DEEP – III. Deeper by Betty Bokor
Sam/Daniel. Daniel has a serious talk with Jack. Sam gets in trouble and decides to change the odds in her life, but she does not count on Vala.
Spoilers: All seasons, including 9.
Disclaimer: The Stargate original characters belong to MGM/Showtime, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corp. This was written strictly for the purpose of entertainment. No attempt at copyright infringement has been made.

Deeper

Chapter 5

The next morning Sam woke up feeling a little cold. She suddenly got the idea that maybe Daniel had gone to see Vala. She probably was not happy and Daniel must have felt the need to comfort her. She sat up in bed, still half-sleep, and realized Daniel was not there. Her fears increased.

"Good morning," Daniel said cheerily from the armchair next to the bed.

Sam looked at him and realized he had not gone anywhere. "What are you doing?"

"Just looking at you," he smiled. "I was going to get a shower and look for our breakfast, but I couldn't stop looking at you, so peaceful… I've always had to look the other way when I woke up by your side during a mission, but today…" He shrugged his shoulders.

Sam threw a pillow at him. She laughed. "Stop it. I'm going to start believing all that. Go get your shower. I'll find the breakfast."

Daniel smiled broadly and walked to the bathroom.

As soon as he closed the door behind him, Sam got up and put on a robe. She looked at the clock on Daniel's nightstand. It was almost ten in the morning. Teal'c had promised to leave them breakfast in the corridor, by their door. She was about to get it, when she remembered her first thought of the morning. Why was she still thinking of Vala? Why was she so irrationally jealous of her? The night she had just spent with her husband should have been enough proof of how much he loved her, but still, there she was, thinking of Vala.

She sighed and opened the door. There was a rolling cart with covered dishes parked right by their room. She was about to grab the handle when Vala's door opened and she peeked out.

Sam looked at her and, without thinking, said, "Daniel's taking a shower." A second later she chastised herself for assuming Vala was looking for him, but it was too late.

"Good. I wanted to talk with you for a minute. We haven't had much chance before. Do you mind coming in for a second?"

Sam looked at herself, disheveled and wearing a robe, but decided to be done with it. "Okay," she replied, closed the door, and followed Vala inside the room.

Vala sat at the edge of her bed and invited Sam to sit by her side. She looked uncomfortable, but she was trying to smile.

"Well, first, I wanted to say congratulations on you marriage. You got the best man."

"Thanks," Sam said softly.

"Second," she smiled nervously. "I wanted to give you a little present." She stretched her hand and reached inside her nightstand drawer. "It's just a pair of leather bracelets. I braided them myself."

Sam looked surprised at the small package she had been handed and opened it. Inside there was a pair of very thin bracelets made of pale leather. "Thank you," she said again.

"I learned to do that when I was a child. We used to all wear them… My mother didn't teach me that; she wasn't good at that… either," she added in a sarcastic tone. Then she smiled openly. "I'd like Daniel and you to wear them, if you don't mind."

"Why?" Sam asked without thinking.

"To erase the memory of the other bracelets… And to remind us. To remind me that he now belongs to you. To remind him that he's free from me −even if he has to keep close for another little while− and to remind you that he is yours and that you need not be jealous of me again." She looked at Sam's eyes. "I don't have him; I never did."

Sam was about to say something, but Vala stopped her.

"Wait, listen. I'm not done." She smiled nervously. "I wanted him to be mine, I confess it," she said softly. "I know how much I've annoyed him, how far I've pushed his patience, but, in spite of it all, he's the only one who's ever reached out to me. He's done everything he could to make my life here more comfortable. He's introduced me to people and taken me around to know this place. He even took me shopping for clothes −he's not very good at finding women's stores, I can tell you− but he tried his best," she added almost laughing, "and in return I made his life miserable. Probably yours, too. I'm very sorry for that." Her tone had changed; she was very serious now.

Sam could see that she was sincere and touched her arm in a gesture of understanding.

"I don't know how to deal with someone like Daniel," Vala continued. "I haven't met many people like him before. Actually, I've never met anyone like him. I know he's not a saint and that he has many faults, but he's different. I really wanted him to see me, to love me, to stay with me." Her eyes filled with tears and she quickly raised her hands to her face to clean them. "I'm sorry; I'm sorry." She lowered her hands and smiled.

Sam did not know what to do. She kept quiet and let Vala compose herself.

"I just had to say it," Vala finally said. "It's the true, but I'll be fine." She sighed. "It's just that I couldn't make Daniel understand that my feelings were real. I didn't know how. He thought that I was joking, that I was playing with him; even that I was mocking him… He's learned to trust me in so many ways, even with his life, but not about this… Well, that's over anyway." She had changed her tone again. "Now I want him to be happy and nobody better than you for that."

"You don't really know me," Sam said very softly. "I don't even know if I'll make him happy."

"Oh, you will, trust me. You already have. He chose you; that's all I need to know. I wished he'd have once looked at me the way he looks at you, like he's getting a glimpse into Paradise. Besides, he's always talking about you, Sam this, or Sam that, or Sam even that, you know. You would have always done it better, faster, more-"

Sam smiled.

"I thought we needed to clear the air. I'm sorry that you're stuck in this hole because of me."

"It's not really your fault, not this time," Sam said.

"Well, it feels like it, and to be trapped across the hallway from you is my punishment."

Sam felt remorse for how happy that same thought had made her feel. "We'll be fine. We'll make our trip on another date. That's all."

"I'll stay here all day. Tell Daniel he doesn't have to worry; I won't move. Muscles and Cam promised to come visit. Teal'c already left me breakfast this morning. Yours must be getting cold."

Sam stood. "Thank you, again."

"Go, go," Vala said in a cheerful tone as she almost pushed her out the door. "He must be wondering what happened to you."

When Sam opened the door of Daniel's quarters, he was standing by the table in the lounge area. He was wearing a blue robe and somehow it reminded her of the day when they found him on Vis Uban.

She walked fast toward him and closed her arms around his neck.

"Where were you?" Daniel asked with curiosity.

"I went to get our breakfast. Oh! I forgot." She left him and went running to get the tray from outside.

Daniel looked at her amused.

She came back in and said, "We just got a little wedding present and I got distracted." She took the small bracelets out of the pocket of her robe and put one on Daniel's wrist.

He helped her put the other one on her own wrist and they sat to have breakfast.

"I think I'll take Vala shopping this week," Sam suddenly said. "You'll have to come with us, but that's better than sitting all day long in this room, right?"

Sam's cheery mood as she talked about Vala surprised Daniel. He then looked at the bracelets and all of a sudden understood their meaning. It looked like the two women closest to him had had a talk. Good. He felt better already; he was very relieved. "I wouldn't mind staying here forever as long as you're with me," he replied with a smile, "but, on the other hand, some fresh air could revitalize the passion," he joked as he slid his fingers down Sam's arm until he reached her hand. He squeezed it affectionately.

Sam laughed. "Like you need to revitalize anything." She stretched to kiss him from her chair, but it was too far, so she got up and sat on his legs.

"I'm not really that hungry; we could try this later," he whispered.

She kissed the tip of his nose and took his glasses off. "I need to take my shower, first, but if you're interested in helping me with that…" she proposed.

Daniel smiled. They stood and walked to the bathroom hand in hand. Before entering, he asked, "Shouldn't we take this off so that they don't get ruined?" as he pointed to the bracelets.

"No," Sam said. "They're symbols." She thought of Vala's words, he belongs to you, he is yours, but chose something different. "They're symbols of our commitment, of the depth of our feelings," she added smiling.

He smiled, too, grabbed her hand again, and got into the bathroom. He did not think they needed symbols to remind themselves of their commitment, but if they put Sam's mind at ease, they were welcome. After all, in a marriage, even deep feelings as theirs could always use the help.