CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The next morning, Daniel and Sam went to work separately, the linguist leaving a few minutes before Sam so that they wouldn't arrive at the base at the same time.

Knowing that Janet would want to check her leg, Sam went to the infirmary first.

"It looks good," the doctor said upon examining the healing wound. "How does it feel? Is it still quite painful?"

"No, it's a lot better. I'm hardly limping at all now."

"Yes, you do seem to be getting around much better." Janet's lips turned upward. "So, Daniel took good care of you?"

Sam smiled. "Yes, he did, very good care. He was a real sweetheart."

Janet gave her a smile and nodded. "Yes, he is, isn't he. Being a doctor, I meet all kinds of people, and I have to say that Daniel is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. There aren't many men around who are that thoughtful, compassionate and selfless. Speaking as one woman to another, Sha're was a very lucky lady to have him. Not many women wouldn'tconsider themselves lucky to have someone like him for a husband or boyfriend."

Sam couldn't have agreed more with Janet's assessment and would love to have told her so, but she was afraid that might reveal too much, and she had promised Daniel that she wouldn't tell Janet anything until their get-together tonight.

Sam then began wondering about the doctor's praise of Daniel. Was it possible that Janet had feelings for him other than friendship? She really hoped not. She hated the idea of Janet getting hurt when the doctor found out that Sam and Daniel were now a couple. Perhaps it would be a good idea to find out ahead of time.

"You seem to have some pretty strong feelings for Daniel," she remarked cautiously.

The physician looked at her in surprise. "What? No! I mean, yes, I do care about him a great deal as a friend, but that's all. There's nothing more than that."

"You sure?"

"Yes! I'm positive. Daniel is a wonderful guy, but I have no feelings for him other than deep respect and friendship." Janet picked up Sam's chart and jotted something down. "Well, you have my official permission to go back to work. But I don't want you overdoing it. None of those sixteen, eighteen-hour stretches. You are to go home at a reasonable hour and get a full night's sleep, you got it?"

"Aye aye, sir," Sam responded with a smile.

She got dressed and headed to her lab, eager to get back to work. She'd been at it for only an hour, though, when Colonel O'Neill showed up. Trying not to show her impatience at the interruption, she greeted him.

"Hey, Carter. So, I see you survived the rest of your time with Daniel," he said.

"Yes, sir. Everything went fine."

"You know, it never ceases to amaze me how well you two get along. Doesn't Daniel get on your nerves at all?"

"No, sir. I never have any problem with that."

"Don't you guys ever argue?"

Sam thought about it. "We've had some minor disagreements, but there was really only one time I remember when we actually argued." She was referring to when they'd disagreed over the situation with the Eurondans.

"What about this Pete guy. You ever argue with him?"

Sam managed to keep her emotions off her face. "We've had a few arguments."

"Hmm. Interesting."

Sam frowned. "How so?"

"Oh, it's just kind of strange that you get along better with Daniel than you do with your boyfriend."

Sam stared at her C.O. "Daniel and I just have very compatible personalities, sir," she said.

"Yeah, probably has something to do with the fact that you're both way smarter than everyone else."

Sam opened her mouth to refute his statement, then changed her mind. Actually, the fact that Daniel was her intellectual equal was a factor in how well they got along.

"Um, if you will excuse me, sir, I really need to get back to work," she said instead. "All that lost time put me way behind."

"Oh. Yeah, sure. See ya later."

Sam watched the man leave, then shook her head and got back to work.

Not long after Sam's checkup, Janet requested that Daniel come to the infirmary. When he got there, she took a look at his hip and shoulder.

"Well, the bruises are beginning to fade. How do they feel?" she asked.

"All right. The hip's hardly sore at all. The shoulder's still a little tender."

Janet looked at him more closely. "And how are you doing otherwise?"

Daniel paused, not knowing how to answer that question truthfully without spilling the beans. "I'm all right, Janet. You don't have to worry," he said at last.

"Well, I've already told you what I think." Janet lowered her voice almost to a whisper so that nobody would overhear her. "I really believe that, if you told her how you feel, she wouldn't turn you down. She cares about you a great deal, Daniel."

Daniel really couldn't reply to that without blowing the secret, so he chose to say nothing. After a long moment of silence, Janet gave a little sigh and told him that he could leave.

The archeologist returned to his office and got back to work. Jack showed up a little over an hour later.

"Back at it, I see," he commented.

Daniel did not turn his attention from his computer. "Yes, I've got a lot of catching up to do."

"Didn't get much work done while you were with Carter?"

Daniel paused a moment before replying. "I got some done, but Sam and I ended up spending a lot of time talking or playing games. She was kind of bored not having any work to do."

"Yeah, I just saw her. She's right back at it, just like you. There's probably some dictionary somewhere that has a picture of you and her together under the definition of 'workaholic'."

Daniel turned to him. "Is there some particular reason why you're here or is this just a 'bored Jack' visit?"

"Just wanted to see how you were doing. I also wanted to see if you've come to your senses about telling Carter how you feel."

Daniel sighed. First Janet, now Jack. He was really wishing that he hadn't told either of them his secret. On the other hand, he couldn't wait to see what their reactions were going to be.

Again presented with the problem of what to say without making it a lie, Daniel chose avoidance. He turned back to his computer. "I've really got a lot of work to do, Jack, so, if you will excuse me. . . ."

Jack stared at him a moment longer, then shook his head in exasperation. "We will talk about this again, Daniel."

"Oh, I have no doubt of that," Daniel murmured as the colonel left. He got back to work, hoping that he'd manage to get through the rest of the day without another visit from the man. He planned on waiting until the end of the day to ask Jack over. That was the only way he'd be able to avoid being peppered with questions from the curious colonel. He was also going to wait until just before leaving to talk to Janet. It was going to be an interesting evening, that's for sure.

"So, how did it go?" Jack asked Janet. They were in her office, the door closed.

"Not so good," the doctor replied. "In fact it sort of backfired."

"How?"

"Well, I did as we agreed and talked about how nice Daniel is and how he'd be a great husband or boyfriend. The problem is that Sam began to suspect that Ihad feelings for him."

"What?" Jack exclaimed. He quickly lowered his voice when he saw several people turn toward the office. "Damn, that's not good."

"I was quick to assure her that wasn't the case, but I decided that I'd better back off."

"Yeah, good thinking."

"What about you? How did your talk with her go?"

"I'm not really sure. I talked about how she and Daniel get along so well, but I couldn't tell if it made any kind of impact. What about Daniel? Any luck with him?"

Janet shook her head. "Not a bit."

"Same here. Like running up against a brick wall."

"So, do we go on to the next step?"

"No, I think we need to go straight to the heavy artillery, a full scale assault," Jack replied.

"Are you sure we should do that this soon?"

"Yes. I'm hoping we'll overwhelm their defenses before they have time to call for reinforcements."

"All right. I'll make the calls."

It was just after 2:30 when Sam unexpectedly came into Daniel's office and closed the door. She then walked up to him, turned him around in his chair, and proceeded to give him a kiss that felt like she was trying to excavate his tonsils. Daniel's face wore a stunned expression as she drew away, one reminiscent of the look he had when Sha're laid that whopper of a kiss on him as he was leaving to show Jack and Sam the map room on Abydos.

"Wow," he breathed. "I really like how you say hello now, Sam. But you'd better be careful. Otherwise, we're going to be breaking our rule about no sex while on base."

"That was just a thank you for the roses," she told him.

A puzzled frown knit Daniel's brow. "What roses?"

Sam examined his face. "You didn't send me flowers?"

"Um, no, though I really wish I had now. You got flowers?"

"Yeah. The card said they were from you." She pulled it out of her pocket and showed it to Daniel. It said, "To a beautiful friend and a beautiful woman whom I will always cherish. Love, Daniel."

Daniel's expression changed to concern. "I swear I didn't send them, Sam."

"Then who—"

Sam's question was cut off by a knock on the door. Daniel opened the door and found Sergeant Deeds on the other side with a huge box of chocolates.

"Um, sir, this arrived for you," he said, handing the box to Daniel.

"Uh . . . thanks, Raymond."

The sergeant nodded and left, shutting the door behind him.

Daniel stared puzzledly at the box, seeing that there was a sealed envelope attached to the top. He opened it. "Um, Sam, did you send these?"

"No. Why?"

Daniel showed her the note. It read, "Thank you for everything, Daniel. I really loved the time we spent together. You are such a wonderful friend, and I would love to spend more time with you in the future. All my love, Sam."

"Okay, what's going on here?" Sam asked.

Daniel looked at the two typewritten notes, a suspicion beginning to form. "I think someone's taken it upon themselves to play matchmaker. It has to be either Jack or Janet. My money's on Jack."

"Why?"

"I swore Janet to secrecy, made her promise that she wouldn't reveal anything to you about my feelings. While this isn't actually telling you that I'm in love with you, it's still coming awfully close to breaking that promise. I didn't, however, exact an oath from Jack, something I now realize was an oversight on my part."

"You know, thinking about it, the colonel did say some rather odd things when he came to see me."

"Oh? What, for instance?"

"He commented on how well we get along together, and he asked if I ever argued with Pete. When I admitted that I did, he remarked that it was interesting that I got along better with you than with Pete. He's never talked to me about the relationship that you and I have, so it really surprised me. Now I understand it. So, what should we do about this?"

"Well, I'm guessing that this was meant to act as a catalyst. Jack had to know that we'd find out that someone else sent these things. He probably figured that we'd start talking, I'd have to admit my feelings for you, then one thing would lead to another, and. . . ." Daniel trailed off, letting Sam's mind fill in the rest. He shook his head, starting to get mad. "You know, if it wasn't for the fact that Jack's little matchmaking attempt is a few days late, I'd really be angry. I told him that I believed you didn't feel the same way about me and that I didn't want you to know how I felt because of my fear that it would hurt our friendship. Jack just chose to ignore my wishes." He frowned deeply. "I thought I could trust him to let me handle this the way I wanted to."

Sam began thinking about something. "What if he was pretty certain it was a sure bet that I reciprocated your feelings?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I just started thinking about some things Janet said to me when she came over to check up on me, after she found out that you were in love with me." Sam recounted the conversation to Daniel.

"You think she figured out before you did that you were in love with me and was trying to make you see it?"

Sam nodded. "It makes sense. It was like she was trying to steer my attention away from Pete."

"And toward me."

"Uh huh. You know, when she checked my leg this morning, she was really singing your praises. She made the comment that you were great husband material."

Daniel laughed. "You're kidding."

"Nope. I think she was trying to draw my attention to you again."

"Sam, are you thinking that Jack and Janet are in this together?"

"Well, they both knew about your feelings. If the colonel happened to reveal something to Janet, she'd probably tell him what she knew."

"And they hatched this scheme together." Daniel shook his head and laughed again. "The thought of Jack and Janet playing matchmaker together. . . ."

Sam let out a laugh. "I wish I could have seen that. So, what are we going to do?"

Daniel smiled. "I'd say it's time to confront our two would-be matchmakers."

A silent figure slipped into Colonel O'Neill's office. He looked around the room for a moment, then headed to a small bookshelf. Making space between two of the books, he placed something on the shelf, pushing it back far enough that the shadows partially hid it. Then he pressed a button on the device and left the room.

Sam looked at Daniel as he exited the room. "All set?" she asked.

"Uh huh." The archeologist grinned. "Cassie's going to get her video."

Janet knocked on the door of Colonel O'Neill's office, wondering if he'd summoned her because of their little scheme. She opened the door upon hearing his voice bidding her to enter.

"Hey, Doc. What's up?" Jack asked.

Janet paused. "I was about to ask you the same thing. Why did you call for me?"

Jack frowned. "I didn't call for you. I got a message that you wanted to talk with me here."

Just then, two other people strode into the room, shutting the door behind them. Daniel and Sam marched up to Jack's desk and tossed a bouquet of roses and a box of chocolates onto it. Neither one of them looked very happy.

"You want to explain these?" Daniel snapped, glaring at both the colonel and Janet.

'Oh, crap,' Jack thought. 'I get the feeling things didn't go as planned.'Thinking that it might be the only thing standing between him and a black eye, he chose to feign ignorance. "Um, well, they look like flowers and candy, Daniel. What would you like me to explain about them?"

"Cut the crap, Jack. I know that you're behind this." Daniel turned to Janet. "And I know that you had a hand in it."

The guilt written all over the doctor's face confirmed that she was, indeed, in on it. Daniel and Sam both turned back to Jack, focusing their stares on him. He shifted uncomfortably under the combined power of their eyes.

"Oh, for cryin' out loud!" he finally blurted out. "Someone had to light a fire under you, Daniel, and get your head out of the sand, Carter. You're both in love with each other, so stop beating around the bush and do something about it!"

"Sir, I never said I was in love with Daniel," Sam told him. Then she looked straight at Janet. "That was an assumption on the part of a certain doctor. However, that no longer matters now."

Daniel crossed his arms over his chest. "Yes. As it turns out, you were, as the old saying goes, a day late and a dollar short with your little matchmaking attempt. Actually, you're about four days late."

"Huh?" Jack responded.

"Daniel already told me how he feels. We worked everything out last Thursday," Sam explained, keeping her expression neutral.

"Why didn't you tell me that this morning?" Janet and Jack asked Daniel simultaneously.

"And what exactly does 'worked everything out' mean?" Janet added.

"I didn't tell you because Sam and I weren't ready for you to know, and it means that SG-1 might be in for a few changes," Daniel replied.

"What. . . ." An expression of distress came to Jack's face. "Daniel, don't do this. You and Carter can still work together. You two can get past this, work things out. It doesn't have to ruin your friendship. Don't leave the team."

"I didn't say I was leaving the team, Jack," Daniel told him.

"You're not?" Jack looked at Sam. "Then it's you who's leaving?"

"No, sir."

"Then what the hell are we talking about here?" Jack asked in frustration.

Daniel finally dropped the act he'd been putting on. The anger in his stance disappeared. "Well, along with a few other minor things, Sam and I were going to request that the sleeping arrangements on missions be changed."

'Sleeping arrangements?' Jack repeated in his mind. 'What does that mean? We usually all sleep in separate. . . . Oh!'A big smile began growing on the colonel's face. He pointed back and forth between his two youngest teammates. "You mean you two are. . . ."

Daniel and Sam looked at each other, communicating silently. "Yes," they said at the same time as they turned back to Jack. Then they smiled.

Jack's smile became a full-blown grin. "Well, I'll be."

Janet gave a happy laugh and engulfed Sam in a hug. She then did the same to Daniel. "I feel so silly now. Here we were, making all those plans to get you two to come to your senses, and you did it on your own. So, how did it happen?" she asked.

"I guess you can chalk it all up to a bowl of double fudge ice cream and a game of Truth or Dare," Daniel replied.

Jack's eyebrows rose. "Truth or Dare?" A wicked grin just about split his face in half. "Daniel, you dog. I didn't know you had it in you."

"Actually, sir, the game was my idea," Sam told him.

Jack looked at her in surprise. "Really? Well, well, Carter. I had no idea you could be that . . . daring."

Daniel grinned mischievously. "You have no idea, Jack, no idea at all." He put his arm around Sam's waist and exchanged a secretive look with her. Then, taking her hand in his, he headed with her toward the door.

Dying to know what the archeologist meant by that statement, Jack remembered something else he said. "Hey, what was that about ice cream? Where did that come in?"

Not answering his question, the couple continued out of the room, hearing their C.O.'s voice following in their wake.

"Hey! Come on, now! You're not going to keep us in suspense, are you?" he whined. "Daniel? Carter?" There was a pause. "Oh, for cryin' out loud!"

EPILOG

The Tok'ra named Harbin entered Jacob's quarters. "This message came for you from the Tau'ri," he said. "It took a while for us to get it, so I hope it was not urgent." The man handed the message disc to him.

"Thanks."

After the Tok'ra had left, Jacob put the disc in the reader, and a short message appeared on the screen.

You were right, Jacob. Thank you. Sam says thank you, too.

Daniel.

A big grin spread over Jacob Carter's face. Then he started laughing.

'So, Selmak,' he said to his symbiote, 'you think you're ready to be a grandparent again?'

THE END

Well, there it is, the final chapter. I hope that all of you have enjoyed the story.