Disclaimer - MGM/Gekko/Double Secret own them.
A 'Homecoming' episode addition, therefore containing spoilers for that episode as well as 'Message In a Bottle', and 'Meridian'. General knowledge of the show would help.
Feedback would be loooooved.
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Why was it always the last place you looked?
"Daniel," She said in relief, as she walked into the isolation room. She'd been too pre-occupied with finding him (and worried about him getting lost), to actually think about why he might have been so hard to find. "There you are. We're ready for dinner whenever you-"
"I died here."
Sam blinked. He was right, of course. It looked quite different since the last time he'd been there - the equipment present was mostly at the side of the room, and there were no bed's there at all.
But it was definitely the same place.
Moving slowly and not knowing what to say, she walked further forwards until she was standing next to him. He was in the middle of the room, staring down at the floor.
The truth always had a good ring to it... "Yeah. You did."
He kept looking down, but tilted his head to one side, frowning heavily. "It wasn't the first time, was it?"
Just for a moment, Sam fought the urge to chuckle - he was still adjusting, still didn't completely remember, and she didn't want to him to think that she might be laughing at him, rather than their situation. Eventually, she settled on a smile. "No. In our line of work...well, we seem to have a habit for it."
He nodded as if he understood, but she wondered how he possibly could. Life on the planet they'd found him on had been so difference to life here - there was no constant threat from an oppressive force, no fear of being killed by a staff blast.
It must have been calmer. Peaceful.
She wondered briefly if they'd had the right to take that away from him.
"Then why do we do it? I mean, if it has such a high cost, why keep doing it?" Amnesiac or not, he was smart enough to know that though they may have died and come back more than once due to how completely *bizarre* their work was, not everyone was so lucky.
"Because there's no other choice. What's the alternative, Daniel? Letting the Goa'uld take over the galaxy, the universe? Watching Earth either be destroyed or turned into a slave labour camp? We can't let them win."
"And we'll die trying?"
Her own gaze moved to where his was focused, and just for a second she could *see* him lying on the bed, bleeding beneath his bandages. She swallowed heavily, fighting against the burning in her eyes. "If we have to."
Daniel said nothing more to that, eventually lifting his head and turning to face her, his brow smoothing out as he smiled awkwardly. "I'm sorry about before."
Okay, she had *no* clue. "Before...?"
"When I thought that you and I might have..."
"Something." She finished for him, nodding and flushing a little. Why did that make her so damn uncomfortable? "Daniel, there's nothing to apologise for. You have amnesia," She grinned, finding the humour in it now. "Frankly that gives you all the get out clauses you need. And we do have a connection." She added. "Just not *that* kind." Watching as he absorbed the information, she felt compelled to say something else. "A long time ago I might have...thought about it."
His eyebrows shot up - a move so unbelievably *Daniel* that it was as if he'd never been away. "You did?"
"Sure," She shrugged, staving off her embarrassment. "We got on so well, had a lot and common and...well, you're not exactly hard to look at, Daniel." Great, now he was staring at her, no doubt wondering what the hell he could say to that. Why was she doing this again? Get on with it! "But it rapidly became clear to me that we were destined to be friends, wonderful friends, and nothing else. It's funny though...we never really talked about that subject much."
"Love?" He asked.
She nodded. "I mean you'd tease me occasionally about Lieutenant Simmons, but..." She paused, as the smile on his face grew absolutely *huge*. "Daniel?"
"Sorry, sorry," He waved her off, still grinning. "I was just remembering about Simmons."
Oh, *wonderful*. That'd teach her to keep her mouth shut. "You'll be pleased to hear he seems to have gotten over it."
"Shame," He said.
She rolled her eyes again, but her mind soon went back to her earlier train of thought. "I guess...after what happened to Sha're," She glanced at him, sorry to see the faint flinch. "I thought I'd leave it up to you to bring her up, if you ever wanted to talk. And I never really had anyone worth discussing."
Obviously surprised by her words, he drew himself out of his internalising to really look at her. "That's not the reason we never discussed it, Sam." He paused, almost for effect.
And kept pausing.
Oh.
She flushed again. They'd certainly never discussed *that* - ever. In fact, it was as if they went out of their way not to discuss it, as if it didn't exist at all. Daniel wasn't stupid; he'd worked with them and been their friends for five years before ascending. He would have figured it out, but he'd never breathed a word about it.
And technically, he still wasn't.
"It's not?" God, what a *stupid* question.
He didn't even answer it. "I would have been there, you know. If you'd wanted to talk, I would have been there."
Still after all this time, the sudden rush of emotion was almost overwhelming. This was why she didn't talk about it. Internally? No problem. Dealing with it in her head? No problem? But actually verbalising... "I can't, Daniel. I can't. It's easier to deal with if I-"
"I get that." He interrupted. "I do. But I was always here if you changed your mind."
She was not going to wipe at her eyes. She was not. "Dammit, what happened to that convenient amnesia of yours?"
"Comes and goes." Daniel shrugged, teasing.
Sighing, blinking heavily, she shook her head. "You always did know how to provoke a reaction. I missed that. I missed you."
And then, quite before she realised her own intention, they were hugging.
It was a little hesitant. He still wasn't quite sure of who he was and neither was she; all she did know was that somehow, he was one of her closest friends. "I'm so glad you're back." She found herself whispering.
When they eventually pulled apart, she definitely had tears in her eyes. Man...just as well no one else was around to see this.
"Sam?"
She wiped the back of her right hand across her face. "Yeah?"
"Tell me about Sha're."
Her hand paused, then lowered, as he kept talking.
"I remember more about her than I did but...I'd like to know what you thought of her."
She wasn't really sure what to say - she'd never known Sha're particularly well. But he'd asked, and she'd do what she could. "I only really met her the once, but...I'll tell you what I can."
And she did.
~FINIS