CHAPTER TWO

The next morning, Daniel arrived at the infirmary to pick Sam up.  He was looking forward to spending this time with her.  What happened at the Alpha Site had really scared him.  Those endless hours of waiting to find out if she was alive or dead had shown him how much he loved her and how important she was to his life.  Daniel knew that experience had influenced his decision to offer to stay with her for the week.  She could have died so easily.  If Jack and Teal'c had arrived just a couple of minutes later. . . .

'Don't think about it, Daniel,' he told himself.  'She's all right.  She's alive.  You didn't lose her.'

Taking his own advice, Daniel pushed the bad thoughts out of his mind and waited as Sam got dressed.  A few minutes later, she parted the curtain around her bed and came out.  As per doctor's order, she was using crutches.

"I really hate these things," she grumbled.

"Tell me about it," Daniel said, knowing exactly how she felt.  "At least you only have to use them for a few days."

Janet handed Daniel a sheet of paper and a bag.  "Here are her medications, some medical supplies you'll be needing, and instructions.  She shouldn't have any problem with infection, but keep an eye on it all the same.  You've both been in this situation enough times in the past to know what symptoms to look out for.  And try to keep her off her feet as much as humanly possible."

Daniel smiled.  "Don't worry, Janet.  I'll take good care of her."

"I'm sure you will, Daniel.  If you have any questions, just call."  Janet turned to Sam, who didn't look at all amused about being talked about like she was a child.  "I'll stop by to check up on you in a couple of days."

A while later, Daniel and Sam were in his car and on their way down the mountain.  Daniel glanced over at Sam, who was staring out the side window.

"You are okay about this, aren't you, Sam?"

She turned to him.  "Huh?  Oh.  Yeah, I'm fine with it, though it really wasn't necessary for you to do this.  I'd have gotten along all right on my own."

"I know.  I just thought it would be easier on you if you have someone to help.  Besides, when's the last time you and I really spent some time together?"

Sam sighed.  "A long time, too long."

"Yeah.  Things have been really busy these past few months."

"Well, at least you're not doing the all-nighters like you used to.  I sometimes used to think that you might as well move into your office."

Daniel smiled.  "I still do pull the occasional all-nighter, but I guess I sort of learned my lesson that life is too short to spend all of it working."  He snorted.  "Not that I have a real life outside of the SGC.  But at least going home most nights gives the illusion that I do."

Sam looked at his profile.  There had been no bitterness in Daniel's voice.  It was as if he was just stating a fact.  "Doesn't that bother you, that you don't have a life outside of work?"

Daniel didn't answer for a moment.  "Sometimes, but I guess I've gotten used to it."

His words made Sam feel sad.  "You shouldn't have had to."

Daniel glanced at her.  "What do you mean?"

"I mean that you should have a life outside of work.  It isn't right that you're alone."

The complete silence that followed her statement made Sam realize that she shouldn't have said that.  "I'm sorry, Daniel.  I shouldn't have said that."

The archeologist sighed.  "No, it's all right.  I've gotten used to being alone, too.  Actually, it was just a matter of becoming accustomed to it again.  I've spent the better part of my life alone."  He paused for a moment.  "It's really kind of funny when you think about it.  I spent twenty-three years alone for the most part, yet it took only a few weeks for me to get used to not being alone.  Then, when I found myself alone once again, it took a long time to get reaccustomed to it."

Sam stared at him.  "Daniel, you're not alone.  You have us."

Daniel looked at her with a soft smile.  "I know, Sam."  He returned his eyes to the road.  'But that doesn't keep me from feeling lonely at night and wishing you were there with me,' he added silently.

The rest of the trip was made mostly in silence.  Once they reached Sam's house, Daniel helped her inside.  After she was safely settled on the couch, he went out to get his stuff.  Besides his suitcase, he had his laptop, a notebook, and three boxes full of artifacts that he needed to work on.

"Where should I put all these things?" he asked after he'd brought the last of it in.

"Um, you can hang your clothes in the coat closet.  There's room in there.  I've got some spare hangers in my bedroom closet.  As for the other things, I guess you can store those in there, too."  She looked in amusement at all the stuff he'd brought.  "So, you think you got enough there to keep you busy for the week?"

Daniel smiled and shrugged.  "I probably overdid it, but I wanted to make sure I didn't have to take a trip back to the mountain."

After putting everything away and hanging up his clothes, Daniel wandered around the room.  His gaze landed on a framed photo of Sam and a handsome man with blond hair.  Daniel stared at the man, guessing that this was the new love in Sam's life.  He didn't meet Pete when the man was recovering from his injuries in the infirmary even though Daniel had also spent some time there because of being ribboned yet again.  The truth was that he'd deliberately avoided meeting the guy, not wanting to look upon the face of the man with whom the woman he loved was in a relationship.

Feeling a sharp, painful jab of jealousy and sorrow spear through his heart, Daniel turned away from the photo.  Just then, a thought occurred to him.

"Uh, I didn't think about this before.  Is me staying here going to cause a problem with Pete?"

Sam blinked, surprised that she hadn't even thought of that.  It must be because she wasn't yet used to considering a boyfriend's opinion on decisions she made.  "To be honest, I didn't think about that either."

"Sam, if it's going to be a problem—"

"No, no," she said quickly.  "Pete knows that you're my best friend, Daniel.  I told him all about you."

Now it was Daniel's turn to be surprised.  "You did?"

"Of course.  You're an important part of my life, just like the colonel and Teal'c are."  She smiled, wondering if she should tell him something else.

Daniel saw the smile.  "What?"

"I think Pete was kind of jealous of you."

Daniel's eyebrows nearly hid in his hair.  "Of me?"

"Yeah.  I was singing your praises pretty loudly, telling him how smart you are, how you opened the gate, all the ways in which you are so valuable to the Stargate Program.  When I told him you spoke twenty-three Earth languages and several off-world ones as well, he was kind of awed."

Daniel blushed and ducked his head.  Sam grinned at the sight, thinking he looked adorable.  Her smiled grew even bigger with her next words.

"I think maybe he had the wrong picture in his mind of what you looked like."

"Oh?"

"Uh huh.  I think he was imagining you as more of the geeky professor type, that is until I showed him your picture."  Sam smiled inside as she recalled the stunned look that had been on Pete's face when he saw the photo of Daniel.  It was a very good picture of the archeologist, showing to perfection not only his handsome face but also the well-developed physique of his broad shoulders and chest.  It, along with photos of Jack, Teal'c, Janet and Cassie, had been Cassie's present to Sam on her last birthday.  The girl had taken photos of everyone with her digital camera, then printed them up and put them in a beautiful frame, which was now proudly displayed on a wall in Sam's living room.  Sam had a sneaking suspicion that the teenager had paid extra attention to getting a good photo of Daniel.  And who could blame her?

"Ah."  Daniel frowned thoughtfully.  "I guess I don't exactly look like that now anymore, huh."

"Not even close, Daniel.  Actually, I never thought you looked like a geek, not really."

"Not even when I had the long hair?"

"Nope, not even then.  Glasses and long hair do not a geek make."

"Well, you were in the minority, Sam.  Most people saw me as a geek, including Jack."

Sam remembered when that jerk she beat at pool at O'Malley's called Daniel a geek, something that, to this day, she still didn't understand since the archeologist hadn't even been wearing his glasses that night and had most definitely not looked like a geek.  Daniel's reaction to the insult led her to believe that it bothered him to be called that.

"Did it bother you to be thought of that way?" she asked quietly.

Daniel looked out across the room.  "Yeah, sometimes.  It was yet another thing that I got used to in time . . . mostly."

Sam found herself looking Daniel over, from the top of his head down to his shoes, thinking that nobody in their right mind would see him as a geek now.  Daniel had never been what she'd call skinny, despite the narrowness of his hips and waist.  He'd always had a good pair of shoulders on him and a nice chest.  But in these years that he'd been with SG-1, he had broadened out and had gained quite a bit of muscle mass, particularly in the chest, shoulders and arms.  Simply put, Daniel was a total hunk now, with or without his glasses.  It was no wonder that he turned so many female heads.

Surprised at the touch of jealousy that last thought incurred, Sam returned her gaze to Daniel's face before he could catch her looking at him like that.  He turned back to her, his striking blue eyes staring into hers penetratingly.

"You didn't really answer my question, you know," he said.

"Uh . . . what question was that?"

"Whether or not me being here is going to cause a problem with Pete."

"Oh.  Um, no, I don't think so.  Pete's on a big case right now and is putting in a lot of hours.  I'm not expecting to see him until next weekend."

"Well, I'll be sure to be out of here before then," Daniel said.  "I wouldn't want to get in the way.  To be honest, though, if I was in Pete's shoes, I wouldn't be thrilled about the idea of a man sleeping over here."

"No?"

Daniel shook his head.  "Not one little bit."

The fervency of Daniel's statement surprised Sam.  She tried to read his expression, but failed.  "Well, if he finds out and doesn't like it, I'll just explain that you were being a good friend and watching over me."

The archeologist smiled again.  "Okay."  His smile turned into a grin.  "Of course, there is the chance that, once you're subjected to my cooking, you might kick me out."

Sam laughed.  "That bad, huh?"

Daniel came and sat down on the couch beside her.  "Well, no, not really.  I get by.  I've been cooking for myself for quite a while, so I had to learn a few things to keep from poisoning myself.  I got out of practice during the year I spent on Abydos, though.  Married men do not do any cooking there.  Even just suggesting it will earn you some weird looks or even outright laughter."  Daniel grew a tender smile.  "I tried once anyway.  Sha're wasn't feeling well and was really not up to doing the cooking, so I attempted to make some soup."

"I get the feeling that 'attempted' is the key word in that sentence."

Daniel grinned.  "Yeah.  I'd never made my own soup before.  It kind of looked more like mush by the time it was done.  It did serve one good purpose, though."

"What's that?"

"By the time Sha're stopped laughing, she felt much better."

Sam laughed delightedly.  "It sounds like you have a lot of good memories of Abydos."

Daniel's smile dimmed to one of bittersweet remembrance.  "Yeah, I do.  It was one of the happiest years of my life."

Sam looked at him closely.  "Does it still hurt to think about it?"

Daniel thought about that.  "Not the good memories, the ones before Apophis came.  I can think about those, about how Sha're was back then, and it doesn't hurt all that much anymore.  But the later memories of her still hurt, and it hurts to . . ." his voice wavered, "to think about the fact that it's all gone now, that everyone is gone."

Sam covered his hand with hers, giving what comfort she could.  She could only imagine the pain Daniel would be suffering at the knowledge that Abydos was no more.

The archeologist gave her hand a quick squeeze, then cleared his throat and quickly got to his feet.  "It's getting close to lunchtime.  Do you have anything or do I need to go get something?"

"I think there's some cheese and bread in the fridge.  I haven't done any shopping lately since I was spending so much time in the lab and at the Alpha Site."

"Okay, how about some grilled cheese sandwiches, then?  I'm an expert at those."

"Sure.  Sounds good."

As Daniel prepared lunch, Sam laid down on the couch to ease the strain on her leg.  She was just starting to dose off when a light touch on her arm roused her.  She blinked her eyes open to see Daniel crouched beside her, an expression of such loving tenderness on his face that it made her breath catch.

"Lunch is ready," he said.

She sat up and started to swing her legs around, but he stopped her.

"No, stay there.  I'll get you a pillow for your back."

Daniel headed off to the linen closet.  Sam looked at the coffee table and saw that he had placed her lunch on a tray so that she could eat it stretched out on the couch.

Daniel returned with a couple of pillows, which he put behind her back.  Once she was settled, he gave her the tray.  Then he got his own lunch and made himself comfortable in one of the chairs.

"I have a sneaking suspicion that you are going to spoil me rotten this whole week," Sam said between bites of her sandwich.

Daniel gave her a mischievous look.  "Hmm.  Could be."

"Careful, Daniel.  I may decide I like it so much that I won't let you go home."

"I can think of worse fates."

The reply surprised Sam, but she hid it well.

After lunch, Daniel decided to go do some grocery shopping.  He returned a couple of hours later to find that Sam was no longer in the living room.  He went to her bedroom and found her fast asleep.  Unable to stop himself, he walked up to the bed and gently brushed away the hair that had fallen across her cheek.

Daniel knew that, in some ways, this week was going to be very hard for him.  It would take a monumental act of will not to let Sam see how much he wanted to be with her.  At work, it was a lot easier.  There were things to distract him, stuff to keep his mind busy.  But being here alone with her – sleeping under the same roof, eating meals together, spending time being friends – was going to make it really hard.

He'd been in love with Sam for a long time now, far longer than even he had realized.  It hadn't been until after he'd descended and regained his memories that he woke up to the truth about his feelings.  He had no idea when he actually started falling in love with Sam.  It was a gradual thing, building over their years together.  A part of him suspected that he had begun to feel that way even before Sha're's death, although that thought made him feel ashamed and guilty.  In the end, it didn't really matter when it started.  All that did matter was that he was in love with her, utterly and completely.  He had found love again, despite his belief that he never would.  The difference was that, this time, the object of his affection probably didn't feel the same way, and he was scared to death to let her know how he felt.

With a last look at Sam's beautiful face, Daniel returned to the kitchen and put away the groceries as quietly as possible.  He then fetched his laptop, notebook, and one of the boxes of artifacts and got to work.

It was quiet in the house when Sam awoke.  The clock beside her bed told her that she'd been asleep for nearly three hours.  Daniel had to be back by now.

Carefully easing herself out of bed, Sam grabbed her crutches and made her way out of the bedroom.  The increased ache in her leg was telling her that she was overdue for a pain pill.  As she moved into the living room, Sam saw Daniel sitting at the dining room table.  He was busy writing something in his notebook.  After a moment, he looked up at her and smiled.

"Hey there.  Have a nice nap?"

"Yeah, I did.  I wasn't planning on sleeping that long, though."

"Well, you're entitled to be lazy for the next week."  Daniel glanced at his watch.  "It's past time for your medication.  Go get comfy, and I'll get your pills."

Sam sat on the couch with her left foot on the coffee table.  Daniel returned a moment later with a couple of pills and a glass of water.  She thanked him and downed the medication.  Daniel then took a throw pillow from her couch and slid it under her foot.

"Better?"

"Yes.  Thanks."

He looked at her leg.  "Um, you're supposed to put more of the antibacterial cream on your wound."

"Oh, yeah.  I forgot.  I guess I should go do that.  It's not easy getting my pants on and off with these bandages."

"Well, why don't you wear shorts?  Then it'll be easier."

"Good idea."

Sam returned to the bedroom and changed into a pair of shorts.  When she came back out, she saw that Daniel had the cream and the bandaging supplies all ready.  He helped her remove the old bandages then took a good look at the wound.

"Looks fine," he said.  "Janet does a good job with the needlework, doesn't she."

"Well, she should.  She gets enough practice."

"Yeah, I've probably gotten several thousand stitches over these past seven years."

Sam applied some cream to the wound, and Daniel helped put on a new bandage.

"There you go.  All done," he said.  He put the supplies away.  "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Nope, I'm fine.  Oh, could you grab the book that's on my nightstand?"

"Sure."

Daniel fetched her book, then got back to work.  After reading for around a half-hour, Sam looked over at him.  A stone figurine was in his left hand.  The fingers of his other hand were sliding over it gently and lovingly, as if he was caressing a lover.  The thought sent a little quiver through Sam, which surprised the heck out of her.  Even so, she continued watching him, seeing the expression of absolute concentration on his face.  This was Doctor Daniel Jackson in his purest form.  No sidearm at his hip, no military trappings, just him and his beloved artifacts, his amazing mind delving into the history, beauty and mysteries of an ancient culture.  It was the Daniel Jackson she had come to know even before she met him, through the papers he'd published and the articles he'd written.  She had learned a lot about the man who had been brought in to unlock the Stargate.  Yet what she had learned on paper could not come close to describing the man of flesh and blood.  Not even Catherine Langford's description of him truly did him justice.

She had known Daniel for almost seven years, yet there were still depths to him that remained unplumbed, mysteries still hidden.  She knew so little about his past.  She knew that his childhood had not been a happy one, but he never talked about it.  If it had not been for the Keeper, she would probably never have known that he'd witnessed his parents being crushed to death when he was only eight years old.

Daniel was a man of many contradictions.  He opened himself up so fully to the pain of others, ready in an instant to listen to their troubles and fears, yet, for the most part, he kept his own pain and fears hidden.  He was a man of such gentleness and compassion, yet, when necessary, he could become a warrior of great skill and unswerving courage.  Sam had never met anyone like him in her entire life.

Rousing from her thoughts, Sam was surprised to see that twenty minutes had passed as she reflected about her friend.  She returned her attention to her book, but could no longer concentrate on it.  After trying for several minutes, she gave up.  She picked up the TV guide and looked through it to see if anything good was on.  She noticed that they were having a special on the Australian Aborigines on the Discovery Channel.  That sounded interesting.

"Daniel?"

"Hmm?"

"Would it disturb you if I watched some TV?"

"No, go right ahead.  If I can tune out Jack's grumbling and wisecracks while I'm working, I'll have no trouble with the TV."

As the special started, Daniel found his attention wandering to it.  Around ten minutes into it, he left the dining room and perched on the arm of the couch.

"I think it's only a matter of time before we find a civilization on another planet with roots stemming from the Australian Aboriginal culture," he commented.  "The Australian Aborigines have the longest continuous cultural history on Earth.  It is generally believed that their ancestors came to the continent some fifty thousand years ago, perhaps even longer."

"Really?  Wow, I had no idea.  So, they were there long before the Goa'uld came to Earth."

The archeologist nodded.  "It wouldn't surprise me if the Goa'uld took some of them as slaves.  Actually, some of the legends about the Aboriginal Ancestral Spirits might have been born from appearances by the Goa'uld."

Daniel watched the rest of the special with her, inserting little bits of knowledge here and there from his own vast storehouse.  He admitted that he didn't know a whole lot about the Aborigines, it being a culture he didn't spend much time studying.

"I never got the chance to go to Australia, though I sure would love to," he said.  "There are Aboriginal rock carvings and paintings still in existence that date back at least thirty thousand years."  His expression turned almost dreamy.  "Think of the history."

Sam smiled.  "Well, maybe, someday, you can still go."

"Yeah, maybe, if I ever manage to take a real vacation."

After the special was over, Daniel went back to work, and Sam resumed reading.  It was around 5:30 when the archeologist put aside his work and came back over to the couch.

"So, any idea what you might like to have for dinner?" he asked.  "I got chicken breasts, a couple of steaks, the fixings for spaghetti, and some salmon fillets."

"Wow.  Choices, choices.  Spaghetti sounds pretty good to me."

"Okay.  I hope you don't mind sauce out of a jar.  Your kitchen would probably never recover if I tried making my own, and I have my doubts that we would either."

Sam laughed.  "I always use sauce out of a jar."

Since Sam kept insisting that she wanted to do something to help, Daniel had her make the salad, though he was adamant that she do it sitting down

Dinner was great, and Sam made sure to praise Daniel for the good job he'd done.  "You know, not counting a few birthdays in the past, I can't remember the last time someone made dinner for me," she said.  "It's kind of nice."

"It was my pleasure.  I wish my repertoire of dishes was bigger.  Maybe I'll have to go hunting for a cookbook or two.  Do they have a Complete Idiot's Guide to Cooking?  They've got them on just about every other subject.  I thought that there wasn't one on archeology, then I found the Complete Idiot's Guide to Lost Civilizations.  Not exactly archeology, but close enough.  I'm thinking about getting it for Jack's next birthday."

Sam's face split into a huge grin.  "Is there one on astrophysics?"

"Hmm.  We may have to check on that."

They both burst into laughter.

"You know, the colonel isn't nearly as dumb as he sometimes pretends to be," Sam stated.

"Yeah, I know, but it's still fun teasing him.  I have to get back at him somehow for all the stupid names he labels me with."

"Yes, what is that all about?"

"Don't ask me.  Where he got Space Monkey is a mystery to me."

"It's from an old cartoon called Space Ghost."

Daniel stared at her.  "Now, how could you possibly know that?"

"From watching the Cartoon Network with my brother's kids.  I used to watch the station with Cassie, too, when she was younger.  She just loved cartoons.  They didn't have anything like that on her planet."

The rest of the evening was spent talking about all different subjects.  By the time Sam was ready to go to bed, she was feeling very happy and relaxed.

"This was a great day, Daniel," she said.  "It's been too long since I spent a day with a good friend and just enjoyed myself.  Thank you."

"You are very welcome, Sam.  I had a great day, too.  Hopefully, we'll avoid any disasters for the rest of the week and have some more good days.  You do realize, however, that it's unlikely we'll get through the whole week without Jack and Teal'c coming over with pizza and beer."

"Of course."

"Um, is it hockey season yet?"  Daniel made a face.

"I don't know, but, since this is my house and my TV, the colonel will just have to live without hockey when he's here."

"Thank God."

Daniel rose to his feet and helped Sam up.  She began to turn away, then, on impulse, turned back around and planted a kiss on the archeologist's cheek.

"Thank you for being a good friend, Daniel," she murmured.

Since Daniel's tongue had temporarily lost the ability to function, he just nodded and smiled.  He watched Sam hobble off to her bedroom, his fingers touching the place where she'd kissed him.  An almost soundless sigh whispered past his lips.

A small, happy smile on his face, Daniel prepared his own bed on the couch, then went back to the dining room to do a little more work before turning in for the night.

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