One More Try by Betty Bokor
Sam/Daniel. Daniel has a heartbreaking secret and needs to share it with Sam.
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.

One More Try

Chapter 7

The wedding was held the following Wednesday. Mark was granted permission to attend, but not his family. The government had already been preparing to authorize him when Jacob was on his deathbed, per his request, but Jacob had died before the paperwork had been finished. At that time they had considered both his sister and his father's involvement in the program and how probably more instances could arise in which his presence would be requested at the mountain. They had also taken into account that he was a policeman and that his former partner and best friend, Pete Shanahan from Denver, had already been briefed. They did not know for certain if Shanahan had given him any information about what he had uncovered before he was finally briefed and sworn to secrecy. In any case, Mark received a very succinct explanation of Sam and Daniel's job. Most of the facts related to the Stargate Program were kept secret. Sam did not add anything about Daniel's health or the reason for the wedding.

Cassie got there right on time. Only a few more people were down in the Gateroom, where the ceremony took place General Hammond gave the bride away. There was not a best man or bridesmaids, just their friends in a circle. Jack, Teal'c, Cameron, Mark, Ferretti, General Hammond, General Landry, Paul Davis for the Pentagon, Dr. Brightman, Dr. Lam, and Cassie. Sergeants Harriman and Siler were there, too, representing the rest of the personnel from the base. Finally, as a peace offering to the newly reformed N.I.D., Sam had invited agent Malcolm Barrett. Many others were looking down from the Observation Deck.

After the religious ceremony, Sam and Daniel led their guests, plus any other member of the SGC present on base at the time, to a simple dinner in the mess hall.

Mark spent the evening observing his sister. He was genuinely grateful to her for helping him renew his relationship with their father before his death. He also was still stunned by the revelations that had permitted him to be part of the wedding. Shortly after arriving from San Diego, he had been told the most incredible story he had ever heard and, justifiably, he had not believed it until he had reached the Gateroom. Now, he was sitting at a table alone; everybody else at his table was dancing in the center of the room.

He looked at Sam again. She had not looked nervous at the ceremony. Actually, nobody had. He could only imagine the situations most of those people had been through and how that would make this event a non-event. Trying to decipher the emotions on Sam's face, he could see true happiness, hope, and respect and admiration for the man at her side. There was also something deep, very powerful, that seemed to be the source of her strength. It had to be love, he thought. However, he could see one more thing, the reason why she needed that strength. There was fear in her eyes, in the way she held Daniel's hands at every chance, in the way she hugged him –and he hugged her–, desperately, as if fighting against invisible foes. He imagined what atrocities they could have witnessed together, but always went back to the sensation that there was something else, something unutterable.

He was lost in his thoughts when Sam touched his arm. "May I have one dance with this handsome gentleman?" she asked him smiling.

"Of course. It would be an honor, milady," he smiled back.

"I'm very happy that you could come. I miss you." Sam said after they started dancing.

"I miss you, too. I wish we didn't live so far from each other. We could visit more often and you could spend more time with the kids."

"I know," she agreed.

"Daniel seems to love you very much." Mark said more quietly.

"You think?" Sam asked without thinking.

"What? You don't?" Mark asked back, with exaggerated incredulity in his face.

"That's not what I meant." Sam rushed to explain. "You don't know Daniel very well. I thought it was surprising you could read what he feels."

"It's pretty much written in bold colors in his face. Every time he looks at you. Every time he holds you. Even I can read that," he finished.

"Thank you," Sam simply told him. "It's good that you see it that way. There's always been something very deep between the two of us."

"Yeah. Dad told me."

"Dad told you?" Sam was shocked. "What did he say? When?"

"One of the last times he called me on the phone. He said he couldn't call often, but it was a lot better than before." Sam was looking desperate, so he continued. "Well, I was talking about Pete and you, of how happy I was about it, and he said something like 'I only want Sammy to be happy. I know your friend is a good guy, but I think she has feelings for one of her friends'. So I asked what he meant with feelings, and he said that he thought you were in love with him, but for some reason you didn't want to acknowledge it to yourself."

"He didn't name Daniel, did he? He must have been talking about Jack."

"What? You had a thing with that guy Jack, too? That one I don't see," Mark joked.

"We had nothing. People just thought," Sam rebutted feeling upset.

"Anyway, Dad wasn't talking about him. He said that he hoped you understood how much Daniel meant to you before it was too late and you had made a mistake that would make you and Pete unhappy for the rest of your lives."

Sam was speechless. She stopped dancing and looked at her brother's eyes to see if he was telling the truth. She did not believe he would lie; it was just too much. Some of her father's last words started to make sense now. "You can still have everything you want," he had said before dying.

Mark kept talking. "He also told me that after all he had seen these years –and now I know what he meant–, Daniel was the only man he would trust with you. That no one else he knew measured up to him, or was even close. I was pretty impressed and I didn't even know what I know about him now."

Sam could not hold the tears anymore. She hugged Mark and then walked with him to one of the tables to sit down and compose herself. After a while she took one of his hands in hers and told him, "You know, Mark, you being here and telling me those things Dad said are two of the three best things that happened to me today, right behind marrying Daniel. Thank you."

Daniel kept an eye on Sam all the time she was with Mark. He felt relieved when he saw the little displays of affection between them. It looked like they had mended their relationship pretty well. He did not know why, but he was feeling rather well himself that night. Monday and Tuesday had been miserable, with many soldiers injured and two deaths. Their wars never ended. He had been very upset about the events and especially about how sick the new medicines were making Sam. His headache had been flaring all the time.

Cassie approached him and sat by his side.

"Are you happy, Daniel? After all those things you told me before the wedding, when I got here, I've been so worried. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yes, I'm happy. I'm doing great, actually. Don't worry about me, please." His answer seemed genuine enough.

"Did you know that at the beginning, when I met all of you, I thought Sam and you were a couple?"

"When? Why?"

"When you two took me to the park where Jack gave me the dog. I had this secret hope that you would be my adoptive parents. I don't mean that Janet wasn't a good mother. By then I didn't know any of you very well. I just thought that; that you were made for each other."

Daniel smiled in a way that made her self-conscious. "Well, that was sappy, I know." She changed to an amused expression and added, "I also had a crush on you, when I was sixteen. I was terribly mad at Sam by the time of my birthday. "

"Why?" Daniel asked trying to hide the blush in his face.

"Because she had you and I didn't," Cassie replied. Daniel was about to deny it when she smiled broadly and said, "Don't worry. I'm over you. I have a boyfriend now." They both laughed and kept on talking for a while.

Malcolm Barrett approached Sam as she was saying goodbye to a couple of officers who had to go on duty. "So that's what 'Not exactly' means, eh?" he inquired smiling.

She looked confused for a second and then she remembered their conversation in the surveillance van. "I suppose so," she said smiling back at him. "I'm glad you could make it. You represent a huge change in the way the N.I.D. has treated us."

"I'm happy I can be of service," he replied. "I saw the telegrams and presents Sergeant Harriman was organizing over there. The President, eh? Pretty impressive." He smiled again and she knew he was teasing her.

"Come on, Agent Barrett. Let's find Daniel and cut that cake. I think you need some champagne." She held him by the arm and they went in search of Daniel. As they approached him and everybody got ready to cut the cake, Dr. Lam took advantage of the commotion and escaped to her office for a while. She wanted to make some notes in Daniel's chart before she went home.

At the end of the evening, Daniel and Sam went home with Cassie. Even though they had told her about the tumor and the plans for the baby, they had omitted the details of their arrangement and they were not willing to make it public. They put Cassie in the guest room and they went to the master bedroom together.

"I guess we'll have to start getting used to being here together," Sam said, "especially as the time for the baby approaches." She immediately felt blushing and she wished she had not said out loud what she was thinking.

"You're right," Daniel assented to her surprise. "We'll have to get used to many other things," he continued as he came close. "Would you mind trying a little bit?" he whispered as he stood in front of her and lifted her face to his. She simply nodded and he leaned and kissed her. They had been kissing on the lips all day, mostly because it was expected of them, but it had been only superficial. Nevertheless, Sam had felt very tingly on every occasion. This time, she thought she would liquefy. The kiss was deep and passionate. She answered with all she had. "Yeah, we're going to work it out," Daniel said breaking the kiss. Sam was about to object to his attitude when he added, "We just need some more practice. What do you think? Was that okay at least? Do you want to practice some more now? If we have time, I'm not feeling tired at all tonight."

"Yes," she interrupted him. "Let's try. Let's keep on practicing. We'll get it right eventually." She smiled inwardly and grabbed his face with both hands. "Let's keep on practicing."

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