Sam slammed the wrench back down onto the steps with a frustrated sigh as, once again, nothing happened and the lightning missed their target. It wasn’t working…why wouldn’t it work? She jumped up and for the hundreth time, checking the cable was connected properly. Yep, just like the last time and the last time and the last time and- “Where’s Daniel?” Sam’s head snapped up as Catherine asked the million dollar question. Where was Daniel? He’d normally be sitting beside her, encouraging her, adding suggestions, asking the right questions to give her mind a rest and smile, squeeze her hand, make her laugh, just be Daniel, just be there, like he always was… Sam figured Daniel did it as it comforted him just as much as it did her.
She listened in as Jack groaned softly and ran a hand through his hair. “He’s pretty annoyed, still sulking down there” Sam quietly spoke up “But he’s coming…right?” Jack looked at her directly, his eyes betraying his straight face “Uh…no, I tried, I really did but he just snapped at me, yanked out of my grasp, being the stubborn kid he is” Jack paused, closing his eyes “He’s not coming Sam”. Sam’s heart sank as those words hit home. He wasn’t coming. “Oh god” was all she could whisper as it felt like her heart had been ripped out but then she froze. Why was she acting like this? She could still talk to him. There was still hope and if he wouldn’t talk, she’s knock him out and drag him through the ‘gate herself. Yep, she’d do it. “Sam,” Jack’s soft voice broke through her thoughts “maybe you should go talk to him?”.
She nodded to her C.O “Yes sir” as she went towards the door, she paused as he caught her arm “Sir?”. “Hurry Carter, we don’t have much time left” She nodded and quickly jogged down the hallway, towards the ‘light’ room and the staircase. Freezing at the doorway, Sam watched Daniel as he frantically wrote down as fast as his hand could keep up, even faster. He didn’t even seem to notice her. Finally breaking the silence, Sam spoke up from where she stood. “Jack said you’re not coming” Daniel didn’t even look up, just kept on writing as he muttered “Yeah”. “So, if you’re not coming, why are you writing so fast that page is going to catch on fire?” He froze, mid word and turned to her for the first time “What?”. “You’ll have all the time in the world if you’re staying, so why ya writing so fast?”
“It could all disappear any minute, I want to get as much as possible” Sam frowned as she stepped into the room, glancing around it “And if it goes…you go?” Daniel paused but then nodded “If that’s the way it has to be-” he was cut of by a loud sigh, emitted from his worried friend. “But Daniel, don’t you get it, it doesn’t have to be that way” she moved forward, hesitantly taking his notes, glancing over them, almost whistling at the wording, the care in all of them “These,” she shook the papers “are just pieces of paper. If you stay here, and die here, alone, they mean nothing. But,” she handed back his paper, hoping to god this direction would work “but if you come with us, come home, they mean something”. Sam reached out gently and touched his arm lightly, a friendly gesture that would normally bring Daniel back to earth and hoping, this time, it would.
“Well…” Daniel shrugged “I’ll send these pages back with you, send more threw once I write more down” he handed the pages back to her while giving her a reassuring smile. Sam took the notes and stared down at his usually neat but this time messy handwriting. Was this all she was going to be taking of Daniel back with her? A piece of paper with the first few words of the meaning of life? That was simply not good enough. “Daniel! Don’t you get it?! You may not be able to send more notes through, the ‘gate will be gone, along with this castle and you, I don’t want that, no-body wants that except you”. “Sam I’m not asking you to understand, just to try to see the bigger picture” Daniel gave her a frown, signalling that he wanted her to understand.
“I am seeing the bigger picture!” Sam shouted, glaring at her friend and what he was about to do with his life…such a precious life “And the picture I see is you being buried alive and I’m not liking it” she threw his notes back at him, watching watch as they scattered across the ground “I thought you understood about life, about there always being some bigger and better!”. Daniel looked down at his notes that lay across the ground, then back at his best friend “I did Sam, and I’m believing that this is as big and better as my life gets”. The depression alone in his voice made Sam want to cry, let alone the lost and utterly sad look that filled his crystal blue eyes “This is my life Sam”.
“No,” her persistant and icy voice was enough to turn even military heads but it didn’t reach Daniel, where ever he was right now “I believe there is something else for you Daniel, even if you don’t see it…”. They both glared at each other. For once in their friendship that had spanned and year and a bit, they were at opposite ends. Not against Jack but against one another. Defiance lit up Daniel’s stubborn but sad eyes and anger at his friends loss of faith in Sam’s. Seeing there was no other way, Sam did the one thing that felt right… She stepped quickly closer and pressed her lips softly to his. Her heart settled down from the wild beating when her lips met his and the earth was still.
She moaned slightly as she pulled back, staring into his wide eyes as a blush rose to her cheeks. “Sor…sorry…” she stammered out, smiling shyly as she looked down. She couldn’t believe it! She’d actually kissed him! But, but he didn’t like it, she could see it written as clear as if a stamp was planted on his forehead reading: ‘Whoa there!’. ‘Maybe I was wrong, maybe he feels, felt, nothing, maybe just maybe I’ve killed what’s left of our friendship with that one little thing’ Feeling her heart sink at his lack of interest, Sam started to turn away “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that-“. She was cut off as a hand grabbed the sleeve of her jacket as she was walking away and pulled her back around. ‘What the-’
