A MATTER OF POWER – V. The Power of the Heart 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 the Heart

Chapter 1

"Remind me again why we chose this place," Sam said as she walked shivering toward the hotel main entrance.

"You stated the conditions; I just selected a place that accommodated them," Daniel said with a smile as he followed her. "You said you wanted a beach, but you were tired of the hot summer at home. You wanted a place where we wouldn't get recognized too often, or at least people wouldn't bother us as much. You also said that I was completely forbidden to choose a place where I could start any new excavation or dig of any kind, so this is it. We're in the Southern Hemisphere's winter, by the beach of Mar del Plata."

Sam kept quiet. She had wanted a special place where she could spend some time with Daniel and figure out if there really was something to keep fighting for. Until then, she had only seen the streets of a big city, beautiful, but a city nonetheless, and her dream of a cozy romantic place was crashing. When they reached their room, she changed her mind. The view from their window was astounding. A peaceful beach extended along the edge of the city, with silent sands alternating with thin piers stretching like fingers into the sea and, further away, blackened rocks incessantly assaulted by the unrepentant sea. She could imagine herself walking along the beach holding Daniel's hand or sitting at the edge of the road above the sea cliffs listening to the water hitting the rocks. "Why is it so deserted?" she suddenly asked.

"This is a city that lives on tourism, but it's winter now and the winter vacation took place during July for most people in this country. Now, they only get people coming for the weekend. Today is Monday, so…"

"I'd love to walk along the beach under the moonlight," Sam said.

"Oh, that would be great. You can see all the lights of the city as you walk," Daniel agreed. "Then we can stop downtown and have a good dinner in a local restaurant. They're open until very late. We can even ask the concierge about a place with a show, like tango dancing."

Sam accepted the suggestion and started preparing herself by getting out some warmer clothes. This was good; the colder it got, the more propitious for snuggling, she thought.

The first days went by without incident. Sam and Daniel returned to their married routine. A few journalists recognized them, but, after a while, and after some nice interviews, they left them alone. The city offered many attractions and the couple took advantage of them. It felt good to be in a new place without any fear of being captured, shot, or brainwashed by the natives.

What surprised Sam most was the nightlife. Even in the middle of winter, the locals, and the tourists as well, were willing to stay up until late hours. It did not matter if it involved going to the cinema, the theater or spending the whole night dancing, they did it any day of the week. If it was still early after the movie or the play –one in the morning– everybody was ready to have a nice late dinner or at least sit in a small café and talk for hours among friends. Daniel soon found other people to share their outings with and, though it took her longer to get used to the new schedule, Sam enjoyed them as much as he did. It took her even a little longer to get used to four meals a day and she soon concluded she had eaten more beef in those few days than in a year at home.

Daniel seemed happy, content, but Sam could not go beyond that façade. She knew that he was definitely enjoying the trip –meeting people, going places, that was Daniel's way– but he had gone back to treating her just as before the party and that was becoming intolerable for her.

Knowing that they still had one more week of vacation together, she was weary of bringing up something that could ruin the mood for the rest of the trip, but by Friday night she could not stand it anymore. When they got back to the hotel, after a night of dancing that had her completely agitated, she decided to talk to him. She sat on the edge of the bed to take her shoes off while Daniel was in the bathroom brushing his teeth.

"I can't do this anymore, Daniel," she said with a deep sigh.

Daniel rinsed his mouth and came back to the room. "I'm sorry. I know we've doing too much; we almost don't get to sleep, but that's the way-"

"No, Daniel, it's not the vacation. I'm fine with that. It's this, coming back here, stopping the game."

"What do you mean?"

"During the day everything is great, we're a couple and we do everything together. We hold hands, we kiss, we're happy, Daniel," she said looking at him, "but, then, we come back here and it's like we're two strangers. I haven't forgotten how it feels to make love with you. I still remember very well the touch of your skin on mine, the-"

"Sam!" Daniel interrupted. "We can't go back there and you know it. I don't understand why you're doing this." He sat by her side and looked in her eyes. "What's going on, Sam?"

"Promise me that you'll answer some questions truthfully and I'll tell you," she replied.

"Okay, I'll answer, but I don't understand how that's going to help."

"Are you in love with Jack?" She asked without warning.

Daniel did his best impersonation of 'you lost me somewhere on the way here' and then finally closed his mouth and answered, "No, Sam, I'm not in love with Jack."

"Fine. So, do you think he's in love with you?"

Daniel seemed even more confused this time. "No, I don't think so."

"So, why are we divorcing when he retires?" Sam finally asked.

Daniel looked at her and she felt that he had decided she had lost her mind. "What do you mean why? We're doing it for both of you. You're in love with him and he's in love with you," he said as if it was so obvious that nobody could refute it.

"I don't think so." Daniel looked at her again as if she had gone suddenly mad, but he was not capable of replying to her. "Did he ever tell you that he was in love with me, Daniel?"

He tried to recall everything he had talked about with Jack and those words did not come up at all. "Not exactly."

"What did he say then?"

Daniel thought a little bit longer and then said, "That you could explore the possibilities after he retired."

"And I'm supposed to be sitting here waiting for him to see what happens?"

"Well, if you love him-"

"That's the point, Daniel," she said with a little exasperation in her voice. "It's true that he's very attractive and that over the years I'd fantasized about having something with him, but it didn't happen. Neither of us cared enough to leave this job and try it. We always found a new excuse to hide behind. That's not true love, Daniel."

Daniel looked at her and took a deep breath "Okay…"

"Now, tell me, what do you feel for me?"

"I don't think that matters."

"Yes, it does! Listen to me, Daniel. Jack and I will never get together. We talked about all this while you were injured. We both agreed. He's even gong to try and give Sara another chance. She's moving to Washington this week."

Daniel was very surprised. "You talked about your feelings with Jack?'

"Yes. I told him exactly what I feel. Now, you promised to tell me the truth. What do you feel for me?"

Daniel sighed. This was hard for him. "All right, Sam. I'll tell you. All these years, you've been my best friend, in a different way than Jack has been. Teal'c and Jack have been those people that I can count on, that I can lean on whenever I need to, but you've been more than that. I know that there are things in your field that go right over my head-"

"The same with yours," Sam smiled.

"But, in spite of it, you and I connect. We can see where the other one is going; we can even finish each other's thoughts. That, I had never found before, Sam."

"I feel exactly that way about you, too," Sam replied, squeezing his hand.

"But," he added cautiously, "I had never allowed myself to look at you as a woman until all this started. I thought it would mess up the team dynamics if I didn't keep myself in check. Your flirting with Jack was already bothering me; I didn't want to make it worse."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you noticed."

"Everybody noticed, Sam. People would ask questions that I didn't know how to answer. I just told them it wasn't their business, but, at same level, it bothered me."

"I'm really sorry."

"It doesn't matter anymore, Sam. Just let it go."

She shook her head slowly, reflecting on how far things had gone and how it all seemed out of hand. She decided to try again. "So, what changed after we got married? You said you hadn't seen me as a woman until all this started. What changed?"

"So many things…" Daniel paused as if trying to evaluate what was more important to say. "It's hard to spend every day with you, Sam, and not see what an extraordinary woman you are." Sam tried to thank him, but he stopped her. "Let me say this, okay? It's not that I didn't know before; it's that living together gives you insights that you don't get as a friend. I've enjoyed this time we've spent together more than any other time in my life. I know there are many external reasons that contributed. We have peace, I can still go through the Gate, my career is not in ruins anymore… Those are important factors, but sharing our lives daily has been a different experience. The truth is, I don't know how I'll manage to let you go."

"You're not listening, Daniel. I'm trying to tell you that you don't have to let me go. I don't want to go anywhere. I never have. I wanted this to be real from the very beginning. I meant every one of my vows."

"I did, too, Sam."

"But you put a deadline on them. I meant them forever."

Daniel was surprised again. The whole conversation was hard to take in. He was so certain of what he had believed for years to be true that it was taking a huge effort to open up his mind and his heart to what Sam was trying to tell him. "Why?" he finally asked.

"Why? Because I wanted –I want– to be your wife. I want this to work and some days I feel you do, too, but you're so afraid of something that you won't even admit it to yourself. What is it? What is it, Daniel, that's keeping you from taking this chance?"

He thought for a moment and realized that it always went back to the same point. "Jack. I just don't want to hurt Jack, Sam."

She sighed deeply. This was taking a lot of effort. "Well, now you know that you won't hurt him. What do you say we really give this a try?" He sighed and she could see that he still had doubts, so she changed her plan. "All right. Let's leave it at that for now. You can think about it and then tell me what you want to do." She stood up and Daniel did, too. She leaned toward him and whispered, "Just a hug, okay?"

Daniel hugged her strongly and she leaned her head on his shoulder. They stayed like that for a few moments until she slowly raised her hand to the opposite side of Daniel's face and softly caressed his temple. Daniel closed his eyes to enjoy her touch and felt his resolve fade away, so he swiftly turned his face away from her hand to avoid the temptation, only to find himself face to face with Sam who took the instant of confusion to initiate a kiss that he did not want to stop. When she finally let him go, she smiled at him and whispered, "Bait and switch, with a flank attack. You should know better than to try and avoid a General in the United States Air Force."

Daniel smiled and, as he embraced her again, he whispered back, "White flag. I surrender, unconditionally".

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