Connections
Connections
by Jeanine
Title:Connections
Author:Jeanine
Category:D/S
Rating:PG
Email:jeanine@iol.ie
Archive:Heliopolis; Statistical Outliers, Sandra's site, Rach’s site ; anywhere else please ask first
Feedback:Always welcome.
Disclaimer:Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended.
Season/Sequel:Sometime in the future
Spoilers:I think not, but after six months of battling, who knows anymore???
Summary:Response to Challenge 406 at Heliopolis -Sam gains telepathic skills after a dying alien touches her. However Sam can control this new power and can hear everyone’s thought at once and she quickly becomes overwhelmed. Janet must now try and find a way to cure Sam and stop the process before it causes irreversible damage. However, a certain NID operative wants Sam for his own purposes! Conditions:
1. M/Sgt Harriman, the technician with glasses and grey hair, must be referred to be his first name by both Sam and Daniel.
2. Daniel punches Maybourne after saying "Maybe Jack can't hit you but I sure as hell can!"
Author’s Notes:Believe it or not, I actually began to write this story on May 28th….it's now November and I've only just finished it to some semblance of satisfaction! Not sure how much it's what the challenge intended…not so sure it's what I intended, but hey, there ya go!
Voices.
That was all she could hear in her head, what seemed like hundreds, thousands, millions of voices, all talking, whispering, shouting, screaming at once. She’d tried blocking her ears, closing her eyes, but nothing helped. She thought she’d heard herself screaming minutes … hours… years …ago but she couldn’t be sure. The noise was so bad that she couldn’t figure out where the voices ended and she began. She couldn’t think, couldn’t speak, couldn’t exist….
Until suddenly, mercifully, everything went black.
>*<*>*<
Doctor Janet Fraiser entered the briefing room to be confronted by three anxious looking men and an imperturbable Jaffa, who nonetheless looked quite perturbed. Jack spoke first. "How is she Doc?"
Janet shook her head. "I’ve managed to sedate her. Finally. She should be out for a while."
"What’s wrong with her?" Jack asked the next obvious question.
Unfortunately, Janet didn’t have the next obvious answer. "I have no idea. Her temperature is normal, her preliminary bloodwork is fine – I’ve sent for more tests. Her pulse is racing, and her blood pressure is elevated, but I’m putting that down to her agitated state. What I can’t figure out is what’s causing that."
"Major Carter looks as if she is in considerable pain." Teal’c stated the obvious as usual, earning him an incredulous look and "Ya think?" from O’Neill.
"Sam is in pain, yes." Janet took charge of the situation, before anyone drew O’Neill’s ire any further. "But there’s no clear-cut reason why." She looked at the rest of SG-1 and General Hammond. "What exactly happened to her? Every detail."
"She was fine until we came through the Gate." O’Neill’s frustration was evident.
"Not really." All eyes swung to Daniel. "She was complaining that she had a headache before we came back … she took some aspirin for it."
"Could that be it?" Hammond pounced on it.
Janet dashed his hopes. "I don’t think so Sir. We’ve done CAT scans and they’re negative…" She thought again. "Did she describe her symptoms Daniel? It could be important."
Daniel rubbed the bridge of his nose under his glasses, eyes squinting in concentration. "She said that it wasn’t that bad … more like a buzzing in her head … she seemed to think that it’d disappear with some tablets." He blew out a deep breath. "I was keeping an eye on her. Like Jack said, she was fine until we came through the Gate. The minute we arrived back … she went down."
Silence descended on the group, each of them remembering Sam’s scream as she collapsed, clutching her head. Jack, Teal’c, Hammond and the other soldiers had been stunned into immobility, while Daniel, who had been concerned about Sam all morning, had reacted instantly. He’d scooped her up in his arms and been in the infirmary before Hammond was finished notifying Janet that he was on his way.
"Did she say anything?" Jack was thinking out loud.
Again, all eyes turned to Daniel. "She just … kept crying. I’ve never seen her…" Again, he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "She kept asking for it to stop."
Janet nodded affirmation. "She said the same thing to me."
Hammond took charge. "Did anything untoward happen on the planet that could have caused this? Anything, no matter how small."
The three men exchanged glances, each of them running over the mission in their heads.
Teal’c spoke first. "As far as I recall, there was nothing out of the ordinary."
"I agree." Daniel threw up his hands. "It was one of the most peaceful planets we’ve ever been to. It was a small village…Bronze Age Celtic, I think …The people were friendly, they were helpful, there was no evidence of Goa’uld activity … it was a perfect mission."
"He’s right." Jack didn’t sound thrilled to be agreeing on that point.
"There had to be something!" Janet looked around the table. "There’s no medical reason that I can find that would leave Sam in that kind of state. It has to be alien."
There was more silence, then Daniel pinched his nose and closed his eyes. "Wait…. wait, wait, wait, wait, wait…." Everyone waited. "What about the old woman? The one who took such an interest in Sam … and gave that amulet to her."
It was as if a fog lifted from Jack’s face. "By the fire last night …with all the village around … as if it were some kind of ceremony…." More and more sarcasm came into his voice as he spoke.
"That’s the one." Daniel kept his voice level only with effort. "There were three kind of stones in it…it should be in Sam’s bag, she took it with her…."
"I’ll get someone to find it." Now Hammond had something to work with, he began to formulate orders. "Doctor Jackson, I want you to research anything historical you can find that might help us. Anything that might have a connection to that amulet and Major Carter. Doctor Fraiser, I want every test in the book done on Major Carter."
The Doctors nodded, and Jack raised a hand. "And um…what do we do?"
General Hammond stood. "I’m sending you two back to the planet. Find this old woman – ask her what the amulet does, what the ceremony, if there was one, was about … and how we cure the Major." He looked around the briefing table. "Any questions?" Silence. "Dismissed."
>*<*>*<
As Teal’c and Jack stepped through the Gate, they couldn’t fail to notice that the town square was more or less deserted. Only a few people walked along the streets, and even then, they spoke in muffled whispers. The atmosphere the night before had been far more celebratory, and the square had been thronged with people. One middle-aged man walked towards them, recognising them from the previous night. "Colonel, Teal’c!" He was smiling as he approached. "I bid you welcome! We were not expecting you back so soon."
"Yeah, well." Jack shrugged. "We kinda had an emergency."
The man – Bra’tawn, Jack remembered his name – frowned. "I trust that all is well?"
"Unfortunately not." Jack looked around, wondering where everyone was. "Major Carter became ill after we arrived home…we were hoping that someone here might be familiar with what’s wrong with her."
Bra’tawn looked alarmed. "I hope that Major Carter did not become sick because of us. Of course, we will assist you however we can."
"Great." Jack nodded.
Teal’c continued. "There was a woman who seemed to take a great interest in Major Carter. I believe her name was I’vlin. May we speak with her?"
Bra’tawn looked down at the ground. "I regret that that will not be possible."
"Why not?" Jack’s hand instantly went to his weapon, unconsciously.
Bra’tawn looked to the east, to the edge of town. Following his gaze, Jack and Teal’c could clearly see a plume of smoke rising up into the air. Jack had an uneasy suspicion as to what he was looking at, confirmed by Bra’tawn’s next words. "I’vlin has gone to the Ancestors."
Jack looked first at him, then at Teal’c, and pictured in his mind Sam’s face as she lay in the infirmary. "Peachy."
>*<*>*<
Nyan looked at Daniel, who was buried deep in a pile of books, and sighed as he hefted yet another pile on top of the piles already littering Daniel’s desk. "These are all the books I could find Daniel. Are they sufficient?"
Daniel barely looked up. "I think so Nyan." There was a pause. "Thank you, by the way."
"You are welcome." Nyan picked up the amulet, studied it. "Is there any further word on Major Carter’s condition?"
"No. Janet said she’d ring down if there was any change."
"And you think this has something to do with it?"
Daniel sat upright in his chair, reaching over to take the amulet. "It looks that way. Although I’m not sure exactly how." He turned it around in his hand, holding it up to the light. "If it is, there must be some other key, something that makes it work…. although how the technology works is beyond me." Unbidden, the thought came to his mind that Sam would know, Sam would help him work this out. Try as he might, he couldn’t find any mythological references that helped him out.
"It is very beautiful."
Daniel started for a moment, wondering if Nyan was referring to Sam before he realised that the young man was still talking about the amulet. "Yes. Yes it is."
"What is it made from?"
Daniel held it up again. "Well, I’m an anthropologist, not a geologist, but it’s composed of three semi-precious stones, set in gold. This one is aventurine, this is an amethyst and this is some kind of quartz…. the yellow colour is quite unusual. They’re in a circle, which could symbol eternity, or unity…I’m not sure. There’s nothing in mythology about any amulet like this, although I’m still looking. From the surroundings, I’m guessing that it’s some kind of Celtic based myth…" His voice trailed off, frustrated. "I’m just guessing."
Nyan frowned at the explanation. "Perhaps Daniel…." He hesitated, then stopped.
Daniel was on it immediately. "Perhaps what?" When no answer was forthcoming from his research assistant, he leaned forward urgently. "Nyan, if you have any ideas, this is not the time to be reticent."
"I was wondering…. perhaps it is not the amulet itself that is important. Perhaps it is the stones." Daniel didn’t contradict him, so he continued. "In my culture, certain stones have certain significance…"
There was a light gleaming in Daniel’s eyes that hadn’t been there before. "In ours too….maybe…." He frantically began rummaging through the piles of books.
Nyan smiled and left him to it.
>*<*>*<
"OK." Jack was frustrated, and trying very hard not to lose his temper. That wouldn’t help anyone. "Take me through this again. I’vlin was a Seer?"
Bra’tawn nodded. "Yes – one of our most powerful. All on our world have this gift, although some are more powerful than others. Those who possess great power, like I’vlin, are among our most respected people."
"And this…gift…can be passed on to others?"
"Yes. Usually this is done to impart wisdom, experience…. augmentation of powers is a side-effect. It is done through use of the Sool’Ella."
"That is the amulet which I’vlin gave to Major Carter," Teal’c surmised.
Again, Bra’tawn nodded, wondering to himself if all off-worlders were as strange as these two. He had already explained this to them. Twice. "An alliance with your planet would be favourable to us. I’vlin was one of our most senior Elders – giving your Major Carter her gift was a way of showing her respect for your people."
"You couldn’t just say it with flowers?" O’Neill grumbled, waving his hand when he realised that Bra’tawn and Teal’c were staring at him in bafflement. "Never mind. So you…all of you….can do this? It's happened before?"
"Yes."
Teal’c could follow Jack’s train of thought. "Then have they not been taken ill, as Major Carter has?"
Bra’tawn ducked his head. "You must understand. This power is latent in our people during childhood. It does not develop until the Age of Enlightenment." Anticipating the question, he amended, "Approximately fifteen years. When the time comes, our young are taught how to control their powers, to harness them. But of course, they have been taught from the Age of Speech how to block the powers of others." He sighed deeply. "I imagine that when your Major Carter stepped through the Stargate, a great many people were there to meet you?" When Jack nodded, he nodded too. "On meeting so many, their thoughts overwhelmed her."
"How do we cure her?" Now that Jack knew what was wrong with Sam, this was the next thing on his mind.
"You cannot."
"I thought you said this gift could be passed on? Isn’t that how she got it in the first place?"
Teal’c made a fairly logical assumption. "Did the passing on of her powers result in I’vlin’s death?"
Bra’tawn shook his head. "No Teal’c. Rather, the opposite occurred. I’vlin passed on her powers because she knew that her death was imminent. It was not the cause of her death."
Jack was silent for a moment. "So you mean…," He spoke slowly, making sure that he understood this properly. "The only time that these powers can be passed along is right before you die?"
"The ceremony is held the night before the person joins the Ancestors, that is correct."
"So Carter would have to die before she can get rid of them?"
"That is correct."
Jack and Teal’c exchanged a look before Jack summed up both their feelings. "Uh-oh."
>*<*>*<
Daniel Jackson was tired. He’d been researching geology books for what seemed like hours, trying to figure out the significance of the amulet. Anything he’d found had only left him with more questions. This was usually the kind of puzzle that he loved sinking his teeth into, an alien artefact with powers unknown, laden with cultural significance. It was an anthropologist’s dream, and he lived it on a daily basis.
It was an awful lot less exciting when the fate of a close friend depended on you figuring the puzzle out.
It was also a lot easier to do when you weren’t hampered by seeing said friend’s face every time you closed your eyes. When you didn’t hear her screaming, sobbing, begging you to help her, to make it stop, whatever it was. When you could feel her in your arms, feel how small and fragile she really was, when you usually thought of her as strong and capable. When you knew what depended on the outcome.
He’d decided to take a break, stretch his legs, get a change of scenery. And coffee. He needed coffee. He was, unfortunately and unsurprisingly, out. There was no point in going to the commissary – what they paraded as coffee was nothing of the sort. He didn’t want to go to any of the rec. rooms either – he’d only be asked how Sam was, and he didn’t know what to tell people. General Hammond’s stash was out for the same reason.
So, there was only one place to go.
"Daniel, what are you doing here?"
He swung around, careful not to spill any of his precious cargo, smiling his most winning smile at Janet. "Coffee," he said needlessly, expecting her usual lecture about substituting caffeine for sleep.
None was forthcoming. Instead, she simply said, "Stand in line Doctor," and elbowed him out of the way, filling her own cup to the brim. As he looked closer at her, he could see the dark shadows under her eyes, see the strain on her face.
"Any change?"
She shook her head. "I’ve run every test I know of. And they all say she’s fine."
"Except she’s not."
"No. I’ve had to keep her sedated. Every time it wears off, she ends up screaming the place down." Janet cast an eye at the clock. "Which shouldn’t actually be too much longer. How’s the research going?"
Now it was Daniel’s turn to shake his head. "We’ve been trying to figure out how the amulet works. Nothing. We need Sam for that. Nyan had an idea that it was something to do with the stones in it, so I researched them. But that just told me…what they were."
"No luck then?"
"Oh I found out the Earth significance of them. I just don’t know what the hell it has to do with Sam."
They stood in silence. "Do you want to see her?" Janet asked, trying not to notice how that offer made Daniel perk up more than the caffeine had.
"Is that ok?"
"Sure. I’ll have to sedate her again in a few minutes. You can stay till them." She began to walk away, adding as she did so, "Maybe having someone there will calm her down."
Walking into the room, Daniel felt his heart constrict as he looked at Sam. She was lying on her side, curled up into a ball, as if she was trying to make herself as small as possible. Even sedated, she twitched restlessly, turning her head slightly, whatever demons haunting her giving her scant respite. He moved the chair nearer to the bed and sat, resting his elbows on the bed and his chin on his balled-up fists. "I wish I knew what was doing this to you Sam," he told her. "I’ve looked up every book I can think of…poor Nyan is working overtime on it – he’s never seen me like this before. I just can’t figure out how the amulet works. Or what it does. No. Actually, that’s not true. With the stones that are in it, I think I have a very good idea what it does. Of course, if anyone heard what the idea was, they might just lock me up again. It’s a little out there." She shifted in the bed, letting out a small moan as she did so. Daniel cast a worried eye towards the closed door, wondering when Janet was going to come in. "I wish you were here Sam." Reaching over, he brushed some hair back from her forehead, not even noticing when she leaned into his touch. "We’d work this out…you’ve got to get better…we need you too much…" The last was whispered, and on a whim, he took Sam’s hands in his. "I need you too much."
He stopped talking when two blue eyes flew open and met his gaze.
>*<*>*<
The voices were still there, running around in her head as the blackness lifted. So many voices, whispering, talking, shouting, screaming, so many that she couldn’t identify them all, so many that she couldn’t say how many there were, so many that she couldn’t make them stop….
Suddenly, there was one, drifting at the very edge of her consciousness. One that she knew, one that she remembered. One that stood apart from all the rest.
One that was talking to her and only to her.
She had to find it, had to seek it out.
It was as if she was moving through quicksand, and the closer she seemed to get, the further away the voice seemed. Then, she was right on top of it, and she was able to open her eyes. She saw a pair of blue eyes staring at her.
"Daniel…."
The voice was a whisper, both hers and not hers.
"Sam, you’re awake! I’ll get Janet!" He began to move, but she gripped onto his hands tightly, as tightly as she could, trying to keep contact with him, knowing instinctively that it was important.
"No, Daniel….don’t go…." Her simple plea seemed to have an effect on him, because he sat back down and listened to her. "Please….I don’t know how much longer I can stay like this…."
"Like what Sam?" He leaned closer to her. "What’s wrong with you?"
"I can hear voices….inside my head….so many voices….and they won’t stop….." Tears fell down her cheeks, and he wanted to brush them away, but she was holding his hands so tightly that he couldn’t.
"How….?" He couldn’t even formulate a question.
"I heard you….I heard you talking to me…." As she spoke, he was dimly aware of the door opening and someone, probably Janet, coming in, but his gaze never wavered from Sam. "You were calling me…."
"And you came….."
She tried to smile, but her tiredness got the better of her. "I’m tired Daniel," she told him.
"Janet’s going to give you something to help you sleep. And we’re going to get you better Sam…Jack and Teal’c are on the planet, finding out what they can….what? What is it?"
Her eyes had lit up at the mention of the planet. "I have to go back there…"
"Sam you can’t. They won’t let you go back…."
"I have to…Daniel, it’s the only place we can fix this…. I know it is…" She was fighting very hard now to keep her eyes from closing, the voices were stronger than ever, and whatever link she had with Daniel wasn’t enough against the onslaught. "It’ll stop there…." She twisted restlessly.
Daniel knew what was happening. "Close your eyes Sam….rest….we’ll get you better…" He knew he was repeating himself but that was all he could do.
"Promise?" She was slipping back, and she couldn’t stop herself.
"I promise."
But she was already lost again, twisting every which way against the tide of voices buffeting her. Janet stepped forward and administered another sedative and she was still then.
Janet and Daniel had time to exchange a look before an announcement split the air. "Doctor Jackson and Doctor Fraiser to the meeting room."
>*<*>*<
Jack and Teal’c finished recounting what Bra’tawn had told them, leaving glum faces all around the table. "So you’re saying," General Hammond was having problems with this. "You’re telling me that Major Carter received … psychic powers … through some form of … alien ceremony?"
Jack and Teal’c exchanged glances. "That would appear to be the case General Hammond." Teal’c was stoic as ever.
General Hammond was shaking his head, and Daniel decided that that would be a good time to speak up. "That is actually consistent with the research I’ve been doing on the amulet."
Jack, Janet and General Hammond all looked at him. "It is?" They spoke simultaneously.
Daniel ducked his head, evading Janet’s unspoken question. "There are three stones in the amulet. Nyan said something that made me think … so I researched the meaning behind the stones." He laid the amulet on the table, pointing to each stone in turn. "Aventurine – increases mental powers, perception, insight. Amethyst – increases spiritual awareness and is routinely used in psychic work. Yellow Quartz – promotes mental awareness, often used in magic to improve visualisation."
Jack considered his words, before speaking everyone else’s mind. "Anyone sensing a theme here?"
"The fact that they’re in a circle … could symbolise unity, or continuity … I’m not sure. How it works, I couldn’t even begin to guess. There doesn’t seem to be any technology in the amulet, it’s just a ceremonial object. Whatever happens, happens between the two people."
Janet nodded. "You said that the woman touched Sam. That’s probably when it happened."
All three members of SG-1 had the same image, of Sam accepting the amulet, of I’vlin holding her hands tightly for a long moment. "For cryin’ out loud, she didn’t learn her lesson with Jolinar?" Jack may or may not have been aware that he was speaking out loud.
Hammond wisely decided not to comment on that, instead skipping to the heart of the problem. "And there’s no cure?"
Teal’c shook his head. "The only time that power can be transferred is hours before death."
"And that’s not an option." Jack added firmly.
"Bra’tawn did say that there were methods of controlling the power. Techniques which could be learned so that the thoughts of others did not overwhelm them. He offered to teach these techniques to Major Carter, if we returned her to the planet."
"That’s what Sam told me." Again, all eyes swung to Daniel.
"Shespoketo you?" Jack was stunned. "How?" He was remembering Sam as she had been before he and Teal’c left.
Daniel and Janet looked at one another. "Sam became lucid for a couple of minutes just before we came here. She was able to talk to Daniel."
The look she gave Daniel invited him to continue with the tale. "She told me that she could hear voices in her head. And that the only way that we could make her better would be to return her to the planet. That they could help her there."
Four heads swivelled to General Hammond. "Maybe that’s something we should consider General." Jack’s voice was quiet, and as respectful as he ever got.
Hammond spoke slowly. "If the only way to cure Major Carter is to send her back there … then that’s what we should do."
"Negative on that General."
The voice came from the doorway, and was as unexpected as it was unwelcome. "Oh great," muttered Jack. "Just what we need."
General Hammond rose from his seat, and they could almost hear his blood pressure increase. "How long have you been here Colonel Maybourne?"
"Not long – long enough to know that you were considering sending Major Carter back to the planet where she was taken ill."
Looks were exchanged around the table. "What exactly have you been told about Major Carter’s illness?" Hammond asked carefully.
"Only that it’s one of indeterminate origin, contracted on another world." Maybourne paced around the table. "Have you ascertained any other facts?"
Jack gaze travelled from Maybourne to Hammond and back again. "Negative." His response was firm and emphatic. "Teal’c and I went back to the planet, but they couldn’t tell us anything. Apparently, it’s a … standard … illness there."That’s not too far from the truth.
"Doctor Fraiser, have you learned anything?"
Janet didn’t even have to move her head to know what she had to do. "I’m afraid not Sir."
"Well then," Maybourne spoke as if this were a fait accompli. "It’s a good job that we at N.I.D. have the best and the brightest at our disposal. We’ll get to the bottom of this in no time."
"You can’t be serious!" Jack was the first to realise what he was saying.
"I’m deadly serious Colonel."
"She’s a human being, not a goddamn lab rat!"
In contrast to O’Neill’s ire and the shock of the rest of the room, Maybourne’s voice was cool and measured, totally unflappable. "I resent the implication. We will do everything we can to cure Major Carter. If we learn anything else about this … contagion … then it’s merely an unexpected bonus." He looked at General Hammond, then at Janet. "I’ll expect Major Carter to be ready for transport within the hour."
Janet stood, and the three men based at Cheyenne Mountain mentally blessed themselves and waited for the fireworks. They’d seen that look before, knew what it meant. "I’m afraid that won’t be possible Colonel." Her voice was firm. "Major Carter is in no fit state to travel at this time. Every doctor in the infirmary will agree on that. I refuse to release her."
She matched Maybourne glare for glare and didn’t blink. After what seemed like an eternity to the rest of the team, Maybourne tilted his head. "Very well. First thing tomorrow morning then." He held up a hand to forestall another protest from Janet. "I’ll have one of my doctors travel down specially." He headed for the door. "Just have her ready."
After he left, the five stared at each other in silence. Characteristically, Jack was the first to speak. "General, you can’t let him do this!"
"He’s right General." Daniel waded in with his support. "You don’t know what’s going to happen to Sam there."
General Hammond hadn’t uttered a word, merely sat there the whole time, fingers steepled, resting on his chin. "I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do." His voice was careful – too careful, if anyone had been listening for it. No-one was, as a chorus of "But General!" rose up. He stood raising his hand. "I don’t like this any more than you do." For an instant, emotion came into his voice. "I served with her father – promised him I’d keep an eye on her. Do you think I like handing her over to Maybourne?" As quickly as it had come, it was gone again, and he was back to speaking quietly. "But, like I said, there’s nothing I can do." He sighed, almost theatrically. "It’s just like the Tollan situation all that time ago…." He let his voice trail off, looking each person in the eye, gratified to see their eyes light up in sudden memory – and understanding. He cocked his head to the side, and smiled slightly. "I’m going to be gone for the rest of the day …. My granddaughter has a school play I must attend. I won’t be able to be contacted… should anything happen." With a twinkle in his eye, he left.
Jack and Daniel stared at each other, as Janet and Teal’c did likewise. "He didn’t mean…." Daniel couldn’t finish the sentence.
"Ifhe did…" Jack stared at Janet. "Would we be able to get Carter out of here?"
Janet considered her answer. "If I said we didn’t need guards outside the room… and if I turned my back at the right time…she could travel."
"If we can get to the Gate…." Daniel’s mind was on all the possibilities.
"You’d have to take her through," Jack reminded him, which gained a nod from Daniel. Jack frowned at his seeming calm. "You do remember what Maybourne said the last time? You know what could happen?"
Daniel looked up at him, eyes steady.Getting thrown out of the project. Getting thrown in jail. Interrogated by Maybourne. Sam being well. Being Sam.When he spoke, his voice was certain. "It’s worth it."
>*<*>*<
As Janet had promised, she had Sam ready to be moved late that night when only a skeleton crew manned the base. She’d told Daniel that she’d sedated Sam, and left on the stand beside the bed a syringe with something that would wake Sam once they went through the Gate. He stood for a moment looking down at Sam as she lay there, still twitching restlessly every now and again. Scooping her up, he kissed the top of her head gently and hoped that whatever part of her had heard him before heard him again now. "We’re going to get you better Sam."
On his way to the Control Room, he didn’t meet anyone he knew, and he hoped Jack had managed to get everyone out of there. His heart sank when he turned the corner and walked straight into Sergeant Harriman, who had obviously just left there. "Walter!" he exclaimed, unable to keep the shock and guilt out of his voice. "I was um…."
He could see Harriman look to Sam, then to him, then turn to see the door that Daniel was obviously heading towards. "Maybourne said he was taking Major Carter tomorrow morning, didn’t he?" Daniel nodded. "How are you going to operate the gate when there’s no-one in the control room?"
The question was obvious, and Daniel realised he had no choice but to answer it. "I was going to set it to go, and then go down with Sam."
Harriman nodded. "That’d work. But it’s risky if you’re discovered. You’d stand a better chance if someone was working from the control room, and sealed the blast doors."
Daniel blinked. "Someone could get court-martialled for doing that."
Harriman grinned. "Someone could insert an automatic code into the computer to make it work … or make it look like someone had … if someone knew how to do that."
Daniel would have hugged the bespectacled technician, had he not had Sam in his arms. "Walter…"
"Just go Daniel." Harriman began his walk to the control room. "Just get her better."
>*<*>*<
Once Daniel stepped through the Gate with Sam, a cry went up in the village, and Bra’tawn and several others arrived quickly. "She sleeps?" Bra’tawn enquired.
"Yes. I have something to wake her." Daniel resisted all attempts to have Sam taken from him, casting a nervous glance back to the Stargate. "Please, can we hurry? I may not have much time."
"Of course." One woman led the way to a dwelling place at the edge of the settlement, and part of Daniel was taken aback to see what it looked like. It was a small, round hut, with a conical shaped thatched roof.Oh wow, a real crannóg!Inside, someone had left lights burning, and the room was large and open. Daniel instantly snapped himself back to attention, laying Sam on the bed in the corner. "I hope this works," he muttered to himself as he injected Sam with the contents of the syringe.
He held his breath, looking at her face closely, waiting for any sign that she was waking up. It didn’t take long for her eyelids to flutter, and he sent a sincere mental "thank you" to Janet. When Sam’s eyes eventually opened, the first thing they saw was his face.
"Daniel?" Her voice was the barest hint of a whisper.
He smiled, reaching down and brushing her hair back from her forehead. "Hey." He kept his voice low too, conscious of the audience watching from a respectful distance. "How are you feeling?"
She closed her eyes. "The voices are gone…. just yours….." She opened her eyes again, looking around for the first time. "Daniel, where are we?"
He gripped her hands tightly, his eyes boring lasers into hers. "Sam, it’s a long story, and I’m not sure we’ve got the time now, so you need to listen. OK?" She nodded. "I brought you back to P3X-451. When you accepted that amulet from I’vlin, there was some kind of transfer of psychic powers…that’s how you heard the voices. They were thoughts, our thoughts. Bra’tawn and his people have told us that you can learn to control them, and that’s what they’re going to teach you."
"And I’m not supposed to be here, am I?" There were tears in Sam’s eyes. Whether she had read his thoughts or guessed the facts from experience, Daniel wasn’t sure, but he knew he couldn’t lie to her.
"No. This was strictly outside the book."
"So I have to stay here?"
The pleading note in her voice tore at his heart. If there was one unspoken rule among the members of SG-1, it was this – no-one gets left behind. It had been broken only on very rare occasions, and reversed as soon as possible, leaving them to handle issues of guilt and abandonment. "I swear Sam, I’ll come back." He had been holding her hands, now he released them, pulling her into a hug. "I promise."
She held him tightly, the sincerity of his words bringing her some comfort. When he released her, she stared into his eyes again, speaking words she hated to say. "You should leave now."
He nodded, and helped her up, as the villagers brought them back to the Stargate.
>*<*>*<
When Daniel came back through to the deserted embarkation room, he instantly looked up to the control booth. Walter Harriman was still there, still on his own, and Daniel quickly thanked a God he wasn’t sure he believed in. Walter gave him a thumbs up sign, and the second that he did, the doors of the embarkation room swished open and Maybourne, Jack and Janet all rushed in. From the colour of Maybourne’s face – a most unflattering shade of scarlet – Daniel had a feeling that their plan had been figured out.
It was Maybourne who spoke first, his voice thick with fury. "Doctor Jackson what are you doing here?" There was a goodly hint of suspicion there too, and Daniel felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
"I called him Colonel," Janet quickly spoke up. "Once I found out that Major Carter had left the infirmary, I asked Colonel O’Neill and Doctor Jackson to search the base for her. I thought she might respond to them."
Daniel nodded, thinking quickly. "And I thought she might have gone through to the planet, so I checked here. But nothing."
Maybourne’s gaze swung to Harriman. "Sergeant, has there been any Gate activity?"
Harriman made a show of checking the computer. "Negative Colonel. The computer readouts show that the last time the Gate opened was when SG-7 came back."
Knowing that SG-7 had come back some three hours before Daniel had left, Jack looked at Harriman, just managing to keep the surprise out of his face. "According to the experts," he said, a grin of satisfaction somewhere about the surface, "Those computers can’t be altered."Walter, I don’t know how you did it, but remind me to buy you a drink.
Maybourne stared at all three of them, his face growing redder by the second. "Search the base!" he commanded. "And get General Hammond in here now!" He stormed out of the room, leaving the four conspirators exchanging happy smiles.
>*<*>*<
It had been four weeks since Daniel had left Sam on P3X-451, and in that time, life had somewhat returned to normal amongst SG-1. Maybourne had been furious about the lapse in base security that had allowed Sam to depart to points unknown, and had every state trooper in the area searching for her. He was suspicious of the involvement of SG-1, but he couldn’t find any proof, and anyone on the base who may have been equally suspicious closed ranks and kept their mouth shut. General Hammond blustered to the right people, and if a wink was ever exchanged between him and SG-1, anyone who saw it was wise enough not to comment on it.
Sam’s replacement on SG-1 was a tough-as-nails, by the book Captain Arthur Kerrigan. He didn’t trust Teal’c, treated Daniel as an inconvenience, and infuriated Jack beyond measure. They all missed Sam, more than they ever thought they would.
A week of downtime was scheduled, and SG-1 had one more debriefing to go through before they could go on their way. They were literally counting down the hours – Jack in particular couldn’t wait to get away from Kerrigan, and had decided to bring Teal’c fishing. He’d invited Daniel, who was hedging. "C’mon Daniel," Jack had said on innumerable occasions. "What else are you going to do on your vacation?"
The answer to that came, surprisingly enough, from General Hammond.
At the end of their debriefing, he turned to Daniel. "Do you have plans for your vacation Doctor Jackson?"
Daniel was taken aback by the question and was fully expecting to be requisitioned for further duty. "No Sir … none in particular." He blinked, waiting for General Hammond to continue. "Why?"
"No reason, no reason." Hammond smiled, holding his hands up as if to ward off any bad feelings Daniel might be sending his way. Daniel and Jack started at that – Hammond almost never smiled. "It just struck me that you haven’t been back to Abydos in quite some time. I thought you might like to go through the Gate to see your family there."
Daniel tilted his head, frowning deeply. General Hammond had never made an offer like that before, and he couldn’t help but think he was missing something. "That … would be…nice…" He spoke slowly, carefully, brain whirring.
"Excellent!" Hammond stood up, effectively declaring the meeting over. "I’ll clear it with the relevant people." He remained standing as the rest of the group left, with Daniel bringing up the rear. "Of course," he said as Daniel went by, so quietly that no-one else could hear. "Just because yougoto Abydos, doesn’t mean you have tostayon Abydos."
Daniel felt the missing piece of the puzzle click into place, and he met General Hammond’s eyes, making sure he had heard what he thought he had heard. Hammond responded with a nod before he walked out.
>*<*>*<
Daniel stepped through the Gate onto P3X-451, wondering all the while what the people on Abydos must be thinking of him. He’d gone there the day before, and literally stayed there overnight, catching up with all that had happened to Kasuf and Skaara since he’d seen them last. It had been a brief trip, but a good one, and he’d told Kasuf where he was going, just in case anyone came through the Gate looking for him.
The square was quiet, and only a few people were scattered about the streets of the town. No-one paid attention to the opening of the Stargate, and the lone traveller that came through. Daniel looked around, wondering how in the world he was going to find Sam. He wasn’t sure that he’d remember where to go, and even if he did, how did he know she was still there? They might have moved her anywhere.
Making his way across the square, he fought to conceal his interest in the structures around him. The village was almost an exact replica of descriptions of early Bronze Age settlements in pre-Christian Ireland, an area he had never had a chance to do much study in, save the obligatory semester in college. To actually live in such a place was an archaeologist’s dream – he must have a talk to Sam about it. To his left, he heard the laughter of children, and despite himself, he stopped to look. There were two women with him, wearing almost identical dresses, one dark blue, one a rusty red. There was something different about the woman in red – while the other woman had hair that fell to her waist, as did almost every woman he’d seen there, hers was short and blonde. That wasn’t the only thing that was familiar about her though – the way she stood, the way she moved….Daniel’s brain realised who she was, but he couldn’t quite get his mouth to translate the face.
He didn’t need to however. All of a sudden, the woman stopped what she was doing, turning away from the small child she had been talking to. She looked right at Daniel, and a huge smile lit up her face. Daniel smiled in response.
Evidently, Sam was having trouble making her mouth work too, because she ran to Daniel and literally flung herself into his arms. She wrapped both arms around his neck and held onto him tightly, as he closed his eyes and did likewise, one hand on her back, the other cupping the back of her head. He wasn’t sure how long they stood like that, just holding each other, but all too soon, Sam pulled away from him. "Daniel, what are you doing here?"
He shrugged. "We had some vacation time … General Hammond made a suggestion that I should spend some time on Abydos."
Sam blinked. "You took a wrong turn somewhere you know."
Daniel grinned. "Then he reminded me that just because I went to Abydos, I didn’t have to stay there."
An answering grin spread over Sam’s face. "Tell him I said thank you." She looked down at the ground. "I missed you all."
Daniel could only pull her into another hug. "We missed you too."
>*<*>*<
They made their way to the hut where Sam was living, and this time, Daniel couldn’t hide his delight. He stood outside for a moment, staring at it. "Wow."
Sam shook her head, fighting back the urge to laugh.It’s good to know some things never change."You gonna catch flies all day or are you coming in?"
Daniel took the hint and followed her in, looking around with interest. The crannóg was basically an open room, although there was another room at the very back, a feature missing in any replicas Daniel had ever seen or heard of. Also unlike traditional crannógs, there was an apparatus in the middle which looked suspiciously like a fuel-burning stove. From it came some kind of pipe, which went straight up in the air, as far as and through the cone shaped roof. The floor was earth, and the only furniture was a table, a couple of chairs and a bed, which was a mattress on the floor covered with wonderfully warm-looking blankets.
Sam caught his intent gaze. "Be it ever so humble…."
Her voice brought him back to reality. "I have some things that might help with that." Placing his bag on the table, he began to rummage through it, as she sat down on one of the chairs. "I come bearing gifts." The first package was greeted with a squeal from Sam. "I know it’s only instant," he told her apologetically, as he handed her the jar of coffee.
"I don’t care!" She waved his concerns aside, ecstatic at the thought of having coffee of any sort, holding the jar as if it were gold.
The next "gift" was a bundle of letters. "There’s one from everyone. Jack, Janet, Cassie…even Teal’c."
Sam raised an eyebrow – the bundle was at least an inch thick. "Just from them?"
"OK, a few more people. Once the grapevine heard I was coming here….." He shrugged again. "And Janet and Cassie’s are kind of long...likeWar and Peacelong…"
Sam nodded, a bittersweet smile on her face. "I’ll read them later."
"And last…" With a flourish, Daniel produced a framed picture, one that had been taken at Cassie’s birthday party. It showed the girl with Janet and the four members of SG-1, all of them laughing, mostly to do, they both remembered, with Teal’c’s reaction to the sweetness of birthday cake.
Sam took the picture as if in a trance, tracing each face with her index finger. When she looked up again, her eyes were shining with tears and she couldn’t speak. Instead, she put the picture on the table and reached across to squeeze his hand.
He squeezed back, waiting for her to regain her composure. When she did, he looked her in the eyes again. "How are you Sam?"
She looked down at their joined hands. "I’m fine Daniel," she nodded. "Really."
"And the ah….um…." He raised his other hand and made little circles around his head.
She relaxed in her chair – some things really didn’t change. "It’s not easy," she told him frankly. "But I’m getting there. Slowly." She looked around her. "This was I’vlin’s house – her family let me stay here. The woman I was with when you came, Sur’cha? She’s I’vlin’s niece. She’s been so nice. Bra’tawn taught me how to block thoughts. It just takes practice, so that it’s second nature." She sighed. "And I have to learn how to block my own thoughts from others – that’s harder."
He nodded. "So once you have that learned…."
"I should be able to go back. But being here… it was just what I needed." There was a pause. "Thank you."
Daniel shrugged, downplaying the situation. "Bra’tawn told Jack and Teal’c that he could help you here. You told me the same thing. What else was I going to do?"
Sam was thoughtful for a moment. His words has awakened a memory in her, of a conversation she had had with Sur’cha when she first came to the village. Sam had told her what it had been like when she went back through the Gate, and how she had been able to speak to Daniel, and told him to bring her back. Sur’cha’s eyes had grown wide in surprise. "Samantha, that cannot be possible!" she had told her.
To say that Sam had been surprised was an understatement. "Why not?" she had asked.
"To make contact with one who shares not your powers … when you yourself have not been trained in using them … this is unheard of. Such a deep connection is rare among our people." She’d noticed Sam’s puzzlement. "Is this the same man who came with you to this world?" When Sam nodded, she went on. "Is he your man?"
Sam’s jaw had dropped, and she had hastily issued a denial. "No! Daniel and I are just friends!" There had been a sceptical look on Sur’cha’s face, so she continued. "We’re close … he’s my best friend."
Sur’cha had nodded, but said nothing more.
Daniel’s voice snapped her back to reality. "Sam?" When she finally focused on him again, there was a smile on his face. "Where were you?"
"Nowhere." She smiled, searching quickly for something – anything – to change the subject. She found one in the form of a question that had been bugging her for weeks. "How did you pull this off?"
Daniel was all innocence. "Pull what off?"
"Getting me here. I can’t imagine that the powers that be were too thrilled about it."
"Not really." Daniel decided to be totally honest with her. "General Hammond was quite happy to let you come here. He’d decided to let you too. Until Maybourne showed up. He wanted to take you to N.I.D." He noticed Sam’s shudder, and knew why. "Janet made up a story about how you couldn’t possibly travel…that bought us some time. Then General Hammond, he reminded us about how we saved the Tollan…so we got to work."
Sam nodded, having pretty much guessed that. "How did you work the Gate?"
"That was luck. I walked into Walter Harriman on my way to bring you out…he figured out what we were doing, and told me to go to the Gate, he’d work the controls." He chuckled to himself. "He did good too…even worked the computers to erase any gate activity – as far as the record’s concerned, we never went through. And I never came back." Looking at Sam’s shocked gaze, he nodded. "Oh yes, it’s quite the cover-up….and anyone who suspects what happened isn’t saying."
Sam was amazed. "Good old Walter."
"Yeah. Oh, I almost forgot!" Daniel was rummaging through his bag again as he spoke. He finally produced a remote signaller, the kind that all the SG teams used to indicate who was coming through the gate. "Walter got me this for you. Whenever you’re ready to come home, you can use this. It’s set so we’ll know it’s you. Walter’s briefed everyone on what to do when it’s activated."
Sam fingered the device. "You’ve thought of everything." Then a chuckle fought its way to the surface. "Maybourne must’ve been furious!"
Daniel laughed outright. "I wish you’d seen his face – it was priceless!"
"I can’t believe you all did this…" Her voice was quiet.
Daniel reached over and took her hand. "We’re family Sam," he reminded her, his own voice also quiet. "We take care of each other."
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Tearing her eyes away from Daniel’s face, Sam took a deep breath before she called out, "Come in!"
The woman in blue that he had first seen with Sam – Sur’cha she had said her name was – came in, smiling at the stranger. "Greetings Samantha." She eyed Daniel with open interest.
Sam smiled up at her friend, able to guess exactly why Sur’cha had shown up here. "Greetings Sur’cha. This is my friend Daniel. Daniel, this is Sur’cha."
"Greetings Daniel."
"Greetings."
Sur’cha looked from Sam to Daniel and back again, apparently waiting for either of tem to say something. When they remained quiet, she smiled at Sam. "Samantha, the cayla is to start soon. Will your Daniel be joining us?"
Daniel started at the mention of him as "her" Daniel, but Sam didn’t blink, having known that Sur’cha was going to say something along those lines, and thanking her lucky stars that it had been that mild. "I think so." She looked at Daniel, raising her eyebrows in question.
"A cayla?" He blinked, running the word through his head, knowing that it sounded somewhat familiar, going through his knowledge of Celtic languages. "What exactly…."
"It is a gathering of the village," Sur’cha told him. "Tonight, it is to celebrate the engagement of my cousin Ka’thrine to Chr’stoph, son of Bra’tawn."
That jogged Daniel’s memory. "Cayla! Like ceili, from Gaelic." He looked from Sam to Sur’cha. "It’s a party."
The two women looked at each other. Sur’cha hid a grin while Sam just nodded. "Basically … yes."
"Sounds good to me."
>*<*>*<
Daniel wasn’t sure what to expect when they got to the cayla. Sam hadn’t told him anything about it, just smiled and hummed a little tune to herself as they walked through the village, every now and then offering to people they passed. As he observed her, Daniel couldn’t help but notice a subtle change in Sam. Back on Earth, she had always been somewhat guarded in public, or even in private, until you got to know her. It was rare that she opened up to people, only doing so when she knew that she could trust them. The only chink in her armour, he had learned, was to talk to her about science – she could talk about that forever. It was something that had drawn him to her on Abydos, when he’d hid a smile over her enthusiasm about the DHD, and shared a spirited discussion, to the bemusement of Jack and Kawalsky, on the workings of the Gate. He’d recognised a kindred spirit in her the moment he met her, and he liked to think she felt the same about him. That feeling of kinship had only grown stronger as time passed, but it was only sometimes that he saw her like that, what he thought of privately as her "Sam-mode" rather than her "Major-Carter-mode"
Here, she was Sam all the time – not a trace of Major Carter remained.
He thought he could get used to that.
Finally, they came to another, slightly larger, crannóg, and from the noise coming from it, he supposed that this was where the cayla was taking place. Sam turned to him, a grin on her face as she pushed open the door without knocking first. When he hesitated, she beckoned him in. "Come on – it’s ok."
"Shouldn’t we….?" He looked at her hesitantly, standing there, shaking her head. He could nearly hear her impatience as she reached out and fairly dragged him through the door. "Guess not."
The crannóg was dark, although there were plenty of lamps lit to keep the night at bay. The fire in the stove was burning merrily, and that and the heat of so many bodies hit Daniel the second he came in. Compared to the chill of the air outside, it was a welcome relief. People were standing around, chatting, and in the corner, a group of men and women were playing music. He stared at them with interest, wondering if he’d be able to get a good look at the instruments, so engrossed in the sight that he barely noticed Sam speaking to him. A tug at his arm finally dragged him back to reality, and Sam introduced him to the engaged couple. Another tug of the arm and he was following her across the room to a bench, where they sat down as a cup of some sort of drink was pushed into each of their hands.
"Sip it," Sam advised him, leaning close to be heard over the music. "It goes down better that way."
Daniel did so, and was surprised at the taste – almost like brandy, but deeper somehow, richer. "It’s nice," he told her. "Um…what is it?"
Sam took another sip before replying. "It’s Bra’tawn’s home brew"
Daniel’s eyebrows climbed a little. "Hooch?"
She laughed. "No…it’s not alcoholic….you won’t get drunk, you won’t get hungover….just a little blurred."
"Blurred?"
"Takes the edge off." Sam looked across the room, at the dancers who were just beginning to move to the music. "And yes," she leaned over, making sure he heard her, "We’ll make sure you get to see the instruments before you go."
He turned to her, surprised again by the statement. "How did you…?" The thought came unbidden that she’d read his mind…but she wouldn’t do that – would she?
"I didn’t read your mind Daniel." She looked to the ceiling for a moment, realising how that probably sounded. "I knew from your face what you were thinking. You had that look…."
"That look?"
"The one you get every time you find a new artefact. I hadn’t seen it in a while." She paused, for what seemed like a long time. "I didn’t know how much I missed it." She didn’t get a chance to say anything else, before Sur’cha came over to them, dragging Sam up and to the dance floor. Sam laughed again, looking back over her shoulder at him. "Coming?"
"I’ll sit this one out thanks." Daniel raised his glass to her, watching as she and Sur’cha moved through the crowd, taking part in the complicated step dances. He thought he could recognise similarities between these and traditional Irish step dances. He wondered where he could research that, then taking another sip of his drink, just sat back and relaxed, and watched Sam.
>*<*>*<
Daniel had to admit that Sam knew what she was talking about when it came to that hooch – not only did it have a very nice taste, but at the end of the night, he wasn’t feeling remotely drunk - especially compared to how he’d be feeling right about now if a certain colonel had been administering the drinks. For all that though, he did feel sufficiently blurred enough not to feel the cold damp chill in the air as they walked back to Sam’s, blurred enough to stand just a little closer to her than would normally be allowed as she walked along.
He was glad that she’d had the foresight to leave a log burning in the stove when they left, because the crannóg was nice and warm. Sam, humming one of the tunes played by the musicians, asked, "Did you enjoy yourself?" as she lit the lamps.
"It was great." If Daniel sounded a little preoccupied, that’s probably because he was. It was dark and cold outside, they had been among the last to leave the cayla, and he knew that he and Sam were both tired. It was time to hit the hay, but looking around, he came to the conclusion that there was no hay for him to hit. "Sam?"
She turned and looked at him curiously following his gaze, knowing yet again what he was thinking. "Oh."
"It’s ok, it’s ok," he said quickly. "I can sleep on the…," He looked down at the earthen floor, the dust of which was coating his boots. "Floor."
Sam shrugged, treating the problem with less attention than he was. "It’s no problem. You can share with me."
He just about managed to keep his jaw from meeting the aforementioned earthen floor. On one hand, the bed was certainly wide enough for two, and looked incredibly inviting, not to mention incredibly warm. On the other hand though, he had a feeling that that was crossing a line he had no business crossing. "Oh Sam….that’s really not necessary…the floor will be fine…," he hedged for all he was worth.
"The floor will have you sneezing your head off," Sam pointed out practically, knowing instinctively what he was thinking. "And it’s freezing here at night – you'd be lucky if you didn’t catch pneumonia." She waved at the bed. "There’s plenty of room."
He was silent for a moment, regarding her steadily. "Sam, I just don’t think…."
She shook her head, cutting him off. "Fine. If that’s the way you want it." Her voice trailed off, but seconds later, he heard her.I just don’t want to be alone anymore.She hadn’t spoken, but her words echoed in his head as clearly as if she had. His eyes widened as he realised what had happened, as did hers. Then she closed hers and turned away from him, her shoulders sagging.
Daniel felt a wave of guilt surge up as he looked at her back and realised what had happened. She’d told him earlier that it was harder for her to keep her thoughts in than to block the thoughts of others. She’d adapted very well, but with the villagers, it was probably easier. They were all trained at keeping their thoughts blocked as well, as well as blocking the thoughts of others. He had no training in either area. She’d been with him for most of the day – keeping the guards up, keeping his thoughts at bay must have exhausted her, in addition to the effort she was putting in to keeping her thoughts in, away from the rest of the village. And between the tiredness, and the fact that he was a walking reminder of the home she missed, and the hooch, and them disagreeing, her guards had slipped momentarily, and she'd projected something to him.
And that moment had revealed more to him about her state of mind than anything else so far that day.
Walking up to her, he placed both hands on her shoulders, letting his head rest against hers. Placing a brief kiss on top of her head without thinking, he let himself linger there, caught by surprise by the scent of flowers from her hair. "I’m sorry."
"No…I should be apologising." As he looked down at her, he could see that she was in "Major-Carter-mode", and knew what was coming next. "I didn’t mean to let my blocks down…"
"It’s ok. It’s me remember?" He turned her to face him gently. "You can tell me how you’re feeling Sam – that’s what I’m here for."
She stared up at him briefly, then buried her head in his chest, wrapping both arms around his waist. He returned the gesture, one hand tracing circles on her back. "It’s just sometimes…," she murmured, unable to look up. "Everyone here’s been so friendly – but it’s not home. Not family."
"I know. I know." He had the strangest sense that there was something she was holding back from him, but he knew that if there was, she'd tell him when she was good and ready. She always did. When he sensed that she was feeling better, he looked over at the still-welcoming bed. "So which side do you want?"
The question, and the suddenness of it, had the desired effect of making Sam giggle, and she pulled herself out of his arms. "Doesn’t matter," she told him.
"Right." Daniel looked around. "Do you…ah….um…."
Was that a smile sneaking around Sam’s face? "I’ll change in the bathroom." She gestured to the other room he had noticed earlier. "You change here. You might want to put another log on the stove before you do though."
Daniel took her advice, and changed hurriedly into his sweats and T-shirt. He was about ready to get into bed when her voice drifted from behind the closed door. "You decent out there?"
"It's fine," he called, only looking up when she was already out. A guffaw escaped before he bit any further explosions back – but only just.
Sam was having trouble keeping a straight face as she approached him. "Go on. Say it."
"Say what?" he managed to get out, in a voice that didn’t sound anything like his own.
Sam looked down unselfconsciously at her voluminous night-gown. "That I look like something fromLittle House on the Prairie."
"Well," Daniel was all innocence. "I was actually gonna sayThe Waltons, but yours works too!"
That did it for the pair of them – they were both laughing, the joke dispelling any awkwardness. "It’s warm, ok?" she insisted.
He held up his hands in mock surrender, laughing too hard to say anything anyway. She wisely kept quiet as well as they made themselves comfortable. Lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling, Daniel realised that if anything, the bed was even more comfortable than he had supposed. He turned his head to take one last look at Sam as she rested the lamp on the floor and blew it out.
In the darkness, he felt her turn over and rest on her side, her back to him. "Night Daniel," she murmured sleepily.
"Night." He was sure that it would take him a while to fall asleep – it nearly always did – and wondered if the nightmare would wake him tonight, as it had every night for the past four weeks. The one where Sam was screaming, crying, begging him to help her, before she was swallowed up by some great darkness.
Tonight though, he fell asleep quickly and didn’t wake until morning.
>*<*>*<
Sam woke from a dreamless sleep, knowing that something was different but not yet being awake enough to know what. Not opening her eyes, she let her thoughts drift up through the levels of consciousness, becoming as she did, aware of feelings and emotions that were both her own and not her own…..feelings of peace, contentment, happiness. She smiled, snuggling deeper down into the bed, her contemplation ending with a start when she realised that she wasn’t alone.Danielshe remembered, automatically raising her telepathic blocks at the thought of her friend.
As she slowly came to, she noticed that things were not as they had been last night. When she fell asleep, there had been a tract of space between herself and Daniel, each of them keeping well away from the other so as not to cross any lines. Somewhere in the night, they had abandoned that restraint, so that now, her head was resting on his chest, hand over his heart, and his arms were wrapped around her waist.
She knew that she should disentangle herself from him, that if Daniel woke up, he’d probably be mortally embarrassed about the situation they were in. But she couldn’t.
You did say you didn’t want to be alone any moreshe reminded herself.
And that was the whole problem. Sam had been living in this community, learning their ways long enough to know that what had happened last night technically wasn't possible. The villagers were all trained telepaths, able to transmit and receive thoughts as she was. But she wasn't skilled enough yet to transmit her thoughts coherently…and even if she were, there was no way that Daniel, a non-telepath, should have been able to pick up on them.
It appeared she wasn't alone anymore. That somehow, some way, she was linked to Daniel.
Another voice came to her, the voice of sanity, of reason.This is getting too close … you work together …
It’s totally innocent!The first voice protested.It’s not as if anything happened between us…
But you want it to…The first voice was back, sounding like an odd mixture of Sur'cha and Janet…and carrying more truth than Sam would like to admit.
It doesn't matter how I feel…he doesn't feel the same way.
How do you know? Don't you want to find out?
The thought was tempting, and lifting her head slightly, Sam looked at Daniel, still sound asleep. She smothered a smile – she’d watched Daniel sleep many times when she was on watch off-world. She’d seen him twist and turn, call out, even wake up screaming. She’d never seen him like this.I could get used to thisshe admitted to herself. It would be so easy, so simple to look inside his mind, see how he really felt about her. Nonetheless, she squashed the impulse as soon as it arose…..no matter how much she wanted to know, she couldn't do that to Daniel. Or to herself. Sighing, she let her head fall back onto Daniel's chest, listening to his heart beat. Committing every moment to memory.
She strengthened her blocks even further as she felt Daniel's chin brush against the top of her head. Knowing that he was waking up, she quickly feigned sleep. She couldn’t tell what his thoughts were, resolutely refusing to let herself slip that way again. However, he didn’t pull away when he realised where he was and who he was holding. There was no sudden burst of alarm or shock when the realisation came either – if there had been, given the proximity and the emotion, it would more than likely have breached her blocks, no matter how much she tried to keep them up. He lay still for a few moments, not moving. Then one hand reached up and began to move through her hair.
Sam once more stifled a smile, and stirred herself, letting Daniel know that she was waking up. She expected him to move his hand away, but he didn’t. When she did raise her head, blue eyes meet blue, one pair questioning, the other clear and open. Daniel’s lips were curved into a soft smile, and Sam felt her own follow suit.
>*<*>*<
They didn’t speak much that morning. They’d often been able to communicate without words in the past, the fact that they’d been separated for a month hadn’t changed that. The day was spent showing Daniel around the village, explaining how different things worked, and showing him everything he wanted to see. He was fascinated, as Sam had known he would be, and Bra’tawn even told him that he could help work on building a crannóg with the rest of the village men. That was how he passed the week – finding out as much as he could about the settlement, and spending time with Sam. They had a month’s worth of news to catch up on – not that they had ever had a problem finding things to discuss anyway. And every night, they would retire to Sam’s crannóg, relax over a cup of coffee, sleeping patterns be damned. When they finally did go to bed, they followed the same pattern as that first night. Distance would be maintained at night, but in the morning, they would find themselves in one another’s arms.
During one of their chats, Daniel was talking a mile a minute about how fascinating the village was. "It’s exactly as if it were picked up out of Bronze Age Ireland and put here!" he enthused. "Can I ask you a question?"
The last came so suddenly that Sam was momentarily shocked. "Sure."
"When I first came through the gate…when I was walking through the village…the first time you saw me…." Sam was nodding as he spoke. "You had your back to me, yet you turned and looked right at me. Did you know I was there or…?"
"I knew." Sam interrupted him quietly. "I heard you. I heard your thoughts."
Daniel tilted his head. "I thought that you had guards against that…"
Sam shrugged. "Bra’tawn says that I’m learning quickly. But I’m still not as strong as I could be. And when you were looking at me…. whatever you were feeling was so strong…it just slipped by them." She met his gaze. "It happens."
He nodded, seeming to accept that, then he looked at her again in that way he had, the way that warned her he had another question for her. "Can it go the other way?"
"How do you mean?"
He tried to chuckle, but the effort died in his throat and he looked down into his cup of coffee. "It’s nothing…it’s just when I woke up that first morning….for a minute, I thought….never mind…." He chanced a look up at Sam and started at the look on her face. "Are you ok?"
Sam considered denying everything, then realised there was no point. Daniel knew her too well - he'd be able to tell that she was lying. He'd always been able to do that. "When I woke up that day…" she began, "I could sense your emotions…just like I could when you first arrived…" She met his gaze, as confused as he was. "But you shouldn’t have been able to feel that." His eyebrows raised, and she decided that she might as well tell him the whole truth while she was at it. "And that day…in the infirmary…."
"When you were able to talk to me?"
"According to Sur’cha, we shouldn’t have been able to do that either. You don’t have the power, and I wasn’t trained in using mine…"
They were silent, reflecting on the puzzle that had been thrust into their laps, each having their own half-formed theories on what might have happened, but neither willing to say anything. The silence was broken by a yawn from Daniel. Sam giggled. "Time for bed Doctor Jackson."
Daniel stood, ever the gentleman. "After you Major Doctor."
>*<*>*<
All too soon, Daniel’s vacation was at an end and he had to go back through the Stargate. He was besieged with requests to know how Sam was – somehow, his unauthorised and highly secret detour had become public knowledge, not that that was a surprise when it came to how gossip travelled around Cheyenne Mountain. He told everyone the truth – that she was well, and happy, and getting better. The only thing he couldn’t tell them was when she was coming home.
So he went about his business as best he could, going on missions with the team, logging artefacts, and going to hockey nights with Jack and Teal’c – they never invited Kerrigan. But there was something missing. They all knew it, but never discussed it. And Daniel missed it - missed Sam - most of all.
He'd never realised how much he'd come to depend on Sam. She was his buffer from Jack's sarcasm, his antidote to Teal'c reticence, his back-up when Janet started complaining about the amount of coffee the two of them consumed, especially during all-night research sessions for him, all-nighters in the lab for her. She was the one who dragged him to the commissary when he'd forgotten to eat - although it was a standing joke between them that he didn't know if he should thank her for that. She was the one he went to with his crazy ideas, knowing that he'd find an audience with her, and she returned the favour with him. She was the one he'd turned to after Sha're had died - even in his dream, she'd visited him in the infirmary, he'd turned to her when he'd awoken in the middle of the night. Both events had played out several times over the past few years. She was his teammate. His confidante. His comfort.
His best friend.
And he missed her.
More than he should.
Since he'd returned from his vacation, he'd woken more nights than he could count, always in the same way, feeling as if there was someone beside him, someone lying in his arms. The sense of warmth and familiarity was so real to him, a sensation he hadn't known since Abydos…a feeling he missed immediately when he woke up alone, longing for someone who wasn't there, who was literally worlds away from him.
This is crazyhe'd said to himself on more than one occasion.Sam's my best friend…I work with her…nothing can happen between us.
It already has though.
Ah, for cryin' out loud, don't be so ridiculous.Why his inner voice sounded like Jack Daniel could never quite fathom. Still he found himself arguing with it in much the same way that he argued with the real Jack.
I've known it for a long time…I just didn't realise it until now. Seeing her so ill…having to leave her…spending that time with her again, just the two of us. I can't help it.
His inner voice snorted derisively.Sha're flashbacks. Abydos déjà vu. Get over it.
But I don't want to! And what about in the infirmary? Me being able to talk to her, her being able to sense my thoughts… we shouldn't be able to do that. What if that's the universe's way of telling us that there's some kind of bond there, that we're meant to be together?
What if she doesn't feel the same?
Always the thoughts ended there. There was no way of knowing how Sam felt, no way of knowing what might happen in the future. At least not until she came back. All he could do was wait.
>*<*>*<
About a month after his vacation, SG-1 came back through the Gate, met as always by General Hammond. He nodded his greetings to them, then told Kerrigan to report to the infirmary, while telling the other three to follow him. They exchanged worried glances, wondering just what they were in trouble for this time – General Hammond did not look like a happy camper.
Daniel met Jack's gaze as they followed the General, wordlessly asking him what he'd done this time. Jack, for his part, had on his best bemused and innocent face, although Daniel had a feeling that he was mentally rehearsing plausible denials. Teal'c was his usual stoic self, no help there.
All became clear as General Hammond reached the closed door of his office, pausing before he opened the door. "There's someone here to see you," he said.
Then he swung the door open.
Jack was across the room before any of them could register what was happening. With a shout of "Sam!" he pulled her into a hug and spun her around. General Hammond stood at the door, smiling proudly, and Teal'c grinned. Daniel just stood there, looking at Sam and Jack. It seemed to take forever before he put her down, and Daniel couldn't help but notice that Sam seemed to look more uncomfortable than Jack. Jack had taken a step back from her, probably remembering just where and who they were. "Carter." He nodded. "You look well."
"Thank you Sir." She looked past him to Daniel and Teal'c, her gaze resting on Teal'c at first. "Teal'c."
Not for the Jaffa the boisterous display of O'Neill. "It is good to see you again Major Carter."
"And you." Finally, her gaze came to rest on Daniel. "Daniel."
Daniel tried to smile. He even tried to speak. Neither quite worked. So he did the next best thing. He walked over to Sam, took her in his arms, and just held her. He felt her arms slip around his waist, as one of his encircled her shoulders while the other cradled the back of her head. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on one thought.Welcome home Sam.
No sooner was the thought in his head than he felt Sam's arms tighten around his waist, almost imperceptibly, and he felt something…someone…flit across the surface of his thoughts. Nothing intrusive, just a feeling that someone was there.
Sam wasn't the only one who felt like they'd come home.
>*<*>*<
The party was at Jack's house, where Sam filled SG-1 in on the last few days as General Hammond, Janet and Cassie filled in the bits she left out. Also present was Walter Harriman, who had once again come up trumps for them.
"Once I saw Major…." A glare from Sam stopped him in his tracks with a sheepish smile. "Sam'sGDO code coming through, I alerted General Hammond. He cleared the room, just as Sam came through."
"Whereupon Janet put me through every medical test under the sun." Another of Sam's looks of death was dispatched to the good doctor, who merely smiled blithely, being used to such admonitions. "I haven't even been home since I got back."
"And?" Jack asked the question that everyone wanted to ask. "Are you…" He made several gestures to his head to get his point across.
"I'm still." Sam settled the matter simply.
"But according to all my tests, she's perfectly healthy. No abnormal readings whatsoever."
All eyes turned to Sam, who grinned. "Let's just say that I learned a few things in my time away."
Daniel tilted his head, regarding her quizzically. "You learned them quickly." It sounded like an observation to everyone else, but Sam caught the question behind it, and shrugged.
"Well…"
Whatever she was going to say was cut off by the ringing of the doorbell. Jack looked around the room frowning, knowing that everyone that they wanted at the party was already there. Crossing to the door, his heart sank when he saw who was there.
"I hope I'm not interrupting the party." Colonel Maybourne strode into the room, barging past Jack without waiting for an invitation.
"Oh, I doubt that," Jack muttered to himself more than anyone else, following Maybourne in.
"Well, Major Carter. I heard you were back. I trust you're well?"
"Fine thank you," Sam replied stiffly, looking as uncomfortable about everyone else in the room. This was a confrontation that she'd been expecting, but was still unprepared for.
"What do you want Harry?" Jack took the lead, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible.
"Since Major Carter was not able to accompany me to N.I.D. for tests at the time that her…condition…was diagnosed…I would appreciate it if she would do so now."
Sam sat quietly as Jack and Janet prepared to leap to her defence. "Look at her!" Jack's objection was first. "She's perfectly healthy."
"I'd like to have that checked out by our doctors."
"That won't be necessary Colonel." Janet was ready to fight fire with fire. "I've run an extensive range of tests on Major Carter, and they all show nothing out of the ordinary."
Maybourne snorted. "You would say that."
"They've been corroborated by two other doctors, neither of whom are stationed in Cheyenne Mountain, and who know nothing about the Stargate Project." Janet wasn’t giving an inch. "You'll have them first thing in the morning."
"I'd still like to bring her to N.I.D. for tests…." A simultaneous snort from Jack and Daniel interrupted him, but he kept on going. "I'm sure that General Hammond, you will authorise this."
All eyes turned to General Hammond, who had been standing at the window, for all intents and purposes, ignoring the conversation. "You'd be wrongColonel."
The emphasis on rank was unmistakable, and if a "yes!" escaped Jack's lips, then everyone was wise enough not to comment on it. Nonetheless, Maybourne didn't take the hint.
"General Hammond, this is a matter of national…"
"Security, I absolutely agree. But the fact of the matter is that Major Carter, in the past two days, has been through every test possible and has passed them all. That's enough for me, and it's also enough for the President of the United States…" Hammond drew a letter from his shirt pocket with all the skill and aplomb of a man who was totally confident in his facts. "…Which, if you read this letter, you will know."
Glances were exchanged as Maybourne read the letter, his face growing redder and redder by the second. When he looked up, his gaze locked on Sam. "If you think you're going to get away with this…."
"There's nothing to get away with, she's perfectly fine!" Jack wasn't having any of it. "And if that's all you're here for, then you can leave."
"I'm not going anywhere without Major Carter." Maybourne closed the space between them in seconds, grabbing her by the arm. Sam was more than capable of shaking him off, but Jack pulled him off her too, and pulled his arm back as if to hit him while Daniel moved over to beside Sam. Luckily, Teal'c, seeing where this was heading, grabbed Jack's arm and held it back easily. "I wouldn't do that if I were you Colonel," Maybourne snarled. "Getting you court-martialled would make my day right now."
"I think you should leave now Colonel Maybourne." Predictably, General Hammond was the first one to recover his powers of speech.
Maybourne seemed to take that piece of advice, and there was silence for a moment before Daniel stepped forward. "Oh, Colonel Maybourne?" Maybourne turned, not knowing what the young archaeologist was going to say to him.
Which was a mistake.
He came to that realisation about five seconds after the floor rushed up to meet him, courtesy of Daniel's fist connecting with his jaw. It was a further ten seconds before he realised that the words "Maybe Jack can't hit you but I sure as hell can," had indeed come from Dr Jackson.
If there was uncomfortable silence before, there was stunned silence now.
Maybourne picked himself up off the floor, glaring at Daniel. "You'll regret that Dr Jackson. I'll have you thrown off the project for this."
"For what?" Jack was all innocence.
"He hit me!"
"Hit you?" Butter wouldn't have melted in Jack's mouth. "Now, Harry, are you sure you haven't been hitting the beer with the rest of us? No-one hit you. You fell."
Maybourne's mouth opened and closed again as Janet chimed in with, "Sure looked that way to me."
"Me too," agreed Harriman.
"I too concur with that chain of events." Teal'c was as close to smiling as he ever got.
Maybourne met Hammond's gaze. "General…."
Hammond shrugged. "I didn't see a thing."
Maybourne glowered a little more, then gathering what was left of his dignity, turned on his heel and left.
All eyes turned to Daniel, who was looking down at his hand. "Ow," was the first thing he said.
Jack chuckled and shook his head. "Danny my friend, let me get you a drink. You certainly deserve one." Looking at Daniel staring worriedly at his rapidly reddening knuckles, he added, "And some ice for that hand."
>*<*>*<
The party went on for quite some time, and eventually, Sam was the first to stand up. "Right….sorry to break up the party guys, but all I want to do is go home and get some sleep."
Janet and Cassie exchanged a guilty look. "There might be a problem there Sam…." Janet began.
Sam frowned. "Problem?"
"You see, when we knew you'd be gone for a while, we kinda….well, we put your stuff in storage, turned off the power and heating…..and they're not back on yet." Janet gulped, wondering if Sam was up to some hand to hand combat yet. She knew she wasn't.
"But we took your plants home with us, they're fine!" Cassandra was looking on the bright side.
Sam blinked. "So, I guess I’m staying elsewhere….."
"I'd have you here, but the guest room's full of junk…." Jack was thinking out loud.
"You can have our couch…" Janet was feeling guilty.
Sam waved a hand. "Don't be silly. I can stay on the base for another few nights…" Her tone made it clear that the option didn't appeal to her, but if it was the only choice, then what choice did she have?
None, until Daniel spoke up. "Don't be silly Sam, you can stay with me."
"Are you sure?"
"If you can find the bed through the stacks of books and the odd artefact….or dozen…." Daniel shrugged. "It's no problem. Really."
Sam nodded. "Are you ready to go?"
"When you are."
>*<*>*<
Daniel looked from the page of his book to the luminous numbers of the bedside clock, which told him that it was only five minutes since the last time he looked. He sighed, knowing that sleep was going to be a long time coming. It was ironic, he supposed, that he'd been wishing that he had more time to read, and when he did, he couldn't concentrate. He'd been hoping that he and Sam would have a chance to talk when they got back to his place. Instead, he'd shown her to the spare room, and told her that he'd see her in the morning.
Yet even as he wished they could have talked, his subconscious chided him for being so selfish.She's just come home, she's been put through a battery of tests and you want to talk to her aboutyourfeelings? How selfish can you get Jackson?
He knew he'd done the right thing for Sam.
That just wasn't helping him get to sleep.
Five more minutes. Just to finish this page. Then I'll turn off the light.
He was scarcely a minute into his self-imposed bargain when he heard the distinct murmur of voices coming from the sitting room. Frowning, he laid down his book and sat up straight. Yes, definitely voices. Coming from the sitting room.
Following the noise, he smiled, realising that he should have figured out what it was he going to find. Sam was curled up on the couch, channel-surfing as quietly as possible. "Trouble sleeping?" he asked. He was surprised to see her jump, thinking that she'd have "heard" him coming.
Her self-conscious grin told him that she'd neither heard him coming nor expected him to be awake at this hour of the night. "I thought that some TV might help me relax," she told him.
Casting an eye at the infomercial that was currently on, promising a pen that would write on any surface, Daniel merely said, "Right." Settling himself beside her, he pulled some of her blanket over him too. "Anything decent on?"
More channels clicked by. "Not so far." A pause. Then finally, "Hockey!"
"You're kidding right?"
"Nope." Her eyes were glued to the screen. "Do you know how much I missed our hockey nights?"
"Who are you and what have you done with the real Sam Carter?" A slap on the arm greeted his attempt at humour, but the contact drew them closer together on the couch.
"I suppose it's like they say…you don't realise what you have until it's gone."
Daniel nodded. "We missed you too you know."
"I know." There was a small smile there. "I didn't think you would. I thought you'd all just go on without me."
"You know us better than that." They watched as a fight broke out on the screen. "Will you be coming straight back to work?"
"I hope so. Unless Maybourne pulls some strings." She looked up at him them, reaching out to take his hand in both of hers. "How's your hand?"
The knuckles were turning a lighter shade of red by then, so Daniel was able to say, quite truthfully, "Fine."
Sam chuckled. "I can't believe you did that." She didn't let go of his hand.
"I couldn't quite believe it myself," Daniel told her. "I'm not sure what came over me. Sorry."
"Sorry?"
"I mean….if it makes things harder for you in the long run….."
She shook her head, blond locks bouncing. "Trust me Daniel. Seeing Maybourne hit the deck like that….it was worth anything!"
A laugh escaped Daniel's lips too, and on impulse, he slung his free arm around her shoulders drawing her into a hug. "Glad to be of service."
He almost expected her to pull away from him, but to his surprise, and delight, she snuggled in closer, even drawing the blanket tighter around the two of them. "I thought it was sweet," she mumbled, closing her eyes.
Daniel opened his mouth to say something, but looking down at her banished the thought from his mind. Seeing that she was almost asleep, he made himself more comfortable, sliding down as far as he was able without disturbing her. Her head was resting on his shoulder, and with his head resting on hers, he closed his eyes. It wasn't long before sleep claimed him.
He didn't know how long he'd been asleep, but something caused him to lift his head suddenly. Looking around him, he realised that it was still dark, and that he was asleep on his couch with Sam in his arms. Smiling, then kissing the top of her head, he closed his eyes again……
The sun was high in the sky and a slight breeze ruffled the trees. High above him, he heard birds calling to one another, but that was the only sound along the path. Daniel wasn't sure where he was going, but nonetheless, he felt compelled to keep on walking.Well, this is a dreamhis subconscious reminded him.You'll know when you get there.
Yet, this didn't feel like most dreams he'd ever had. It certainly was nothing like the screaming nightmares he'd had featuring Sha're or, more recently, Sam. Not only was it more serene, more peaceful, it also felt more real.
As if he'd been there before.
Just as he was pondering the situation, he came to a clearing, and the view ahead of him made him catch his breath. Not one hundred metres ahead of him, the earth dropped away, displaying a spectacular vista.
And he wasn't alone any more.
Upon hearing his gasp, Sam turned around, shock written all over her face. He gave a tentative smile, trying not to panic at her reaction. It was his dream after all - shouldn't Sam be glad to see him?
It's not your dream.
Daniel's jaw dropped open. Sam's mouth hadn't moved, but he'd heard her voice as clearly as if she'd spoken from right beside him. "I'm sorry?"
This time, Sam spoke properly. "This isn't your dream Daniel. It's mine."
"Then how did I get in here?" This was certainly the strangest dream Daniel had ever had.
"I don't know!" Sam swung around, looking at the view, then back to him. "I used to come here after a lesson with Bra'tawn…I'd practice what I'd learned, I'd meditate…that’s what I was doing here. Then all of a sudden, I heard you coming." She tilted her head. "What's the last thing you remember?"
"We were watching hockey….we fell asleep. I woke up over something….saw you there…fell back asleep."
"You're leaving something out."
"Did you just read my mind?"
"No, you've got that look on your face that you get…..what is it?"
"When I saw you there…." Daniel was grateful for the fact that she probably couldn't knock him out in dreams. "…I kissed the top of your head. That's all!" The last was hurriedly added.
To his surprise, Sam wasn't angry. In fact, she was nodding, as if this nugget of information explained a lot to her.
"Do you know what happened?"
She opened her mouth, then closed it again. "Come on. Let's sit down."
She led him to the edge of the clearing and sat down a couple of metres away from it, remembering in time his distrust of heights. "This is my dream Daniel," she finally said. "I think I just…pulled you into it."
"Can you do that?"
"Logically? No. But I seem to be able to do a lot of things I shouldn't be able to do when it comes to you Daniel."
"But how….?"
"The only guess I can make is that when you kissed me, and I was here, meditating, there was a part of me that felt it…and reached out to you…."
"Just like you did that day in the infirmary." Daniel finished her thought for her.
She took one of his hands in hers, the hand that he'd hit Maybourne with. Here, it bore no traces of the assault as she stared down at it. "This shouldn't be possible Daniel," she told him quietly.
He covered her hand with his other. "Then how come it is?"
"Because….you're my friend," she said slowly. Finally daring to look up, her eyes met his, both showing confusion, mixed with wonder…and a healthy bit of something else that caused her heart to skip a beat, her pulse to quicken, and her mind to reach out to his.Because you're more than my friend…
He blinked as the words echoed in his head. "Is that how you feel?"
"You heard me?"
"Loud and clear."
"You're the only one who does Daniel. I tried with Janet….with Cassie….even General Hammond. It doesn't work with anyone but you."
He frowned. "What does that mean?"
A blush spread across Sam's cheeks and she looked down again. "Well, Sur'cha had said some things…and then I asked Bra'tawn…he said it's very rare that this happens…."
Daniel could feel hope rising up in him. "And what does it mean when it does?" She still refused to look at him. "Sam?"
With one last squeeze of their hands, she looked up at him. She didn't say anything, didn't even think anything. But it didn't make any difference because he already knew.
He closed the distance between them, and their lips met. He could have sworn there were fireworks going off somewhere in the distance, but he wasn't thinking of that right then. He was much more interested in how Sam felt in his arms, the sensation of his lips on hers, the softness of her hair as his fingers ran through it.
He was the first to pull away, and she smiled at him. "So, that's what it means?" His voice was uncharacteristically husky as she nodded. He brushed back a strand of hair behind her ear, wondering out loud, "Do you know how I felt then?"
She nodded, tears in her eyes, still smiling.
His voice was wistful. "I wish I could know…."
"Close your eyes" she whispered, cupping his face with her hand. He did as she asked, and as he did, it was as if a thousand suns burst behind his closed lids, engulfing him in light, warming him, bathing him with joy. It was love, pure and unadulterated, the same emotion that he had felt as he kissed her.
When he opened his eyes again, there were tears on both their faces. "So," he began, when he was able to speak, "What happens now?"
Her answer took him by surprise. "We wake up."
>*<*>*<
When he opened his eyes, the first thing Daniel saw was two more blue eyes, blinking back at him. Looking down, he realised that both he and Sam had twisted around in their sleep, so that they were now lying in each other's arms. This wasn't something that surprised him - it had been a nightly occurrence during his vacation time. Whathadn'tbeen a nightly occurrence was the kind of dream that he'd just had. Which lead him to his next thought - just how much of it was a dream, and how much had really happened?
His thoughts must have shown on his face, because Sam smiled sleepily, yet happily at him. "Morning," she murmured, placing one hand on his cheek, drawing him down for a kiss.
When she finally let him pull away from her, he was speechless for a moment. But not for long. "So…. Um…. that was some dream." Another long pause followed, in which Sam waited for him to speak, knowing that he wasn't finished. "So….how does this….thing….work exactly?"
Sam sighed, resting her head against the cushions as she formed her thoughts. "I'd be lying if I said I understood it," she began. "It's very rare. But, from what's happened between us, there's some kind of link between us. I don't know why, I don't know how….but it's there."
"I think we can agree on that." Daniel reached out and took her hand.
"What I do know…is that I care about you Daniel. A lot. And not just as a friend. And I think that part of me has known it for a long time. I just didn't realise it until I was away from everyone….from you. I missed everyone so much. And then you came back….." She shook her head. "..And I realised that I missed you more than anyone else. And when you left….all I wanted to do was run after you."
"So you worked twice as hard," Daniel theorised, knowing that she'd returned through the Gate far earlier than she thought she would.
"Let's just say I amazed everyone with my rapid progress."
"So….what happens now?" Daniel repeated his question from their dream.
Sam looked down at their hands, still joined together. "I try to get my life back. Rejoin SG-1. Get my house sorted out."
"You could stay here." Daniel backtracked quickly at the look on Sam's face. "You don't have to…if you don't want to….."
"No, no….Daniel, I'd love to, really, I would."
"Sounds like it." There was the slightest hint of petulance creeping into his voice.
Stop that!Her voice sounded in his head. When she felt she'd made her point, she continued normally. "Daniel, I'd love to. But there's so much for me to get used to again…I don't want to make too many changes too fast. Does that make sense?"
Daniel was suitably abashed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't…."
"It's ok. Just promise me something?"
"Anything."
"That one day, you'll ask me that again?"
"Oh, I think I can do that." He smiled at her. "But you have to promise me something too."
She sounded hesitant, but agreed. "OK…What?"
"You have to say yes."
As she smiled, he felt a burst of happiness, and he wasn't quite sure if it was Sam's or his own. When she leaned forward and kissed him again, he stopped caring whose emotions were whose, or if there even was any difference. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered but the fact that Sam was back, in his arms, and that she was going to stay there.
As long as that was the case, he knew that everything would be just fine.
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