Disclaimer: Stargate: SG1 isn't my creation; I'm only playing here and the only things I own are any original characters that came from my own mind.

Title: Overture in Slow Motion

Summary: overture - noun

1) an opening or initiating move toward negotiation, a new relationship

slow motion – adjective

2) moving or proceeding at a slow rate

Spoilers: Not really spoilers...assumes the reader is familiar with the events of SGA S5 episode "The Lost Tribe"

Pairings: Daniel/Vala, probably some referral to J/S

Rating: "K" at the moment...will eventually become "M".

Genre: Drama/Angst/Romance

A/N: OH. MY. GOD! A NEW chapter!

Yeah, I don't even want to think about how long it's been since I posted anything.

That being said I will be making a concentrated effort to post more regularly…I really need to get this and "Best" finished so I can move onto other projects.

Enjoy.

~d/v~

Sam leaned against the car, her leg cocked up on the bumper, watching Daniel and Vala slowly cross the parking lot to where she waited. With Vala's arm looped around his waist and his arm slung across her shoulders they gave off the impression of being an average intimately involved couple. Sam figured the actual truth was that both positions were providing extra support to Daniel's muscles.

She straightened away from the car as they approached her.

"Good morning," she said cheerily, shading her eyes with one hand against the early morning sun behind them.

"Samantha!" Vala responded with delight, "good morning."

"Hey Sam," Daniel greeted peevishly, "your turn to play nursemaid huh?"

Sam blinked in surprise. Vala had said he could be cranky, but the sulky tone in his voice was unexpected.

"Uhh, yeah...that, and I thought it'd be nice to spend some downtime with you...we don't get to do that much anymore."

The tension in his face softened.

"Uhh..y...yeah...it will be," he stammered sheepishly.

"Right then, so why not start now," Vala said brightly, stepping away from Daniel to manoeuvre Sam in beside him and draping his arm over her shoulder, "I'll just scurry on ahead and coffee'll be ready by the time you catch up."

She was off and jogging across the parking lot before either of them could say anything.

Sam shook her head with a chuckle, "Never really changes, does she?"

"No...she doesn't," he said quietly.

Sam looked over at him. His obvious affection for the former space pirate was all over his face. She tried to stifle a sound of satisfaction that she'd been right all along. He glanced sharply at her.

"What?"

"Nothing," she said managing to hide a smirk as she slung her arm around his waist, "let's go shall we...I'm dying for coffee."

"Uhh yeah...okay," he sighed, shifting slightly as if preparing himself to move.

Tightening her arm around his waist she started them moving forward. It took her a few moments to find his pace. She wasn't used to moving so slowly. She wasn't used to him moving so slowly either. He was normally such a vital and energetic man it wasn't surprising that this painful enforced inactivity was making him less than chipper. The pinched whiteness of his face when they reached the back door of the apartment building almost broke her heart.

"You okay?" she said, pausing before she pulled the door open.

"Oh yeah," he said tightly, "just peachy."

"You wanna take a breather?"

He shook his head, "No...the morning meds are kicking in so I'm getting kinda dozy...just wanna get inside before I start falling asleep."

Nodding, she pulled the door open, pushing it wide with her hip as she eased him inside.

They were met with the aroma of fresh coffee when they stepped into the spacious loft apartment.

"Oh good, there you are," Vala said, coming towards them from the direction of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel, "coffee's ready and there's also bagels and fruit and yogurt if you're hungry Sam, just help yourself...I've got to get some stuff packed before my ride shows up."

"Wait," Sam said, glancing between her friends, "you two have already eaten?"

"Uhunh," Vala nodded, "before we went for our walk...Daniel needs to have food with his meds...speaking of which," she scrutinized him, "I'd imagine you're probably ready to crash for the morning huh?"

His expression settled into faint irritation. "Yes, but I think I can manage to stay coherent enough to keep Sam company for awhile."

She shrugged, "Just sayin'."

"Thank you" he said testily, waving a hand in the direction of the bedrooms, "weren't you needing to pack your stuff?"

"Right," she said flashing her overly bright fake grin as she headed off towards the bedrooms, "I was."

Sighing, Sam watched the dark-haired woman trot down the hallway to the guest bedroom. She turned her attention back to Daniel at her side.

"Did you need to be that snippy? She's only doing what she's here for...caring for you."

With a faint shrug Daniel moved away from her to take the few steps to the tall chairs along the breakfast counter that delineated the apartments' kitchen space.

"I know, I know...it's just..." he muttered, trailing off as he eased himself onto one of the chairs.

"It's what?"

Daniel let out a long breath, "I'm just fed up with still needing a babysitter."

Sam leaned towards his, her forearms on the countertop.

"I get that Daniel...I do. None of us are very good at convalescing, but don't take your frustration out on us...especially Vala. She's doing her best for you and after three years even you must realize how easily you can hurt her."

The call-button from the buildings' front door chimed before he could respond. Sam raised a questioning eyebrow. Daniel motioned at the wall behind her. Straightening away from the counter she stepped quickly over to speaker and pressed the button.

"Yes?"

"Good morning, this is Corporal Foster, here for Ms. Mal Doran."

"Yes, thank you Cpl, she'll be down shortly."

"Yes Ma'am, thank you."

Sam released the button and moved into the hall.

"Vala! Your car is here."

There was squawked "All ready?" from the second bedroom then a flurry of movement followed by Vala emerging from the bedroom lugging an overstuffed duffel bag, a backpack and her largish purse slung over one shoulder.

"You're only going for a couple of days Vala; do you really need to take that much stuff with you?" Daniel said curtly.

Shrugging with a good-natured smile Vala paused at the counter to pop a chunk of melon from the bowl of fruit salad into her mouth, "I'm bored with the clothes I have here so I'm gonna swap them for other stuff. Beside I need to be prepared for whatever I end up doing for the next two nights...I'm hoping to talk Cameron into going out to movie tonight."

Sam shook her head. "Uhh no...Cam's off-world at the Alpha site for the rest of the week remember?"

"Oh right," Vala said with a faint pout, then suddenly brightened, "oh well never mind then I'll just find something else to do...maybe I can convince someone from the infirmary to go out dancing with me...which'd be a lovely change of pace since none of you four ever will. Anyway...must go, don't want to leave my handsome driver waiting any longer," she paused to plant a quick kiss on Daniel's cheek, "be good darling, don't be too much of a grump for Samantha."

Turning, she breezed down the hallway and out the door before Sam could finish chewing and swallowing the chunk of bagel she'd bitten off.

Sam started to say something then stopped when she caught the expression on Daniel's face. The crease of deep thought between his eyes was familiar but she couldn't define the odd sadness in his eyes.

"You okay?" she asked softly.

He turned his gaze to meet hers.

"Yeah," he said with a weak smile, "but I think I'm gonna go crash after all, I can barely keep my eyes open."

"Sure...do you need help?"

He shook his head as he eased himself off the chair, "No, I'll do...the drugs may be putting me to sleep but I'm not in any pain at the moment and I can move fairly easily. Make yourself at home; I'll see you in a couple of hours."

"Okay, have a good sleep," she said gently, watching him shuffle to his bedroom.

Silence settled over the apartment. Hoisting the strap of her laptop bag over her shoulder, she caught the last of her bagel between her teeth, took up her bowl of fruit salad and coffee cup in each hand and carefully padded into the living room.

The debris of bottles, cans, popcorn bowls and DVD cases from the previous night still littered the coffee-table, leaving little room for anything else. With her mug and bowl perched on the corner of table she set the laptop case on the couch, letting its weight pull the strap down and off her arm. Taking the moment needed to transfer the clutter of dishes to the kitchen counter; she dropped back down on the couch and unzipped the laptop bag.

~d/v~

Thoroughly engrossed in reviewing crew evaluations she didn't notice how much time had passed until the couch cushion beside her sagged. She glanced over to Daniel shifting to find a comfortable position in corner of the couch.

"Hey," she greeted with a bright smile, pleased that he was looking better than she'd seen him since before he went to Atlantis, "feeling more lucid?"

"Mmm, yeah," he said with a slight smile, "time-release meds are great over the course of a day but the initial effect of taking two at the same time is absolutely debilitating."

"Yup...been there," she said with a wry smile.

He returned the smile, nodding at her open laptop and the papers strewn across the coffee table.

"So whatcha working on?"

"Crew evaluations," she said glancing down at the stack of file folders, "I'll be doing the one-on-one reviews when I get back to the SGC so I need to have my reports finished."

"If you want I could take my laptop back to my bed and watch a movie while you finish?" he offered.

"Nope," she said, reaching out to pat his hand, "I'm here to spend some time with you, not use the solitude to catch up on work...although," she paused with another wry smile, "I do have to admit that's great not being constantly interrupted. So don't worry, it's fine. I can finish tonight after you've gone to bed." she finished, bending her head to focus on closing up all the documents she had open on the laptop.

"So how was it?" he asked softly after a few moments of silence.

She glanced over her shoulder at him. An expectant smirk tugging at his mouth was making the dimple in his right cheek flutter. She grinned at him. His question needed no explanation.

Closing the laptop she shifted towards him, pulling her leg closest to him up onto the cushion as she turned.

"At turns, rewarding and terrifying" she said expelling a sigh, "especially terrifying that I was ultimately responsible for the safety of the entire crew when a bunch of tel'taks came out of nowhere and starting firing at us."

"Alliance?" he said with a frown

She shrugged, "Who else is going to have a fleet of tel'taks with shields?"

"But you came through unscathed in the end and that's what really matters isn't it?"

She studied him for a moment. One of her oldest and closest friends, he believed in her no matter what. He had always allowed her the freedom to be unmilitary, to voice her uncertainties.

"I wouldn't exactly say "unscathed", she sighed.

His familiar expression of open, patient interest in anything she might have to say was all she needed let all the details of the maiden voyage of the General Hammond come spilling out. Her awe and thrill in commanding the vessel named to honour the man whom she had, at times, considered to be closer to a father-figure in her life than her actual father had sometimes been; her pride in the quality of the men and women under her command and the almost paralyzing moments of self-doubt that she'd be able to safely steer ship and crew through a run-in with the Lucien Alliance.

Their free-ranging back and forth exchange of thoughts, ideas and concepts was so much a part of their twelve years of friendship that it wasn't until they were half-way through eating lunch when Sam glanced at the clock that she realized how long they'd been talking.

"Oh God, Daniel!" she blurted, letting her spoon clatter into her bowl of soup, "do you realize we've been talking for almost three hours?"

He shrugged with a weak smile, looking decidedly less bright-eyed than earlier, "Yeah well, it's been nice to catch up with you though, but I am feeling kinda tired."

"I'm sorry. Why don't you go take a nap while I clean up here?"

He shook his head as he slid off the stool, "Nah, it's not that bad...I'm just gonna stretch out on the couch and watch a movie."

"Sure and then we can decide what we want to order for dinner."

"Nope," he said with another shake of his head, "Carolyn suggested," he paused with a wry smile, "rather strongly actually...that we limit the fast food stuff."

"What? No junk food!" Sam exclaimed facetiously.

"I know shocking isn't it," he returned with quick grin, "don't tell Jack eh?"

She grinned back at him, "Oh definitely not...he'd be horrified."

Chuckling he turned towards the living room. "So anyway," he continued over his shoulder, "Vala bought one of those electric grills we can use on the balcony so we've been eating a lot of grilled meat and fish, and she found a Mediterranean deli kinda thing not too far from here that has some really great stuff...if you root around in the 'fridge you're likely to find something."

"Ah okay," she replied, pulling the 'fridge door open.

A quick survey of the contents proved him right. She pulled from the freezer a package of meat skewers and in the 'fridge she found the makings for Greek salad and a bag of pitas.

Happily anticipating a dinner that was from neither a fast food joint nor a military mess she made quick work of cleaning up all the dishes accumulated from the night before. Sliding the locking mechanism on the dishwasher closed and pressing the start button, she took a can of diet cola for herself and a can of ginger-ale for Daniel from the 'fridge and padded into the living room.

She set the cans on the coffee-table and eyed her patient. He was stretched out on his side, his 6ft frame taking up the entire length of the couch. She suspected he was asleep but couldn't be sure because he hadn't taken his glasses off. Lifting his legs she scooched herself in underneath them and let them drop down onto her lap.

"Comfy?" he muttered from the opposite end of the couch.

She glanced over at him with a wide grin.

'Yup. So what are we watching," she asked motioning with her head at the flow of people wearing medieval costumes on the TV screen.

"Ivanhoe."

"Wow," she said leaning forward to retrieve the cans of soda and hand him one, "that's old."

"Yeah," he said, sitting up enough to take the can and pop it open, "I sorta got hooked on it when I was a kid. I was off school with mononucleosis when I was 10 and..."

She interrupted with a laugh, "Mono? At 10? I never thought of you as being so precocious as to get the 'kissing disease" when you were 10."

"Funny," he said giving her sour look over the top of his can of soda, "had nothing to do with me kissing anyone."

He put the can on the table and lay back down, "my foster mother at the time had been a nurse and she figured I picked it up either from a water fountain at school or the dentist. So I was off school for a coupla months and most days I didn't have the energy to do anything except watch TV. Fortunately the PBS channel in our area ran old movies in the afternoon, like this one," he gestured at the TV, "and uh...Robin Hood, all of Errol Flynn's swashbucklers, The Scarlet Pimpernel, a bunch of 'film noir' stuff and then late in the afternoon, for the kids coming in from school they ran the old serials...you know, The Lone Ranger, Zorro," he huffed a laugh, "probably the most TV I've ever watched in one stretch. Until now of course."

Sam gave him a sharp glance. The irritation with his current situation was back in his voice.

She leaned towards him, "Daniel, I realize this is going to sound trite but you know just how much worse this could've been."

"Yes, I know" he replied sullenly without looking at her.

He seemed to retreat into himself after that. Sighing she settled back and tried to get interested in the movie. When the credits began to roll she realized that she'd been dozing off and on through most of it. Apparently the combination of seeing one's husband for the first time in a month and sleeping in an Earth-based bed that lacked the background hum of the Hammond's engines didn't make for a good night's sleep. Being careful to not disturb a dozing Daniel she extracted herself from under his legs and wandered into the kitchen to make dinner. He shuffled in behind her a few minutes later.

"Sorry...did I wake you?" she said with a smile.

He shook his head. "Not really...s'okay anyway...gotta take my meds in the next coupla hours so it's time to get dinner together."

"My thoughts exactly...so what's the plan?"

"Uhhh...well I usually tend the grill because I can just sit and turn the meat, which takes less muscle effort than it does to clean and chop vegetables for salad. So if you give me the bag of skewers and a pair of tongs I'll leave you to the rest."

Handing him the items Sam watched him until he took the step over the threshold onto the balcony. Satisfied that he hadn't taken on more than he could handle, she turned her attention to preparing the rest of their meal.

Over a salad, grilled pitas and what proved to skewers of lamb they watched and discussed the items on the evening news. Predictably Daniel crashed for the night barely two hours after they'd finished eating. After a short Skype conversation with Jack she settled in to finish the personnel reviews. A little before midnight she crawled into bed, hoping that without her husbands' presence it she'd have no trouble sleeping; even if the comforting background drone of the Hammond's engines was missing.

~d/v~

A thunderstorm rolled over the city near dawn breaking the suffocating humidity of the previous several days. The pouring rain hindered Daniel's early morning walk. Instead, after his drug-induced nap, they took an excursion to a nearby shopping centre. His stamina lasted long enough to wander through the mall to a Target to stock up on personal items and eat lunch at a sub shop.

Back at the apartment he sunk gratefully into the couch cushions with a heavy sigh.

"Sorry, if that was too much for you." Sam said settling on the couch beside him.

He shook his head and waved a dismissive hand, "S'alright. Carolyn's been telling me I need to keep pushing my endurance...it's just," he paused, leaning his head back against the couch and taking his glasses off to rub his eyes, "this seems to have been going on for so long now it's become less draining to not make the effort."

He lapsed into silence. Sam studied him. The only other time she'd ever seen him this despondent was at the beginning of the program when Sha're had first been taken.

"You know you are improving Daniel," she said laying a hand on his arm, "when I left you were barely moving from your bed."

He just nodded silently without looking at her. She studied him for another moment, wishing she knew what to say that wouldn't sound cliché. Finally giving his arm, what she hoped was a comforting pat she got up. In the kitchen she stood staring into space, trying to think of way to lift his mood. Her gaze landed on the plastic container of Vala's cookies. It seemed a bit lame but homemade chocolate walnut cookies and a pot of his favourite coffee properly made in a French press carafe might just be enough to brighten his spirits.

Using a cookie sheet as a tray she brought their mugs, and the cookies into the living room. The aroma of the fresh coffee made Daniel open his eyes. He tilted a questioning eyebrow at her. Shrugging with sheepish smile she offered him the tub of cookies.

"Seemed a shame no one was eating these."

He leaned forward, grimacing slightly at the movement, to snag three or four cookies. Shifting back again against the cushions with another faint grimace he took a bite out of one while neatly lining the others along the top of his leg.

"You okay?" she asked, settling on the couch beside him.

He nodded with quick closed-lip smile, his mouth too full of cookie to say anything.

Satisfied that she seemed to have provided him something to brighten his mood, she took a bite of cookie. She smiled at its dense chocolatey chewiness. It'd been way too long since she'd had homemade cookies.

She looked over at him with a grin, "Pretty good."

He nodded, breaking apart another cookie and popping a piece in his mouth, "Well third time's the charm as they say...although I wouldn't have missed the entertainment of the first two attempts for anything."

"So I heard," she chuckled, leaning forward to snag their coffees.

When she turned to hand him a mug he was staring moodily at the last cookie sitting on his knee.

"She's been a real trooper through all this you know," he said, looking up to take the cup from her," he gave Sam a rather sheepish glance before raising his mug to his mouth, "I haven't exactly been easy to live with at times."

"Oh, now there's a newsflash," Sam snorted with a laugh as she reached for a cookie, "Daniel Jackson's a lousy patient."

"Yeah...well," he said with a sheepish shrug as he fiddled with the cookie, "been kinda expecting her to hightail it back to the SGC long before now."

She sat back, crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at him.

"Daniel," she admonished, "I can't believe you'd think that of her after all you two have through together. When we first heard from Atlantis about what had happened she was terrified that she...we'd lost you for good this time. She's been adamant from the moment you arrived through the 'gate that you've always been there if she needed you and she's wasn't going to let you down when you needed her help."

"She wouldn't leave you in the lurch like that Daniel," she paused, debating whether it was time to betray Vala's confidence.

Breathing a quick hope to herself that Vala would forgive her, she leaned forward and laid a gentle hand on his arm. "She loves you."

She waited to hear him scoff at the notion. Instead he was completely silent for a moment then he nodded.

She gaped at him, "You know?"

He shot her a quick glance with a shrug, "Well obviously she hasn't actually said it out loud but you know," he dropped his gaze back to his cookie, "being...uh...in such close quarters with her for the last few weeks while I'm not distracted by work, I'm uh...seeing her acting in ways that that I've never registered before...and I'm finding that I just can't convince myself anymore that she's only playing games."

He lapsed into silence to finish his last piece of cookie.

Sam studied him for a moment before deciding that the only way to get confirmation of what she'd been suspecting for quite awhile was to ask outright.

"And you?" she asked quietly.

With a sharp huff of laughter he glanced at her from the corner of his eye and shook his head.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure she's had me from the moment she took off the super-soldier helmet."

"Then why haven't you told her Daniel?"

"I was going to...or at least I was going to take her out on actual date when I got back from Atlantis. That three week trip to Atlantis gave me a lot of time to think...but then this happened," he gestured at himself, "and now," he sighed reaching for another cookie, "now it has to wait until the end of the summer."

"Why?" she said in puzzlement, "what does it have to wait? Do you know how unhappy she is right now? You've done too good a job of convincing her that you're not interested in her like that"

"This isn't the right time is all," he said tightly, fiddling with the cookie.

Sam sat back into the corner of the couch and crossed her arms over her chest, "Why Daniel? What makes the end of the summer better than right now?"

"Because," he said, blowing out a sigh of exasperation, "by the end of the summer I won't be taking so much medication."

"I don't understand…what does taking meds have to do with it?"

"They're very strong muscle relaxants."

"So?"

He raised his head and eyed her directly.

"Sam...EVERY muscle in my body is completely lax...I couldn't get any part of my body to...to," he suddenly dropped his gaze again, his face flushing slightly pink, "uh...to tighten up...if...if I tried."

It took a moment for her to grasp his meaning.

"Daniel," she said leaning forward to touch his arm, "she's in love with you…that's not going to matter to her."

Snorting a laugh, he turned his gaze back to his coffee, "This is Vala we're talking about here Sam."

She settled back against the couch back with a grimace, "That's a little unfair don't you think?"

He shrugged and shook his head, "Maybe it is...I dunno...but it matters to me. I'm not gonna stand a chance in hell against her wiles once she knows the truth...I'd rather not go into it feeling like a damn eunuch," he muttered studying the liquid in his cup like it held the all the answers to the universe.

Sam stared at him for a moment. She had no idea what to say. For most of the time they'd worked together he'd been in mourning for Sha're. Other than the time he'd been suffering from sarcophagus withdrawal he'd never alluded to his own sexuality. Hearing him do so now was almost as disconcerting as hearing a similar statement from her brother.

The unexpected sound of the apartment door opening saved her from making a response.

Daniel's gaze shot up to hers. The pleasure that flickered over his face just before his forehead creased in puzzlement made her want to smile. Instead she gave him a shrug and a quick shake of her head as she pushed up from the couch and trotted across the room.

"Vala?" she said, stepping into the hallway.

"Oh...hi." Vala responded with a quick upward glance while she manouvered her duffel bag with her foot through the open door.

'Hi." Sam replied moving forward to pick up the bag, "what are you doing back so soon?"

"Oh well, you were right", she said as she straightened, settled her purse on her shoulder and lead the way along the hallway to the main living area, "Mitchell is off-world and I couldn't convince anyone to go dancing with me...dinner in the Mess last night was," she paused to make a face of distaste over her shoulder at Sam, "well, less than satisfactory, shall we say. Then that ghastly alarm siren woke me out of a sound sleep at 3AM. Needless to say I saw no reason to stay after all that, so here I am."

She came to a halt in the opening of hallway into the main living area and directed a blinding grin at Daniel, who was half sitting, half leaning against the arm of the couch.

"Hullo darling. Miss me?" she said brightly as she strolled towards him.
"You've barely been gone 24 hours, Vala," he replied dryily.

Sam shot him a look of reproach for his less than welcoming tone; which he would've seen if his gaze hadn't been completely focused on Vala.

"So just why are you back so soon," he asked, watching her walk towards him.

Easing the duffle bag to the floor, Sam shook her head. She still didn't understand why Vala, with all of her "male savvy", wasn't seeing that Daniel couldn't tear his eyes away from her.

"Oh well like I just told Sam, the SGC is no fun without you Daniel," Vala drawled, sending a wink in Sam's direction, "besides which I couldn't coerce anybody into going dancing with me...dinner last night was disappointing to say the least and then that horrid alarm siren woke me at 3AM because SG14 was coming back under fire."

"Under fire?" Sam squawked in unison with Daniel.

"Are they okay?" they also asked together, both taking a step in Vala's direction at the same time.

"Yes, yes," she said, flapping her hands comfortingly, "they're fine...Major Collins sprained his ankle diving through the gate and that delicious blonde Rushing guy..."

"Russian," Daniel corrected.

"Right," she nodded, continuing as she hadn't been interrupted, "him...anyway he took a glancing shot to his shoulder from a staff weapon, but now he's fine...thanks to my healing skill of course," she preened.

"So how are you two doing," she asked veering around Daniel in the direction of the couch, "been having a nice visit I trust?"

She stopped in mid-stride before either of them could reply, then took a step back to shoot a raised eyebrow at Daniel.

"You two eat all those cookies?"

He cast a glance over her shoulder to the now-empty plastic container, coffee cups and a scattering of cookie crumbs on the coffee-table.

He tilted his head with a sheepish shrug, "umm, yeah, guess we did," he favoured her with wide blue eyes and a charming boyish smile, "but you've become such an expert at making them I'm sure you'll be able whip up a new batch in no time."

"Yeah," she drawled, eyeing him carefully, then suddenly shook her head, "no...I don't think so...I'm not gonna be held responsible by the rest of the females on the base for ruining your," she reached out to pat his belly, "delectable physique."

Sam bit back a smile. Clearly Vala had heeded her warning about Daniel's little boy charm when he wanted something. She started to add her own two cents to the banter when she was struck by the moment between her friends that seemed to have been caught in a freeze-frame. With her hand still resting on his t-shirt, Vala had gone from lighthearted and teasing to eyeing Daniel warily. Not that Sam could blame her. Daniel's expression had become tense and the familiar frown lines had appeared between his eyes. If she hadn't heard him, barely thirty minutes earlier, admit to how he really felt about Vala, she would've been reading his expression the same way she suspected Vala was. She was willing to bet now though that the stiff set of his jaw had less to do with being irritated at Vala because she was touching him so intimately and more to do with keeping his own feelings under control. Somewhere in the back of her head Sam heard an little voice wonder if she didn't interrupt, how long it would take before he caved to his feelings. She mentally scoffed at that notion. Daniel was far too stubborn to give into his feelings before he was absolutely ready. He especially wasn't likely to suddenly kiss Vala when they weren't alone. A situation Sam was more than willing to remedy immediately,

"Well," she blurted, stepping forward, "seeing as how Vala's back I should probably get my things together and head off to my own place."

Vala turned abruptly away from Daniel and dashed towards Sam, fluttering her hands in a stilling motion.

"No, no Sam, you don't need to leave yet...there's no reason to cut your visit short. I can sleep on the couch tonight."

Sam smiled at her, "It's fine Vala. Really. It'll be nice to sleep in my own bed actually."

"At least stay and eat with us," Vala entreated, grasping her arm.

Nodding Sam patted her hand, "Okay, sure, that would be great...don't think I have any real food at my place anyway."

"Excellent," Vala said happily clapping her hands together.

"Right then," she continued, backing away from Sam and motioning Daniel towards the kitchen with her head, "so while you go gather your stuff, Daniel and I'll decide what to eat."

Turning, Sam sauntered from the room and down the hall to the second bedroom, the voices of her friends fading to a murmur behind her. She had zero expectations that Daniel would be pledging his undying love to Vala in the near future, but she was pretty sure that by the time she brought the Hammond back from the next mission their challenging and often tumultuous relationship would finally be settled.