Remember, it's just a reload to catch up so I can post the stuff no one's seen yet ...so, no, you're not having deja vu ;)

Janet looked up from her desk as Daniel entered the infirmary; she had been waiting for him. She looked over in the direction of Jennifer's bed, where there was still a small crowd gathered. There'd been a steady stream of people in to see the diminutive, tough as nails soldier, starting with Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c, then Sam, Cassie and Jonas later in the morning. Lieutenant Powers had dropped off one of his specialty balloon animals while she was sleeping, and of course the Gibsons and Colonel Taylor and his family had come by.

She smiled to herself as she watched him, so very Daniel; he was pacing, somewhat uncomfortable, not sure what to do with his hands, pushing his glasses up on his nose a few times. She knew he wanted to see her but he really didn't like crowds.

Besides, Janet realized, even though practically the entire base knew about the two of them – Colonel O'Neill really couldn't keep a secret, even though he'd had to reveal a pretty embarrassing one of his own in telling the New Year's story – Daniel was most definitely not comfortable revealing the true nature of their relationship to people.

Until he admits it to himself, she thought. The beautiful roses he'd given her the day before had not exactly contributed to their anonymity, either.

"Hello Daniel," she called to him with a smile.

"Uh, hi, Janet," he said, pushing his glasses back up on his nose for about the 10th time since he'd come in a few minutes before.

"May I speak with you for a moment?" she asked.

Daniel looked over at Jennifer's bed, not sure when the party was going to break up.

"Uh, sure," he replied, walking over to her office. "What's up?"

"I know you're going off-world the day after tomorrow, and I was wondering if I could ask you a favor."

"Sure, anything, what is it?" he answered.

She looked over at Jennifer, then back at Daniel. "Normally, I wouldn't impose on you in this manner, but whenever possible, I prefer to send patients to their own homes to recuperate. But, Jennifer's only home right now is the barracks, and since her mobility is going to be limited, I think she'll get stir crazy pretty quick there."

Janet looked right at him then. "I was wondering if she could stay at your place while you're off-world."

Daniel looked down at the floor, crossing his arms in front of him, rocking back on his heels slightly. "Uh, well…" he began.

Janet put a hand on his arm to ease his obvious discomfort; she knew he didn't mind, but it was the suggestion that there was something going on between them that was making him uneasy – it was the same way she felt about references to Jonas living with her.

"Daniel, I'd take her myself but with Cassie and Jonas, I don't really have the room, and besides, she's so independent, I know she'd prefer to be by herself, and since SG-1 is going off-world, I thought the timing would be good. I don't think she'd be at all comfortable in either Sam's or Jack's place, and Captain Gibson and his family will have enough on their hands with his recovery," she continued. "I'm only asking you this as someone who's been a friend to her," she said reassuringly.

Daniel pushed his glasses up his nose and smiled at the petite doctor now. "Sure, Janet, that would be fine, if she wants," he added.

Janet smiled. "Thanks, Daniel. I appreciate this."

They looked over at her now; the last of her guests had finally drifted away. Jennifer already looked bored sitting there and she'd been there only a little over a day. Daniel and Janet smiled at each other; this was a good plan.

"Why don't I ask her?" Daniel offered.

Janet smiled broadly at him. "That's a good idea," she said.

Daniel walked over to her bedside; Jennifer smiled as she saw him.

"Hi."

"Hi," he said, smiling back. He sat down on the edge of her bed. "So how are they treating you here?" he asked innocently.

"As well as they can, I guess," she said, sounding more than a little bored.

"Well, SG-1 has an off-world mission coming up the day after tomorrow, and Janet had this great idea about letting you recover at my place while we're gone," he said. He looked at her. "Would you like that?"

Jennifer was quiet. On so many levels she loved this concept; it gave her a certain tingle that he was willing to do this for her, and his place was cozy and right in town; the barracks would be lonely and she would feel cooped up there, she knew; but her independent nature was urging her to resist this sort of assistance.

She looked at him; the earnestness was there in his blue eyes again. She took a breath and smiled at him.

"Yes, actually, I really would like that," she said.

"Great!" he replied with enthusiasm. He wasn't sure why, but he felt a surge of happiness that she had accepted; he liked the few occasions when she took him up on his offers of help. It gave him a warm feeling when she allowed herself to rely on him; sort of like she actually needs me, he thought.

As he drove her back to his apartment the following day, he found himself increasingly anxious. In the short time since she had returned from PX9 107, he had felt as if he was somehow responsible for what happened, as if he should be taking better care of her. His own mission only hours away, he realized he was uncomfortable leaving her alone.

This thought pattern bothered him, confused him, because she was not the type to be taken care of; he knew that – in fact, it was one of the things he liked about her – and he couldn't possibly have prevented what had happened; that was simply the nature of an SG team's job. How many times had he and SG-1 been faced with similar situations?

He decided he was just angry at her for getting injured, really, she should take better care of herself; in that moment adamantly refusing to acknowledge the memories of countless times when Jack O'Neill – and Samantha Carter – and Teal'c – had done exactly the same thing for him as she had done for Captain Gibson.

When they got to the apartment, he opened the car door for her per his usual.

"I'll carry that," Daniel said somewhat insistently, as she reached for her bag.

She looked sharply at him. The tone of his voice was edgy, almost annoyed. She was already a bit nervous about this arrangement, even though he was leaving on a mission the next morning. It was difficult to accept his help; she didn't want to admit that she was depending on him.

As they entered the apartment; the warm, early summer sun streaming through the windows from the far side, Jennifer smiled to herself; it would certainly be more comfortable than either the barracks or the underground infirmary.

Daniel set her bag down in the bedroom. "Would you like something to drink?" he asked.

"Yes, some water would be wonderful," she said, relieved that the strange moment seemed to have passed. "These pain drugs that the doc's got me on really make me thirsty."

Passing back through the living room, he noticed that she had settled in the armchair facing the kitchen. She was changing one of her bandages.

Sitting there in baggy shorts and a t-shirt, with the bandages and the wounds underneath, she looked vulnerable in a way he had first noticed when he saw her in the infirmary. It had scared him then; now, it made him angry for some reason. He didn't like the thought of her being susceptible to injury.

"You know, you really shouldn't take risks like that when you're offworld; you could have gotten killed," he heard himself say to her in a tone that was both fatherly and annoyed; as it came out of his mouth he knew it sounded wrong. He decided he didn't care how it sounded; it was how he really felt.

She looked at him sharply again. As he expected, the tone had served to fuel her anger and she reacted.

"Well, I'm not at all sorry that I did it; both Gibson and I made it back and that's what counts," she said evenly, smoothly, with a hint of what would soon be rising anger in her voice if he continued.

He sighed loudly. "Don't you care about whether or not you make it back alive? Shouldn't that be your first priority?" he heard himself ask her in an arrogant, condescending tone. This too, sounded all wrong; he was immediately sorry as he heard the somewhat ludicrous words coming out of his mouth.

The confused, hurt look on her face was more than he could bear; he turned and went into the kitchen to get her the water.

Finishing with the bandage, she got up and followed him to the kitchen, not entering it, but standing in the doorway, preferring this distance between them; it was an invisible boundary as she prepared to defend herself against his abrupt attack.

"I DID make it back alive. I can't go out on missions wondering if I'll live or die, that's not the way it works," she said angrily.

Daniel didn't say anything; he watched the water run in the sink. He knew she was right; he didn't know how to tell her what was really bothering him.

That he did not respond to her statement upset her; he didn't have the right to open this criticism against her without acknowledging her feelings in the matter. This attack he had launched at her was ridiculous and so completely unlike him; she didn't understand what was wrong with him all of a sudden.

"So, to answer your question, if it means I have to leave someone behind, then no, I don't care if I make it back alive," she said defiantly, in an angry, hurt tone, practically biting out the words.

"Well, dammit, I care," he said loudly, almost harshly, not looking directly at her.

The curse word caught Jennifer off guard; she looked quizzically at him. A strange new thought crashed through her bruised emotions just then; almost immediately, she stopped feeling angry.

"Why?" she asked quietly.

Daniel sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He turned to face her. She was looking at him with those big dark eyes, searching; she knew the answer, was he going to admit it to himself – more importantly, to her?

She was leaning against the kitchen doorframe, her white arm sling and bandages glaringly obvious. The sight invoked a strange feeling in him – he had an overwhelming urge to try and protect her from all the bad things that could happen to her.

But at the same time, he knew he never could; this was her life choice, as it was his, and she was really quite accomplished at it. All he could ever hope for was to go along for the ride, wasn't that what Jack said?

But it's a ride I can't seem to get away from, he thought. No, I don't want to get away from it, he corrected himself.

He took a step towards her. She shifted her gaze up.

"Because," he said slowly, "I don't know if I could stand it if another person I love is lost to me in this lifetime, and I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you," he finished quietly.

She looked right back at him, eyes steady. She had realized only in the last few minutes that this was coming, but now that he had actually said it, she didn't know what to do. Did she love him?

She thought about this, looking into his eyes; the two things she was sure about were that she didn't ever want to hurt him in anyway, and, without him, her life had never felt so complete, no matter how scary it got.

"I think I love you, too," she said seriously, never moving her gaze from his blue eyes.

Gently, he reached over, cupping her face with both of his hands. He tilted her chin upwards, leaned down, and began kissing her, gently.

She put her free arm around his neck and melted into his kisses. He pulled her to him, momentarily forgetting the sling and the staff blast.

"Aagghh!" Jennifer yelped in pain, breaking off their kiss as his embrace put pressure on her injured shoulder blade and back.

"Oh, gosh, I'm sorry," Daniel said, stepping back, horrified that he might have hurt her.

She giggled, pulling him close again with her free arm. "That's okay, the injury was incurred in the commission of an honorable act," she said warmly.

He smiled, gingerly and tenderly putting his arms around her again, touched that she remembered his joke from the first time they had kissed. It was things like that that he loved about her, he realized, a warm feeling enveloping him as he stood there with her in his arms.