Daniel and Teal'c were the first to arrive at Jack's, bringing pizza, videos and board games.
"Heya boys, I've set up the rumpus room" Jack greeted them pointing the opposite direction of his lounge.
"We brought DVDs, food and board games" Daniel explained setting them down on the table in front of the TV.
"Good, good, Sam's bringing the drink and Sasha" Jack explained, "But I grabbed the juice earlier if you're thirsty Teal'c"
"Thank you O'Neill, I am" and Teal'c left the room.
"So Sasha will be here soon, how you feeling?" Jack asked Daniel.
"I'm fine Jack, I'm not even sure if I like the woman" Daniel replied sitting on the couch, "I'm not sure I'm ready to try anything again"
"Come on Space Monkey, Shar're wouldn't like you living alone and depressed"
"That's just it Jack, I'm alone but I'm not depressed anymore, I'm ok with living alone" Daniel stated, "Doing what we do, going where we go and meeting what we meet; that's enough for me, for now"
"For now Daniel, what happens when you get to a point where you want, need that other person? Are you going to just crash at my place or Sam's and wait till it fades? Then what if it doesn't fade? I'm looking out for you Danny Boy; I don't want you to become me and have to wait until your life is nearly over to find the woman that would've been there before. Don't make my mistake"
"I won't make your mistake Jack, if you could even call it that!" Daniel stood up and starting pacing. "You've still got Skar're out there"
"I meant my mistakes before the Stargate" Jack sighed.
"Charlie was not your fault Jack!" Daniel snapped, "You weren't to know he'd find your gun at the top of you wardrobe! Sara wasn't your fault either Jack, she chose to leave, you didn't walk away from her; she was gone when you got back"
"I can't blame Sara for how I reacted though"
"No but you can blame Sam for bringing you out of it, and you can blame me for getting angry on Abydos, but you have to stop blaming yourself for Charlie and Sara" Daniel was bordering on begging.
"O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, Samantha and Sasha are here" Teal'c announced.
"Thank Teal'c" Jack grinned walking out.
"Jack" Daniel called, "This isn't over"
"I know" Jack looked grim, "It'll never be over"
At that moment Sam and Sasha walked into the room, "Sam!" Daniel grinned giving her a hug; "Sasha" Daniel shook her hand.
"Glad you could make it Jennings" Jack invited her in.
A51A51A51A51
Sasha and Sam turned up at Jack's and was let in by Teal'c, half way down the corridor Sam stopped the three. "Shh.."
"…I'm looking out for you Danny Boy; I don't want you to become me and have to wait until your life is nearly over to find the woman that would've been there before. Don't make my mistake" Jack sounded tired.
"I won't make your mistake Jack, if you could even call it that!" Daniel sounded irritated. "You've still got Skar're out there"
"I meant my mistakes before the Stargate" Jack sighed.
"Charlie was not your fault Jack!" Daniel snapped, "You weren't to know he'd find your gun at the top of you wardrobe! Sara wasn't your fault either Jack, she chose to leave, you didn't walk away from her; she was gone when you got back" Daniel sounded angry.
"I can't blame Sara for how I reacted though" Jack seemed defeated.
"No but you can blame Sam for bringing you out of it, and you can blame me for getting angry on Abydos, but you have to stop blaming yourself for Charlie and Sara" It sounded like Daniel was begging.
"Now Teal'c" Sam whispered.
"O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, Samantha and Sasha are here" Teal'c announced walking in, but Sam and Sasha stayed where they were.
"Thank Teal'c" Jack said
"Jack" Daniel called, "This isn't over"
"I know" Jack sounded lost, "It'll never be over"
At that moment Sam and Sasha decided to walk into the room, "Sam!" Daniel grinned giving her a hug; "Sasha" Daniel shook her hand.
"Glad you could make it Jennings" Jack invited her in.
"Glad to be here General"
"Ah, it's Jack here" Jack winced at the formalities.
"Then Sasha please"
"Nice try" Sam grinned, "I tried that every week for eight years"
"Jennings, I have a thing about calling people by their first names" Jack began.
"With all due respect sir, you call Teal'c by his first name, and Doctor Jackson by his" Sasha went back to formalities, causing Jack to wince again.
"I tried that one too" Sam whispered.
"Let me get this straight with you Jennings, I've known Daniel through some of the hardest and darkest hours of my life, I'm not even sure Teal'c had a last name and Sam stop encouraging her! You know full well I called you Carter because of how I felt towards you"
"Jack" Sasha began, "I'm going to take a guess that you don't have those feeling for me, so please call me Sasha" she sighed
"Oh come on Jack" Daniel joined in.
"Yes O'Neill"
"Jack?" Sam looked at him.
"Oh alright! Sasha it is" he snapped, "Now can we get to the games?"
"Sure" Sasha grinned following them to the couch.
Jack had deliberately positioned Sasha and Daniel next to each other, with Teal'c at one end and himself and Sam on the other couch.
"I'm going to go old school, just so we can get to know our new team member" Jack grinned devilishly.
"What Jack?" Daniel asked.
"Truth or Dare" he grinned at him, "No lying or you take a shot" With that he placed the bottle of Jack Daniel's on the table that Sam had brought.
Daniel's face paled, "Sure" he squeaked, "I'm in"
"Are you alright Daniel?" Sasha asked.
"Yep" he was still squeaking, "Just fine"
"Ok then, I'm in"
"Me too Jack"
"I will answer truthfully" Teal'c added.
"Ok; then I begin: Sasha, truth or dare?"
"Truth"
"Who was your first love?"
Sasha went pale, "Never had a first love"
Daniel looked at her shocked, "You're kidding"
"Nope" she gulped down some beer. "My turn: Sam, truth or dare?"
"Truth"
"When did you fall for our dear General?" she grinned.
"Oh that's an easy one, when I first saw him, his mouth gaped open standing in the briefing room" Sam poked her tongue out at Sasha. "My turn: Sasha, truth or dare"
"Hey I was just done!"
"No rules in this game" Jack smiled.
"Fine, truth"
"Would you second me on a change of game?"
"Yes"
"Hey!" Jack exclaimed.
"Calm down Jack" Sam snapped, "I was thinking of 'I've never…'"
"I would like to sit this one out" Teal'c grinned, giving Jack the I'll-take-the-photos look.
"Sure Teal'c"
"Ok, I thought of it, I'll begin" Sam smiled, everyone had their drinks ready. "I've never seen Teal'c drink alcohol" Jack took a swig, everyone looked at him.
"What? We wanted to make sure that he was affected without the symbiont! I've never had impure thoughts of Daniel" Sam and Sasha took swigs, Jack stared at Sam.
"What?" she blushed. "Look at him; every woman's swooned at some point"
"I've never seen Daniel naked" Sasha stated. Jack, Sam and Daniel took swigs. Everyone stared at Daniel.
"When you've been filmed jumping naked into Jack's pond, you eventually see a copy of it" Daniel justified. "I've never seen Hot Shots" Jack, Sam and Sasha took swigs.
"Everyone watches it at Cadet School" Jack explained, "I've never thought of kissing Daniel" Once again Sam and Sasha took swigs. "Sam!"
"It was when I first met him ok!" Sam defended, "I've never thought of kissing Sasha" Daniel took a swig.
"You were not there this morning" Daniel stated, "I've never been to Australia" Sasha took a swig.
"My mum had family there" Sashed explained; "I've never slept with Daniel" Jack and Sam took swigs. Sasha burst out laughing.
"You've never been on an ice planet with the only heat is each other" Jack blushed, and by that I do not mean we had sex! I've never lied about liking someone" Sam, Daniel and Jack took a swig. "I know not supposed to have asked a question I've done, but now I want to know who"
"You" Sam sighed
"Not telling." Daniel grinned. "I've never lied about an I've never." No one took a swig, "Ok, so then, I've never…Sam take this one"
"Ok, I've never fallen for an off-worlder" Daniel and Jack took a swig.
"Sam, take a swig" Jack said softly, "Martouf through your Tok'ra, Orlin?" Sam took a swig.
"I can't say I've never died" Sam, Jack and Teal'c looked at Daniel, "Danny boy, you need to take two swigs, one for each death"
Two swigs from Daniel, "Jack take two swigs, one for each Ancient knowledge download" Daniel stated.
Two swigs from Jack, "Sam two swigs, Jolinar and the computer thingy"
Two swigs from Sam and she looked at Sasha, "Sasha two swigs" she didn't elaborate but Sasha knew, and did as told.
"You've died?" Daniel squeaked.
"Yep, but it seems everyone has died here" Sasha replied.
"Occupational hazard" Jack grinned, "We've all probably died more than the two times, but thinking about them just hurts too much"
A51A51A51A51
An hour later the game had finished, Sasha knew more about the people she worked with than they knew about her, but she didn't mind. She had that comfortable buzz, just sitting there and listening to them chat.
"So Sasha, what do you think of our archaeologist here?" Jack asked, obviously drunk.
"Daniel?" Sasha asked, "He is a nice guy" Sasha patted his arm.
"That's all!" Jack gawked, "He is more than a nice guy, this guy single handily saved the world when he was dead!"
"Well in that case" Sasha kissed his cheek, "Thank you"
A51A51A51A51
Daniel stiffened when she kissed him but no one else noticed. He had decided to stay partially sober tonight, so no one had also noticed that he had been nursing the same beer since they finished the game. His cheek burned now, he wasn't sober enough to think too far into what that meant, so he relaxed again.
"Ah, Danny Boy gets a kiss!" Jack exclaimed, "Where's mine? I saved the world too!"
Sasha crawled along the carpet to Jack and gave him a kiss on the cheek, then to Teal'c and stopped on front of Sam, "You want one too?"
Sam giggled, "Of course! I blew up a sun!" Sam continued giggling. Sasha aimed for Sam's cheek but Sam moved, and they kissed on the lips.
Something flared up within Daniel, was it jealousy? The two woman parted giggling like crazy before Daniel felt Sasha's hand on his, "Help me up please"
"Sure" he smiled at her, giving her his hand, he pulled her up. She curled into a ball beside him placing her head on his lap. Daniel let his hand rest on her waist, mainly because there was no where else to put it!
"That was fantastic" Jack exclaimed, "No chance for a rematch?"
"Sam hit Jack would you, I can't reach" Daniel asked.
Daniel watched as Sam's wrist was caught by Jack, who pulled her towards him. Daniel smiled when Jack kissed Sam. Sasha tapping his leg caused him to look down, "They make a cute couple"
"Yea they do" Daniel smiled, brushing some hair out of Sasha's eyes, "Hey Teal'c?"
No answer came from where Teal's was last, looking around Daniel saw him at the back of the room keel'no'reeming.
"Hey are you all crashing here tonight?" Jack asked, Sam curled up in his lap, "Because Sam's just fallen asleep"
"I can take Sasha home if you want" Daniel replied, "Teal'c is doing his keel'no'reem"
"Well no, I've got a spare bed, I don't think Sam would mind sharing mine tonight, we're just going to sleep anyway" Jack slurred slightly.
"I can't sleep here on my own" Sasha exclaimed suddenly, Daniel had thought she'd fallen asleep.
"Don't worry, I'll stay with you" Daniel replied, "Come on" He helped her stand, "I'll get her to bed now"
"Yea sure, I'll get Sam to bed and we can talk in the kitchen" Jack replied.
A51A51A51A51
"So is Sasha in bed ok?" Jack asked.
"What? Oh yea, she won't go to sleep until someone is there though, so she's staring at the ceiling" Daniel replied, "I made coffee"
"Good going Danny Boy" Jack grinned, "You like her don't you?"
"I don't know Jack" Daniel sighed.
"Give it a few days, you'll see what we all see" Jack grinned handing Daniel some coffee.
"I see it now Jack" Daniel sighed, "I just don't know if I want to go down that path, I've known her a few days but it seems like a life time"
Jack smiled inwardly, "Yea, gets like that when you really like someone" Jack finished off his gulp, "Get some sleep" and with that Jack walked out and back to Sam.
As soon as Jack crawled into the bed, Sam curled into him, "You ok?" he whispered.
"Am now" she smiled against his chest, "How's Daniel?"
"Confused" Jack replied, "He sees what I'm saying, but he is scared of getting burned again"
"Sasha really likes him" Sam yawned, "I mean really, she had a crush on him when we were at Area 51"
"Would've been great to know before, they're sharing a bed tonight, she has a thing about sleeping alone in new places so it seems"
"Always has, has a lot to do with her childhood" Sam whispered, "But that's all I'm telling you"
"You don't need to say anymore, I understand" Jack kissed her forehead, "Night Sam"
"Night Jack, I love you"
"Love you too"
A51A51A51A51
Daniel sat at the table for a few more minutes. Gulping down the rest of his coffee he made his way slowly back to the bed he was sharing with Sasha. Standing at the doorway she hadn't noticed him yet, he noticed though that she had stripped down to her underwear. Taking off his shirt and pants he slipped in next to her, in his boxers still he laid on one side of the bed and her on the other.
"Do you like being alone?" Sasha's question threw him.
"Depends on what you mean by being alone" Daniel replied, "I'm not alone if you think of the team, but yea, I don't like being alone all that much"
"You weren't always alone though were you? You had a wife"
"Yea, she was something different" Daniel replied, "What's with the questions?"
"Just want to get to know you" was her reply "Is that so bad?"
"No" Daniel smiled into the darkness, "No that's not"
"Have you been out with someone since her?" Sasha asked softly.
"No" he replied sharply, "Oh, I'm sorry. No I haven't"
"I've never loved anyone"
"Why?"
"I can't get hurt if I don't love them" she sniffled.
Daniel faced her, "You're crying aren't you?"
"No" she sniffled again.
Daniel closed the distance between them, wrapping her in his arms. "Don't cry, why are you upset?"
"Everyone has their first love by the end of their teenage years, I'm nearly 30 and I've never loved anyone"
"Shar're was my first love, I met her when I was in my twenties" Daniel offered, "Love will come Sasha, and it will hurt and it will be the best pleasure you'll ever receive"
Sasha turned to face Daniel, he could just make out her face; she looked sad and nervous. "Daniel…everyone I've ever come close to loving had left in some way or another"
Daniel had a feeling before, but now, at this moment things became a little clearer. "I'm not going anywhere" he whispered leaning down and gently kissing her lips. They tasted of beer and salt. He pulled away slowly, and brushed some hair out of her face. "I won't go anywhere"
"But you will" she snuggled into his chest, "Just before I fall for you, you will leave"
"No" Daniel chuckled softly; "I won't" with that he pulled her closer.
Sasha giggled into his chest, "What do you think Jack and Sam are doing?"
Daniel shuddered, "I don't want to know"
Sasha pulled away from Daniel, leaving his body cold, "Hey" he complained, pulling her back.
"I'm going to the bathroom" she grinned, going to leave again. Daniel grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him, kissing her again, "I'll be back soon"
Daniel watched Sasha walk out of the room, sighing he raked his hand through his hair. He looked around the room, one good thing about working at the SGC, laser surgery for his eyes. He could see everything so clear, except how he felt about Sasha. He had known her little over a week and yet he felt as if he knew her his entire lifetime. He watched her walk back in, yep, he was taken, gone, smitten; whatever they called it these days.
Sasha crawled back into the bed, Daniel instantly pulled her towards him, "Stay with me" he whispered into her ear; "I mean it, no changing into gou'ld, no leaving the country without me, stay with me…please" a tear made it's way slowly down his cheek, dropping softly onto Sasha's shoulder.
Sasha faced him as soon as the tear hit her shoulder, "Hey, it's alright, I'm still here" she raised herself up and looked at him, "What brought this on?"
"Jack was right, I like you, no question about it" Daniel looked up at her, "I haven't liked anyone since Shar're, and she changed into a gou'ld"
"I'm not a gou'ld" Sasha smiled down at him, "Neither will I become one"
Daniel pulled her down to him, he sought out her lips and kissed them, soft kisses, hard kisses, desperate kisses, loving kisses. Their kisses deepened into one passionate kiss, Daniel's hands keeping them close. They both pulled apart slowly, Sasha resting her head on Daniel's shoulder. "I'm here" she sighed falling asleep in his arms.
"So am I" he kissed her forehead before he too fell asleep, Sasha wrapped up in his arms.
A/N: I know I said I wanted to make it bloom slowly, and it is, they've just realised that they have feelings for each other…but what else is to come for this relationship?
fyre-anjel