Sorry folks – going to be a bit slow updating for the next couple of weeks because of stuff at home, but I want you to know that I do intend to continue this and other stories... but feel free to shout at me all the same if you think I'm being too slow, etc. Thanks for keeping up so far and for the fantastic support and encouragement through reviews and PMs – you've been great. Thank you.
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Walking through the corridors of the Odyssey as the ship went into hyper space, leaving Earth's orbit, Daniel, now in black BDUs, glanced at a similarly dressed Sam next to him, saying with a shrug and the faintest of smiles, "You know, you're right."
Sam chuckled. "Oh come on, Daniel... I'm surprised you needed me to tell you. The guy was just dying to do a Captain Kirk impression. That's why Teal'c's been staying away from him... he didn't want to be called 'Spock' again."
"Ah, so that explains the threat of violence. I thought he was just being colourful."
She scowled at him. "You really can be scarily oblivious sometimes."
He grinned and shrugged. "I try."
She rolled her eyes and then said with a wistful sigh, inclining her head to one side, "I can't see us being able to share quarters just yet."
He raised his eyebrows briefly. "Now that is where you're wrong."
She looked at him, surprised."I'm wrong?"
He feigned innocence. "There, there, you'll get used to it." He winced when she whacked his arm, and he rolled his eyes. "I may have pulled a few strings."
She raised an eyebrow. "How many?"
"You know, this is like a conversation with Jack. You do realise that I was speaking figurativ..." He winced again when she whacked him once more, and he said, holding up his hands placatingly, grinning all the while, "Ok, ok... I don't want you to get to the stage of breaking bones." He dropped his hands and shrugged. "Mitchell was supposed to tell us but he got distracted at the thought of being in 'The Chair.'"
She rolled her eyes and then asked, looking at him accusingly, "Why didn't you tell me?"
He shrugged, looking at her over his glasses for a moment with a small smile. "Surprise?"
"You're just lucky I like you."
"I think I am." He exhaled. "Taking into account that we would have been married by now had I not started another spate of missions, General Landry has unofficially approved for us to share quarters. He can't do it officially because Merek would have made even more of a mountain out of everything. Actually, forget the mountain... he would have made an entire solar system out of it."
She raised her eyebrows slowly as she processed what he had just said. "Holy Hannah."
"Exactly." He raised his eyebrows suggestively, and she rolled her eyes at him.
"Surely there are some sort of provisos and whatnot attached? I know he has trouble saying 'no' to us but he's still professional and authoritarian."
He grimaced a little. "No hanky panky."
She frowned at him and asked sceptically, "Hanky panky?"
He cleared his throat and said by way of explanation, looking a little embarrassed, "No inappropriate behaviour whilst on duty."
She nodded in understanding, and then asked, now amused, "Hanky panky?" She remarked with a chuckle, patting his shoulder as a means to compensate in part for not being able to hold his hand due to the occasional crew member walking past them, "That's what I get for being engaged to a Philologist."
He smiled at her playfully and then said, gesturing to their right when they had reached a corner, "This way."
She looked at him, amused as well as philosophical, and they were about to stop at a door when a very unwelcome voice remarked from behind them, "As I recall, Colonel, Doctor, you are both currently on duty."
They turned around to see none other than Merek, dressed in olive-green SGC coveralls, glaring at them disapprovingly from a few metres away. The IOA representative continued, slowly approaching them, "While Generals Landry and O'Neill went over the heads of the IOA to keep you two and Miss Mal Doran and Colonel Mitchell on this mission due to your collective skills, I would like you to know that any perceived attempt at flouting standard protocol by any member of SG-1 or this ship's crew will be noted and reported when we return to Earth." His eyes narrowed as he raised a hand, making a pinching gesture. "You are that close to losing your jobs."
An annoyed looking Daniel opened his mouth to speak but was stopped by Sam, who touched his forearm. He looked at her as the affronted Colonel squared up to Merek. "Mr Merek. As I recall, Colonel Mitchell specifically ordered that you remain in your quarters for the duration of this mission."
Merek looked at her scornfully. "He has no right to. On behalf of the IOA, I am overseeing this mission. I cannot do that if I am locked away while we have a known war criminal on board. You all risk disciplinary action when you return to Earth for allowing the mass-murderer Mr Tomin on board one of Earth's primary assets in planetary defence. If he should sabotage this mission, it will be on your head, not mine."
The representative turned on his heel decisively and stalked away as Daniel physically restrained an incensed Sam. After Merek had disappeared from view, the Archaeologist said as he slowly let his fiancée go, "He's an ass. There's no point wasting time on asses."
She shook her head, staring at where Merek had been before looking back at Daniel. "He shouldn't be allowed to behave like that."
He gently rubbed her upper arm consolingly. "Hey. Mitchell's not going to let him off this ship. We'll retain some part of our sanity."
She rolled her eyes at him. "Daniel, surely you must have noticed by now that I..." She sighed and shook her head. "Never mind." She gestured to the door in front of them. "Is this it?"
He smiled slightly as he opened the door to reveal on-ship quarters and he led her inside. He switched the lights on and she smiled as she looked around the room before looking at him. "Standard design... but it just looks different now, knowing that neither of us are going to be alone tonight."
He nodded and then relaxed as he held her in his arms, away from the prying eyes of the rest of the ship. She closed her eyes, relaxing against him as she murmured, "I bet we had fun during those fifty years."
He rested his cheek against her hair as he rubbed her back slowly, his eyes closed too as he concentrated on how she felt against him, making some more memories for whatever lie ahead of them. "Teal'c still doesn't look happy whenever we ask him about it." He grimaced a little. "I don't think I want to know what happened." He smiled as he opened his eyes, holding her face in his hands as she smiled too, looking up at him. "I'd rather find out what the next fifty years hold for us."
"Me too." Her smile faded and she rested her head against his shoulder. "I'm not sure whether we'll even live through this mission... but I like thinking about the future... our future."
He gently kissed her lips. "It helps during those tough times during missions." He sighed as he looked at her pensively. "Just in case there's any doubt, I do want to marry you, Sam. I know Mitchell's been..."
She smiled and pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him. "You talk too much." He smiled in anticipation on seeing a mischievous glint in her eyes, and he murmured, mesmerised by her eyes and the way her hair fell across them, as well as her close proximity to him,
"We're on duty."
She affectionately ruffled his hair, remarking with a smirk, "You're so cute when you think we're going to break the rules completely."
He looked disappointed and pouted. "We're not?"
She rolled her eyes and looked at him in bemusement. "Mr Anal Retentive is going to keep trying to catch us out and make SG-1 look bad. We're going to have to be careful." She kissed him and smirked. "No hanky panky while on duty, Doc. We get away with it at the SGC because we're not usually in the middle of a mission there but we're still careful."
She then grinned at him, reaching for his hand as he smiled at her. "Come on... I've got to dial the Supergate soon... and if I go onto the bridge without you again, Cam's going to make another joke about you not being fit for your undercover mission with Tomin and Vala." Her smile vanished as she asked in concern, "You remembered to bring your contacts, didn't you?"
He groaned, raising his eyes to the ceiling before saying firmly, looking at her with a frown which soon faded into a soft smile, "For the millionth time, Sam, I have them."
She smiled as she touched his cheek. "Good. Just making sure. You're going to stand out even more with glasses on." She looked at him thoughtfully as he held her gaze. "Daniel." She looked down at the hand that she held and then up at him again. "If I don't get an opportunity later on, I just want you to know that..." Her gaze dropped as she fought with herself to get the words out without crying.
Moved, he touched her chin, her gaze meeting his once again, and he murmured with a tiny smile, his eyes showing his true emotional state, "I know... and..."
Her eyes moist, she quickly kissed him. "I know." She smiled slightly. "Good luck."
He chuckled briefly. "Thanks. I think I'll need it." He looked at her seriously. "Changed your mind about the state of my mental health yet?"
Her smile widened. "Never." He smiled and she continued teasingly, "You're as nuts as ever."
"Saaam..."