Inescapable: Chapter 24

AN: Disclaimers et al in chapter 1. It's very short but I haven't had time to do any more so I thought I'd post it anyway.

"Hey," Daniel almost whispered when he stuck his head inside Sam's lab. Her eyes lifted from some gizmo to look at him briefly.

"Hey," she responded, equally as quiet, back busying herself with her newest toy. For all Daniel knew, it was a jazzed-up paper weight. He frowned at it idly.

"Can I come in?" She looked at him oddly, curiously. Since when did Daniel ever ask permission to barge in on someone? She took a long breath and sat back in her seat. Daniel took her movement as a yes and walked in.

"So," he gestured towards the object she had before her. "Paperweight or intricate alien device designed to disintegrate asses like Jack?" She smiled and when he grinned boyishly, a breath of silent laughter passed her lips.

"Neither," she paused, considering something. "Unfortunately." She met his eyes with mirth. He pushed at his glasses, satisfied he had defused the volatile Carter-bomb that Jack had just armed.

"You okay?" His eyes held a warm concern and she was briefly taken back to a time not too long ago when she had said it to him, a time before all this mess had begun, a time when things were much simpler.

Sam sighed to herself. A time when she wasn't truly happy, either.

"I think so," she offered.

"Wanna talk?"

"Not really." She shook her head and looked away.

"What you wanna talk about - this?" He pointed to the device on the desk before her. She glanced at it with disinterest.

"SG-13 found it on P3X-639; I guess I'm still trying to figure out exactly what it does." She smiled gently and poked at it with a finger. Daniel shifted on his feet, patience was not one of his strong points and he hadn't actually meant for her to take him up on that last comment. He grimaced and glanced about, biting his lip.

"So… Jack's really in love with you." He chewed on the inside of his mouth as he watched her lack of movement. Her shoulders suddenly sagged.

"Daniel," she sighed and lifted her head up to him. "I don't want to talk about this."

"I know," he replied and moved quickly to the opposite side of the desk to her. "So, you both love each other and he wants to retire. It's all good!"

"I thought I said I didn't want to discuss it, Daniel," she gritted her teeth against the words.

"I'm aware." He ignored her again. "So why are you down here moping and why is Jack upstairs throwing very large objects at poor innocent people?"

Sam shot him an icy glare.

"Oooh," he cooed, a giggle escaping him. "That one actually gave me a chill!" He teased. "You have been spending time with Jack!"

"Daniel!" She shouted but he refused to take her seriously. "Stop it!"

"No, Sam," he grew serious now; his voice grave and he leaned over the desk as he spoke. "You stop it! He's willing to give it all up for you and gets it thrown in his face. Work it out." He straightened up and turned towards the door, shaking his head and wondering when Sam had gotten so like Jack, so like him in fact that Daniel felt like he was talking to one person the whole time and not two. He took a breath and said, "It's not going to go away, you can't ignore it."

Sam stared after him, a little shaken from his sudden anger. Daniel may be right, but she was going to do her damndest to try first.

Again, sorry about the shortness, I'm tryin my best to find time to write, but the world is against me! Please tell me what you think anyway.