"Hey Sam," he replied. "You know; when I was helping Jack clear out his office, I found something in his bottom drawer."
Sam shrugged. That was hardly a surprise. General O'Neill had been a great CO - even if he didn't believe that - but his desk tended to be a war zone. "And ...?" she asked.
"Something I don't think General Landry should see, or any other military types," Daniel said. "At least we'll know it was just something Jack did because ... it's Jack."
"Daniel ...," Sam said in her most threatening tone.
Daniel handed her the envelope then stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Well ... enjoy," he said. "And Sam?"
"Yeah," Sam mumbled as she powered up her laptop.
"You know where to find me if you want to talk."
"Okay." Sam was bemused, but Daniel could be very strange at times. "Thanks, Daniel."
She wasn't sure why, but she waited till she got home that night before opening the envelope Daniel had given her. Several large sheets of paper fell out, containing various Jack doodles from countless briefings.
Trees, dogs, a Death Glider ... her eyes widened at the perfectly reproduced ZPM ... stars ... Homer Simpson (of course). He was actually a pretty good artist.
She put those sheets aside and took up a small scrap of paper.
A to Z of Sam:
Ass-kicking
Beautiful
Caring
Decent
Energetic
Fun
Genius
Humble
Interesting
Joyful
Kissable
Sam's breath caught at the last declaration then she carried on reading.
Loving
Magnificent
Neat-freak
Officer of the decade material
Passionate
Quick
Respectful (even when I'm being an ass)
Sarcastic (I taught her well)
Tormented
And that was it. As if he'd run out of words on paper as easily as he could in real life. Sam was breathing in heavily now, fighting the feelings that welled up inside her. He knew her so well - just like she knew him. But was it love, or just familiarity?
She closed her eyes and decided it was time to take up some of the leave she'd stockpiled. Bite the bullet, Sam! Go talk to him.