Unexpected Effect by Betty Bokor
Sam/Daniel. The ripple effect brought a few more consequences than first thought.
Spoilers: All seasons, including 9.
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.

Unexpected Effect

Chapter 9

"That's very good, Sam. You should have done it a long time ago. Now you've got a better chance to be happy." He was being honest; he had his doubts about how his two friends could carry a relationship, but he wanted her to be happy above anything else. Though it hurt deeply, he would get over it, as he had done over so many other pains before.

"I know, you're right," she said emphatically. Then, lowering her voice she added, "Of course, we talked about you, too, you know."

"Okay," he managed to say.

"And what you mean for all of us." Daniel tried a smile. "He cares very much about you. I think, in a way, you're what he would have wanted Charlie to be."

"Me? No. I'm sure he would have wanted him in the Air Force or-"

"Not the profession, the person, the kind of man you are. He admires you."

Daniel lowered his head, sighed, and then smiled. "He once tried to tell me something like that; maybe," he smiled again.

"So," Sam said and let her legs hang on the side of the bed as she sat right in front of him, "you were right. We had to have that conversation and face all those issues we had never addressed. I feel better now and it's time to move on." She leaned a little towards him and held his hand. "Do you still want to try?"

Daniel had to close his eyes. He was utterly confused. "Excuse me?"

"Do you still want to try and see if we could be together or have you changed your mind?"

"Changed my mind? But I thought Jack and you- What do you mean?"

"Daniel, you didn't think the general and I… Did you?"

"Well, yeah," he said as if there was no other logical conclusion. "You two have been in love with each other for so long and-"

"Daniel, listen. I love the General, that's true, and I love Teal'c, too, but, I told you yesterday, it's different from what I feel for you. I don't know why I hadn't seen it before, but there's no going back now. I can't lie to myself and say that I could be happy with him because I find him attractive and he's a great soldier. I need more than that to be happy and, as long as I've had you near me, I've been happy, all these years. My dad wanted me to have someone to come home to, someone with whom to share my life, and he didn't see that I already have someone and that I've shared everything in my life with you for the past ten years, almost right from the very beginning. Even more, I've come home to you all this time. There's no point for me in doing any of what we do if you're not here. That whole year you were gone, I couldn't even find my place in the SGC. I felt lost. The last time, after Replicarter, or whatever you call her, took you, Jack thought that I wanted him to acknowledge that something had happened to you because I wanted closure. What I wanted was for him to tell me that I was wrong, that you were alive and that you were coming home. When we heard your voice from his office, I froze. I couldn't move. If I could have, I would have run to you and hugged you tightly until I had no doubt you were back with us."

"Maybe it's better that you couldn't," he smiled remembering the embarrassing moment. "Not my best entrance."

"I couldn't have cared less how you looked. The only thing that mattered was that you were back."

"Nobody moved. Everybody stayed sitting at the table. I thought it was the military training or something like that."

"You didn't think we didn't care, did you, Daniel?"

"It just felt strange. I should have been used to it after all these years."

"Oh, Daniel, I'm so sorry. I should have learned by now."

"It's okay."

"I told you once that you've taught me what really matters, but I still let my training prevail. This time, if the military will keep me from you, I'll ditch them," she smiled.

"Nice way to try to ingratiate yourself with a linguist," he joked.

Sam laughed a little and then got serious again. "I mean it, Daniel, let me try."

He took a few seconds to breath deeply and then said, "All right, but, remember, I don't want to rush you into anything."

Sam nodded and he caught her hand, stood up and started walking with her toward the door of the room. He wanted to go to more neutral territory, maybe find something to eat. He had dreamt so many times of making love to her in that room that having her there, so close, made it very hard to think of anything else.

When they were almost by the door, Sam pulled his hand from behind and stopped him. "I do," she said with a big smile.

"Wh-what?" he stammered.

"I do want to rush things. Ten years is way too slow. We need to catch up." She let his hand go and put her arms around his waist, pulling him closer to her.

"Oh, Sam," he just said and tried to concentrate on the conjugation of some foreign verb.

"Daniel, I'm not a teenager. You don't have to protect me."

He wasn't really listening. He had closed his eyes and was trying to forget that he still only had his robe on and that it was making it all the more difficult to keep his body from reacting to Sam's proximity. He had done it before, in hundreds of occasions, when Sam only had expected the hug of a friend, and he had complied without trouble. Now, she was asking for more and, though his body wanted to oblige, his mind kept saying 'No, not yet' insistently. Sam called him back to reality.

"Daniel! Daniel, look at me. Why are you so scared? What's going on?" She softly let go of him and he turned around and left for the den. Sam followed him slowly. He sat down in an armchair and put his head between his hands.

Sam kneeled beside him. "Daniel, you have to trust me here. I've never seen you insecure about anything like this. You always follow your instincts. What is it about me that doesn't allow you to let go and try?"