendly display of the younger girl. He waved back, although not with as much enthusiasm as Hilary had managed. She giggled and gave her friend a quick goodbye hug. "Have fun, Jen," she said. "Come on, hon, she's set," she reassured Lieutenant Grogan. He looked bewildered, but dutifully proceeded to their car with Hilary's arm in his own.

Jennifer walked over to the Volvo, barely suppressing a smile that told Daniel waiting for her had been a very good idea. "Hi," she said, smiling warmly, almost out loud.

"Hi," he said with a shy smile, hands stuffed in his pockets against the cold and snow of the evening. "I thought you might like a ride back to the barracks," he said.

"Thanks, that's really nice of you," she said. Then she looked at him in a somewhat serious fashion. "I'm glad you waited," she said quietly. The look in her eyes told him that this had been the right thing to do. He opened the door for her; she slid into the warm car with a smile.

They proceeded back to the barracks, jazz style Christmas music playing on the radio. Now or never, Jackson, he told himself.

"I know you said you were working on Christmas day, but it turns out that this is the year that the Princess Theatre is playing 'It's a Wonderful Life' on the big screen. I thought if you weren't busy that night, maybe you'd like to see it," he said. "Um, with me, that is," he added, as an afterthought.

The fear of her feelings for him rushed back; she bit her tongue against the immediate decline of his invitation that it tried to dictate and said, "I'd like that." He looked over at her; there was that smile again.

"What time should I pick you up, then?" he asked, trying to hide the relief in his voice and sound casual all at the same time.

"7:00 again?" she suggested, trying to sound casual herself, though she didn't exactly feel casual at that moment.

"It's a date, then," he said evenly. "I'll pick you up at 7:00 on Christmas night," he said in a confirming tone. They were in front of the barracks and the snow had started coming down harder. He pulled his car around so that her side was on the sidewalk in front of her barracks.

As she reached for the door, Daniel said playfully "hey now, it's a gentleman's prerogative, to open the door for a lady." He grinned at her. "And it's particularly important where snow is concerned." He jumped out and went over to her side of the car, opening the door with a gallant sweeping arm gesture towards the sidewalk, his efforts hampered slightly by the force of the snow against the car door.

She took his offered hand as she got out of the car. The snow was beginning to pile up and she was grateful for him to lean on at that moment. "Y'know, I could really get used to this gentlemanly stuff," she said with a smile. "You're beginning to spoil me; I'm not sure I'll know how to open a car door at this rate," she said lightly.

He smiled, they were almost at her door. "Well, I should probably tell you that being a gentleman isn't all about good manners; there are definitely hidden agendas to it," he said with a slight warning hint to his voice.

"Oh, really?" she said in a laughing, disbelieving voice. "Like what?"

They stopped under the light on the front porch right at her door. He looked up and noticed that someone had hung mistletoe from the light. "Like it's a cheap way to get a goodnight kiss from a beautiful woman," he said dryly.

She followed his gaze, laughing at his joke, a warm tingle coming over her at his reference to her as a beautiful woman.

"Well, then, I guess I had better oblige," she said, a slightly sultry tone in her voice. She reached up; standing on tiptoe and putting her arms around his neck she kissed him quickly then stood back down, grinning.

He returned the grin, he had put his arms around her as she had come close to him. "Oh, now, you're not getting off that easily" he said with a devilish note to his voice. Leaning down, he kissed her, gently at first, then with passion, until they were both breathless, giggling.

"So, I'll see you on Christmas, then," he said, still a bit breathless from their embrace.

"Okay, see you then," she nodded, still giggling a bit. He turned and walked back down the sidewalk, his hands back in his pockets. She opened the door and turned in time to see him look back at her one last time with a smile.