The Perfect Heart
The Perfect Heart
by SueS
Summary: This is in response to a Valentine Challenge posted on OS. Just a little Sam and Daniel moment.
Category: Challenge, Holiday, Hurt/Comfort
Episode Related: 204 The Gamekeeper, 310 Forever in a Day
Holiday: Valentine
Season: any Season
Pairing: Daniel/Sam
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
Archived on: 02/01/04
THE PERFECT HEART By SueS
"What's in the box?"
It was an innocent question asked of an old forgotten shoebox shoved in the corner of the closet, but now Sam wished she could take back. She had come to Daniel's house to help with some spring-cleaning. They were supposed to clean out a few closets not open up deep, painful corners of Daniel's soul. However, the look on Daniel's face when he first laid eyes on the box, told Sam this one was deep.
"I'm sorry." She began putting the box back. "We don't ..."
He took her hand in his and gave it a gently squeeze, stopping her apology. "It's okay, Sam," he said taking the box from her.
She followed him to the sofa. She felt his apprehension as his hand hovered over the lid. Then, perhaps afraid that any further hesitation would prevent him from doing what needed to be done; Daniel took a deep breath and opened it.
Hidden inside was a hodge-podge of mementos. Mostly papers, but scattered throughout were small trinkets and old broken items. Two that did not go unnoticed by Sam were the broken black horn-rimmed glasses and the mangled wire-frame glasses. Traces of a faint reddish-brown stain on both. Sam felt her heart tighten and the sting of tears forming in her eyes as she realized what she was looking at.
"Oh, Daniel, this is ..."
"My childhood," he said raising his eyebrows slightly.
She didn't know what to say. Some hurts shouldn't be opened up, she thought as she reached over to put the lid on the box. Again he stopped her.
"You know, I've never, umm," his voice was halting. "I've never shown this to anyone, but I think I need ... I want to ..."
He plunged his hand in and began pulling out bits and pieces of a long forgotten childhood.
****
They had reached the bottom of the box. Aside from the broken glasses, which thankful Daniel didn't have to go into too much detail to explain, it had not been as painful as Sam had feared. She thought the first thing he had ever written was very sweet. In a large bold childish scrawl that seemed to crash into the right edge of the paper, it said:
My name is Danny. I am 5. I like blue. I like Eygp. I like to dig. I have a camel.
They debated whether or not they should open the small jar that he swore contained the air from the very first pyramid he had ever visited. He was four at the time. He had her in stitches when he tried to explain why he kept a raggedy old gray sock.
Suddenly, Daniel became very quiet. He pulled out a piece of pink construction paper that had been pressed into the bottom of the box. It was folded in half. In the upper left hand corner was the letter F. At the very bottom of the page, written very small, as if trying to hide, was Danny Jackson. She saw a sadness in his eyes that she had seen once before. After Sha're's death, Sam had found Daniel staring intently at a fountain pen as if it were the only thing in the world that mattered. He told her how Sha're had thought the pen was magic, how the simplest things were a wonder to her.
"My parents were ..." He stopped. Then began again. "The accident had happened a few months before. I was in a new school. We were supposed to make valentines for our parents. The funny thing is I wanted to make one. I wanted to make the perfect Valentine's Day card, take the bus across town and put it on their grave. But I couldn't make a heart. I knew as soon as I tried it would come out all wrong and I'd ruin their valentine. So, I just sat and stared at this piece of paper for the longest time. The teacher asked me why I wasn't doing anything. I said ... I said ..." Daniel's voice began to tremble. He took a deep breath and the words tumbled out.
"I said I hated my parents. I said they were mean and cruel and had run away and left me. The teacher was angry. I don't remember what she said, but ..." Daniel stopped. Closing his eyes and inhaling deeply, he shook his head. "Why did I say that, Sam? Why did I say I hated my parents?"
Sam placed her arm across his shoulders and leaned her head onto his. "It's not your fault," she whispered in his ear. How many times had Daniel heard those words? Did he ever believe them? "You were a child. You were hurt."
"Yeah," he said heavily. Chuckling slightly to hide the pain, he continued. "You know, I still can't draw a decent heart."
She didn't know what else to say, so she let her hand make reassuring circles on his back as her eyes wandered around the room. Suddenly, Sam smiled. She walked over to his desk and started rummaging through the draws.
"Sam?"
Without even looking she could hear the squinty-eyed suspicion in his voice. Finding what she was looking for, she returned to the sofa and handed Daniel a red pencil.
"Here."
"What?"
"Draw a heart."
"But, I can't."
"Try."
Hesitantly, he took the pencil from her hand. He opened up the piece of pink construction paper and placed the tip of the pencil on the center of the paper. The pencil didn't move. Daniel shook his head.
"Close your eyes."
He did. Sam placed her right hand over his as he held the pencil. Then very carefully, Sam guided Daniel's hand across the paper.
"Open."
They both looked down at the most perfectly shaped red pencil heart.
Sam felt a tender kiss on her cheek and a softly whispered thank you in her ear.
She looked at him. He smiled.
*********
thanks to my beta Gategrrl for helping me make the good just a little bit better.
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to SueS
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