A MATTER OF POWER – III. The Power of Denial by Betty Bokor
Sam/Daniel. Sam deserves a promotion and Daniel is willing to help her. Sam has her own plans.
Spoilers: All seasons, including 9 and 10.
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.

The Power of Denial

Chapter 2

SG-1's mission went ahead mostly without incidents. They reached an advantageous agreement with the population of the planet they were visiting and then spent some days documenting their culture. The day before their return to Earth, Daniel had the chance to spend some time alone with Teal'c, while Cameron performed the official duties as CO of SG-1. Daniel told his friend what had happened with Sam and how devastated he felt because of his mistake. Teal'c advised him to talk to Sam as soon as he got back. It seemed to him that she was not upset about having spent the night with Daniel, but because Daniel had deemed it a mistake. Teal'c's opinion was that Sam and Jack had to deal with the situation on their own terms. Daniel had already apologized and he felt genuinely sorry about it. He had to let Sam sort out what her heart wanted.

Daniel decided Teal'c was right and prepared himself for a frank talk with Sam. He would not deny what he had been feeling, but he would let her be the one to express her feelings first. In any case, he was certain that he was not in love with her and that Sam was not in love with him either. They had both let the charade go to their heads and they had slipped up, but everything would be back to normal as soon as they talked and put everything in its place again.

On the morning before their return, a severe seism shook the planet. To Cam, it was as bad as some earthquakes he had experienced while stationed on the West Coast. As soon as the movement subsided, he went in search of his men. Teal'c was close to a collapsed building. He was holding his left arm with his right hand. He seemed to have broken it as he kept a piece of concrete from hitting a group of children playing on the front porch. He was not complaining about the pain, but Cam could clearly see that there was a broken bone in his arm. Daniel was sitting on the floor nearby, holding one of the children. He was talking to the child he had visibly been protecting from the falling debris with his own body. As he would not answer his call, Cameron approached him. He immediately worried as he saw the pallor of his face. Daniel seemed to be having increasing difficulty breathing, but he was still trying to comfort the scared child. Cam took the boy from his arms and gave him to the mother who had approached them seconds earlier. She kept thanking Teal'c and Daniel for preventing a horrible tragedy. Cam asked Daniel again if was feeling all right, but his friend only looked at him with confused eyes. Then Cam saw the small pool of blood growing on the floor behind Daniel. He kneeled by his side and noticed a small injury to his back and a sharp piece of metal sticking out in its center. Despite its size, the injury seemed to be producing steady blood loss.

He worked on stopping the hemorrhage and, with the help of some of the town's people who had come up to them to check up on the children, he transported him to the gate. Teal'c followed them, feeling that he was failing his friend because he was unable to help.

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