For the next few days, Daniel decided to not see Chris. He didn't go out of his way to avoid her, but he didn't go out of his way to see her, either. Something had happened the other evening while dancing and after, in front of her door. He just wasn't sure what it was. He had only lost Shar'e about a year ago, and could still feel the pain of her loss like a knife in his heart. But, last night, that pain had abetted slightly. And after her kiss on his cheek, he barely felt the pain at all. It kind of scared him. He wondered if anyone else noticed a difference with him. He didn't have to wonder for long. Sam found him in his office a few days after the team night out.
"So, that was a lot of fun the other night." She said casually. "You and Chris seemed to have a good time."
"Yeah, it was alright." He answered, noncommittally, but she frowned.
"You did have a good time, didn't you?"
"Yeah, yeah, I did."
"Chris seems nice."
"Sam, why don't you get to whatever point you are heading for." Daniel sighed, setting his glasses down and looking at her.
"I'm just saying that it looked like you two had a really good time. Did…um…anything happen after you left?"
"No." he replied. She slumped in her seat just a little, but straightened as he continued with a mumble. "Not really."
"Not really? What does that mean?"
"I walked her back to her room and she gave me a kiss on the cheek and went inside. That's all."
"A kiss? And…what did you do?" Sam asked, her interest growing more and more.
"Nothing. It was an innocent 'thank you' kiss for getting her out of the mountain. It didn't mean anything." He shrugged. "Now, is there anything else? I have a lot of work to do."
"No, that's it. But, trust me on something, Daniel. It ALWAYS means something." She said, the turned on her heel and walked out, leaving Daniel to stare after her. He frowned in thought and tried to get back to his translations...and ending up not accomplishing anything but getting more confused about the other night. He wasn't sure how he felt about any of it, but decided that, for the time being, he would let everything just simmer on the back burner and see what came of it.
The next morning, he took a requisition to Chris's office and knocked. He didn't hear a reply, so he knocked again. Finally, he decided to just leave it on her desk and he opened the door. She wasn't in, as he had expected, so he walked over and laid the papers down on the desk. Her computer was on and he couldn't help but look to see what was on the screen. It was her report to Kinsey. He glanced down the hall quickly, making sure the coast was clear, then walked back over to the computer and began to read. It started out fairly benign, mostly numbers being crunched and the like. But, then it went into the day-to-day operations of the SGC and specifically SG1. She spoke of getting close to them, as instructed by Kinsey. Daniel frowned at that part. Then she made a comment in the report about how close the team was. Well, they were, but he wasn't sure if that was how Kinsey would take it. He wanted to read further, but heard footsteps coming down the hall and jumped back, walking out the door and running almost smack into Chris. He quickly decided not to say anything about the report, since none of it had seemed malicious, and he didn't want to admit to invading her privacy.
"Oh! Hey! I was just looking for you." She said.
"I was right here. I was just leaving a requisition on your desk. I think I finally found a new assistant." He said and she smiled.
"Oh, good! Well, I will take a look and get back to you on it." She said and he nodded.
"Sure…Um…Well, guess I had better go, then. See ya later." He said and left. She frowned as she watched his retreating back, then walked into her office and saw what was on the computer.
"Great. I knew I had forgotten to lock that computer." She mumbled, sitting at her desk. She wondered if Daniel had…no, he wouldn't have looked. She knew he wouldn't have. Shaking her head to clear those thoughts, she looked at her inbox and sighed. It looked like she was going to be here for a while tonight. At least she wouldn't have far to go to get to bed.
"Daniel, you should ask her out." Sam said suddenly one day when they were having lunch together. After barely clearing his throat of chicken salad sandwich, he looked at her, confused.
"What? Who?"
"Who? Who else? Chris!"
"Why should I ask her out?" Daniel asked.
"Oh, come on. You talk about her all the time, you two obviously had a great time last week at O'Malley's. You should ask her out and see if anything comes of it." Sam pressed.
"I don't know. I…I'm still not over Shar'e. I don't know if I could ever be over her, really…"
"Daniel, you will never be over her, and that is fine. But, she wouldn't want you to go through the rest of your life alone. I'm not saying that Chris is going to be your second wife or anything, here. But you need to get back out there someday. At least with Chris, you already have the first date out of the way."
"I do?" Okay, that was news to him!
"Yes! Last week would kind of count as a date."
"Fine, I will think about it." He said and she gave in, knowing that was the best she was going to get for now. They started discussing an upcoming mission and finished their lunch.
He stood outside her quarters on base two days later, trying to build up his courage to knock on her door. This was ridiculous, it wasn't like he had never asked a girl out! And, normally, he had been quite successful. With a grunt of frustration, he reached up and rapped sharply on the door. Chris called for whomever it was to enter and he nervously opened the door. She was sitting on the bed, dressed in a tie-dye t-shirt and jeans. It was her day off, so she was going for comfort and fun, he supposed. In her hands was an apartment guide and a red pen.
"Hey, any luck?" he asked, indicating the apartment book.
"A couple of nice looking ones, but I just don't know yet." She replied with a bit of a grumble. Obviously, she was frustrated. "Some look nice on the inside, but terrible on the outside, some have terrible layouts, but full appliances…I hate doing this." She said and he grinned, remembering having to do it a few times in the past four years.
"Would you like some help? I can at least steer you away from the scary parts of town." He offered and she smiled.
"That would be great!"
"We could go looking at some tomorrow, if you like." He said, suddenly seeing his way into a "second" date.
"That works for me. I took a couple of days off just for this, anyway."
"Perfect. Well, how about I meet you up top about 10:00 tomorrow and we'll apartment hunt, maybe catch some lunch?"
"Sure, but if you are doing all of this for me, then I am paying." She said and he shook his head.
"No, you're still new here. This will be my 'Welcome to the SGC' lunch." He argued.
"Well, we will just have to wait and see, then." She replied.
"Okay. Well, see you tomorrow."
"Wait, what did you need? You came to my door, ya know." She said and he fought down the heat in his cheeks.
"Oh, um…I was just going to say hello." He replied stupidly. He frowned to himself, but saw her grinning at him.
"Hello." She said quietly, and he felt a shiver in his spine at her voice that low.
"Hello. And, um, goodbye." He said and left, hearing her laugh as he closed the door behind him.
She waited until his footsteps had dissipated, then picked the phone back up with a frown.
"I take it you heard?" she asked and could see the slimy man on the other side grinning.
"Yes, I did. You're doing well, Chris."
"That is Dr. Artanis to you, Senator." She snapped.
"Easy, easy. Now that you are getting closer to them, find something- anything. Be careful, though. It wont take much for them to figure out what you are doing." He said and she rolled her eyes.
"If there is anything worth finding, I will. Other than that, I really must insist you not contact me here. I will keep you updated in my reports. Goodbye, Kinsey." She said and hung up the phone. She was pretty sure that there was nothing worth finding, at least, nothing that would please Kinsey, but as long as he thought she was trying…she would have more time with these people that she was quickly starting to consider friends…especially Daniel.