Daniel and Adrienne #8: Circumstances

“Addy, do you have that lock?” Daniel shouted from behind the U-Haul as he reached into his pockets, looking around himself for the missing latch, knowing he had seen one when he had obtained the rental truck. 

“There was a lock?” she yelled back confused and he could hear the passenger door slam, her footsteps approaching him.  

“Yea,” he was still shouting as he walked around the truck to find her, “it was just a standard lock, silver, hanging on the back door. We’ve got to find it; don’t you remember Rodney going on and on about securing this thing.” He was still talking and not paying attention to anything other than scanning the ground, searching for the lost lock, almost walking right into her.  

“If it’s so damn important and has to be locked up like Fort Knox, why in the hell are we driving across the country in a U-Haul to transport it?”  Adrienne asked, placing her hands in front of herself to stop his clumsy advance.  Catching him by his shoulders,  she steadied and turned him, walking by him once more to investigate the back of the U-Haul.  Figuring out that she didn’t have the lock either, he followed her, this time examining the ground more carefully, hoping he just missed it and would not have to go and pay for a replacement at the rental facility. He had just about given up when he saw her bend down crawling halfway underneath the truck.  

“Well, according to Sam, the items that we are bringing from Atlantis are too complicated and fragile to risk beaming up and down from one of the ships, too numerous to take up space on a military flight and too top secret to risk commercial.  Ergo, you, me and a rental truck.” he answered, kneeling to peer under the truck s he explained, although he was fairly certain he had explained this to her at least twice before.  She just didn’t like the idea that it was Rodney’s idea and to be honest, Daniel didn’t like that too much either. 

“It fell here,” she said as she crawled under the truck further, securing the lock and reaching her hand in his direction to pass it over. “Do you have the key?”  she asked as she was crawling back out, lock still in hand offering it up to him. He took the lock and reaching into his jeans pocket, produced a pair of keys, jingling them in her direction.  Returning quickly to the back door of the truck, a burning desire to get this insane drive started, Daniel pulled it shut, locking it securely and reaching into Adrienne’s hand, taking the keys to the truck and switching them with the keys to the lock.  

“Don’t lose these,” he said and walked toward the driver’s side of the truck.  

“You’re driving?” she asked, surprised.  She had figured he would pull the assistant card and use the long trip as an excuse to work more since he had packed his laptop and a stack of folders to rival Mt. Everest.  However, instead of ordering her to drive, Daniel stopped and turned to face, a sly smile across his face.

“Yeah, I figured I ought to since you got back in pretty late last night,” he raised his eyebrows a bit at her as she walked by him, crossing in front of the truck, her deep brown eyes glaring at him as she opened the passenger side door opening his own door and climbing in on the other side. Adrienne got in the cab, waiting until she was buckled and situated before answering him. 

“You could have been out with us.  That Haunted Alcatraz Tour was AMAZING!! I swear I heard someone from that Al Capone cell playing the banjo,” Adrienne explained with seriousness in her voice.  A few members of the skeleton crew from Atlantis base had volunteered to take them on an impromptu excursion through San Francisco which ended in a haunted tour of Alcatraz. Daniel had debated going, after all Adrienne was always telling him he needed to get out more, but he just went to bed early instead, knowing he had a long day of driving ahead of him.  

“No, you read that online on the flight to San Francisco and convinced yourself you heard it,”  he laughed at his own comment as he started to back the truck up slowly. 

“Ok, so, before you even knew a Stargate existed, you believed that ALF and Yoda came down, built the pyramids and ruled Egypt, but I believe that Al Capone haunts Alcatraz and I’m the crazy one?!” she teased, “Sounds like a double standard.”  

“It is,” he just smiled and pulled to the gates, stopping to show his ID to the Air Force guards.  They waved them through, knowing better than to ask him to show the contents of the truck and pretty soon they getting onto I-80 east, heading back home.  

It was a simple mission, if you could call it a mission.  Late Sunday night, Daniel and Adrienne were flown red-eye to San Francisco, to the Atlantis base, to pick up some sensitive materials Rodney and Sam wanted transferred to the Pentagon.  For reasons far above Adrienne’s head, the items could not be transported nor could they be flown, so Sam had sent Daniel and Adrienne to drive them back.  Adrienne did not relish the prospect of spending that much time with her boss, much less in the cramped cab of a truck, but she didn’t have a choice. Teal’c was off world visiting his son Rya’c, who was soon expecting his first child and needless to say, Teal’c was extremely excited about becoming a grandfather.  Cameron had flat out refused, citing everything from motion sickness in a car to problems with new cadets and Adrienne was pretty sure he was just trying to avoid the boredom she was certain to endure.  Vala had volunteered very quickly, especially when she discovered that the trip would take days and therefore they would need to stop for the night a least twice if not three times.  Adrienne was not sure if she wanted to see the sights or bunk with Daniel, but she found both notions to be rather funny.  Daniel, however, didn’t and insisted that Adrienne come instead.  

Once they were on the interstate, in desperate need of music, Adrienne reached into her purse, pulling out a small receiver and her iPod, quickly hooking the pieces together and setting the audio tuner to scan, awaiting the result.  

“What are you doing?” he asked.  Caught, but she really didn’t care, tapping the scanner again to find an available station. 

“Putting on some music,” she answered, cocking her head ever so slightly so he could catch her winking at him.  

“Dare I ask what?” he inquired, worried that this was going to just set the tone for the trip as they argued over Adrienne’s horrendous taste in music. However, she decided not to start this trip with a fight, choosing instead to take the high road. 

“Fine, you pick the genre.  I have it all,” she answered, awaiting his response, pleased to see the surprised look on his face. 

“What, you mean not everything on that gadget is meant to be played in a club?” he replied and since she could not tell if he was teasing or being serious, she erred of the side of nice.  

“Yes, I have an open mind in terms of music. Pick a genre,” she repeated.  Daniel paused, trying to think of what Adrienne would never listen to and broke out into a broad grin, cutting his eyes over at his assistant. 

“Classical,” he requested, waiting for a smart remark, one that he didn’t get. There was a small part of him that loved to set her off, it was just too easy to offend her, but apparently his little plan had backfired as  Adrienne simply clicked around on the little machine and from the cheap stereo of the rental truck the sounds of a smooth cello began to play. 

“I am impres-” he started to compliment her when the calm cello music turned into some loud rock and roll, violins screeching loudly in some oddly placed techo beat. 

“What is this?!” he changed his response, shooting a glance over at her to see her laughing hysterically in her seat. 

“Bond,” she replied, holding back laughter “it is called Classical Crossover.  They are an electric string quartet.” 

He listened a second longer and had to admit it wasn’t that bad, but he wasn’t going to let her know that just yet, he needed to keep her on edge just a little longer.  

“Electric? Again, I shall restate.  Club music,” he joked, trying to judge her reaction out of the corner of his eye, catching a scowl being made in his direction. 

“This is classical.  Just because it has the word crossover after it and is played with electrical instruments does not negate it’s classicality,”  Adrienne argued and Daniel just couldn’t resist.  

“Classicality? Is that a word?” he asked. She cocked her head, biting her lip as she contained her laughter. 

“It is now,” she answered smartly soliciting a smile from Daniel, who reached across the dash and turned the knob to the stereo louder.  Happy that he wasn’t going to argue music with her, Adrienne proceeded to get herself comfortable, pulling her legs up to cross them into her lap, yoga style and pulling a composition book out of her backpack. Puzzled, Daniel waited a few moments to see what she was up to when he noted that pen in hand, his assistant was writing feverishly in the book, her face furrowed in concentration. He let this go on for about 20 minutes and then turned the stereo back down, glancing over at her.

“No working,” he ordered her.  

“Since when?” she asked, not looking up, but he could make out a small smile creeping across her face.   

“If I have to stare out into oblivion and not get anything accomplished, I’m certainly not going to let you. It’ll make me look bad,”  he stated, hoping she knew he was trying to be friendly.  

“I’m not working,” she responded after a moment’s hesitation.  She had peaked his curiosity, and he was not so stupid as to think she was not provoking him with a lack of information, so he took the bait, glancing over at her quizzically once more.   

“What are you doing then?”  he asked. 

“I am working on my novel,” she answered simply. 

“You’re writing a novel!?!” he was honestly shocked, when would she have time to write a novel? Or, for that matter, she had the ability to write a novel? Being smart is one thing, being able to write an original story was quite another. 

“Yea,” she said flatly, waiting for the snide remark to cross his lips, but no such remark came, instead, he looked over again at her, curiosity all across his face. 

“About what?” he pried.  

“You’ll find out when I finish,” she responded smugly.  

As much as he liked to set her off, he was fairly certain she enjoyed the same, hence, the curt answers.  They would go back and forth like this in the lab often, especially lately, and too the casual observer, it would appear that they hated each other and for a while, they did in a way, but over the past few months they had become allies for lack of a better word.  They had each other’s back when cornered by others, but when it was just the two of them they often sparred, in constant competition over the slightest concerns and he was sure her point this time was, look what I can do, ha ha ha.  

“Ok, can you read me something? What about what you just wrote?”  he tried to get a little more information, because, torment aside, he was genuinely curious.  Writing non-fiction had come easy to him, fiction, not so much.  She looked up at him, trying to feel out whether he was serious or whether he was just messing with her finally screwing up her face as she glared back over him. He’d won, he knew she was going to give in and read something just by the expression on her face.  

“Well, this very second, I am warming up,” she explained.  

“What’s that?” he questioned, having no idea what she was talking about.  Sensing his sincerity and hoping that he wasn’t setting her up for a new reason for torment, Adrienne reached over to shut the music off completely before diving into her explanation. 

“Warming up is when you write something you know, that’s easy for you, something that you will never REALLY use to get your juices flowing.  If it works, it sparks a little something inside of you and you can start tackling your real work,” she explained.  He kept his gaze ahead on the road, but she could see that he was truly interested.  More than just the satisfaction of knowing something he did not, a sensation that she normally reveled in, a small part of her was actually excited that he cared enough to be asking.  In silence, he listened to her explanation, nodding in understanding and then asked another question.

“Do all fiction writers do that?” She shrugged and tucked the pen into the crease of her composition book.

 “I’m not sure, but I do that, ”  she replied. He smiled but didn’t say anymore.  Disappointed, Adrienne looked down at the book in her lap, her hands starting to instinctively pick at her fingernails. She had hoped he’d asked her to read a warm-up since it “didn’t matter” but he didn’t.  For reasons she couldn’t explain, she wanted him to ask, so breathing in silently before she did, she took a risk and decided to offer.  

“Do you want to hear what I wrote?” she inquired. 

“Yea, actually, I’m intrigued,”  he answered honestly. He didn’t seem to be kidding, much to Adrienne’s delight. Clearing her throat carefully, Adrienne quelled her nerves and began: 

Through crystal waters I pass

Into the realm unknowing

A universe so large and vast

My heart knows where I’m going

The more time we spend

Along this foreign path

I hope it shall never end

Lest send my heart to wrath

But yet I venture on

Though the way is long and harrow

For fear you will be gone

A lost target for my arrow

Why do I follow so blindly

Despite my better sense

Will the prize outweigh the pain

Or shall it be much to immense

While I hope it is not one I will rue

Given it, my choice is to be with you

He was silent for a moment and Adrienne began to feel sick.  Why did she read that to him? He was just going to use it to torture her relentlessly; she would never hear the end of this....

“It’s about the Stargate,” was all he said.  

“Yes and no, “ she answered quickly, excited he had actually listened, “like I said, when you write you start with what you know and go from there.  It is more of an exercise in rhyme, rhythm and synonyms.”  

“Is your novel written in verse?” he continued.  Wow, he did seem interested.  She decided to take advantage of non-smart-ass Daniel for a moment while she had him.  They hadn’t had a serious conversation like this, in, well, a while, much less one that was not work or ‘car accident while on a coffee run’ related.

“No,” she started, “but it’s a fantasy novel, and prophecy is always written in verse, so poems are a good way to get the synonyms flowing and have a few lines on hand just in case.”  He didn’t respond, Adrienne just hoping that meant that he was thinking about what she said and not preparing an evil comeback. 

“It was good,” he finally spoke, Adrienne laughing nervously and uncontrollably at his compliment. 

“Not really, but thanks, like I said, it just gets things flowing,” she said still giggling. Daniel took his eyes from the road for just a moment to look over at her, hoping to convey his sincerity. 

“I’m not mocking you, I’m serious,” he insisted and by the tone in his voice he was. Adrienne was touched. 

“I appreciate that.... coming from you,” she answered, adding the last part quietly, but that he didn’t seem to notice.  Adrienne was slightly relieved, a part of her still worried he would use this little opening up session as a reason to harass her later, wanting more than anything for this truce of theirs to continue. Work had been so much better lately with Daniel being nice and not trying to get her to quit, she actually didn’t mind working late a few nights and their feuds were no longer the talk of the entire base. 

“Who is he?” Daniel asked after a momentary pause.  

“He who?” Adrienne questioned, glancing over at him confused. 

“The man you’re with, in the poem?” he clarified making Adrienne pause.  Did she know who that man was? Honestly, she was just writing what came to her and no matter her answer Daniel probably would not understand how her brain processed her pre-writing ritual, he would have pegged someone, hell, he had probably already pegged someone and was just having this entire conversation to add fuel to the fire.  And besides, this exchange was getting way too serious...

“Cameron,” she answered with the first name that popped in her head.  The tires to the Uhaul screeched loudly as Daniel swerved into another lane, quickly correcting the truck, his blue eyes glaring over at her in annoyance, confusion, some negative emotion that Adrienne could not pin, the young woman erupting into hysterical laughter at his gut reaction, so much so she buckled over in the seat, wiping tears from her eyes.  

“Cameron!?!” Daniel demanded. After all of the obnoxious comments that he had to endure from Cameron concerning Adrienne, her looks, her butt, that was the last name he wanted to hear coming from her mouth.  

“No, I’m just kidding. But that was quite the reaction.”  Adrienne started to compose herself a bit better, watching his panic stricken face carefully. She wasn’t going to let him live that down, for a long, long time.   

“You just caught me off guard.  Didn’t quite imagine that would be your answer,” Daniel spoke quickly, trying not to get her thinking whatever insane thoughts her brain might be conjuring at this very moment. 

“Uh huh,” she chided.  Note to self, Daniel does not like the idea of you and Cameron.  This could be so much fun later. 

“I just don’t see you dating Cameron, that’s all,” he continued, desiring to clarify his position before she jumped to any insane Adrienne conclusions.

“No worries.  I’m not trying to use the SGC as my personal dating service,” Adrienne assured him, honestly, in fact, she was fairly certain that Cameron was attracted to her, but she had more important things to do than worry about finding a man. There were worlds to explore and things to be learned and Dr. Adrienne Rowan had a lot more living to do before she thought about spending the rest of her life with just one other person.

“Good,” he responded, “that’s not it’s purpose and you need you convince Vala of that while you are at it.” Adrienne giggled lightly, pleased he was taking it all in jest and turned back to her book, sending her characters on their quest.

A few hours had passed when Adrienne noticed that the mileage heading to Nevada was decreasing rapidly, appearing that the two of them had made pretty good time on the first leg of their journey. Her main characters where stuck in a forest, so she closed the book and tucked it back into her pack, glancing over at Daniel whose face was furrowed, as usual, concentrating on the road. 

“I’m hungry,” she informed him, while he seemed to be content driving and listening to talk radio, which he must have switched over to while she was writing.  

“Look in my bag,” he answered, pointing to the worn messenger tote to his right.  Three months ago she wouldn’t have dared, but now, she just rooted around in his things like it didn’t matter.  It didn’t really seem to bother him, despite their tenuous relationship and Adrienne chalked it up to him figuring that as his assistant she should be have access to his things, or at the very least, work related things like his messenger bag. Reaching over, she opened the flap, peering through the sparse contents, a few pens, a pencil or two, his most recent journal, a legal pad, and some Powerbars.  

“Yuck,” she said, looking over at him holding up his suggestion, shaking it loosely in her hand. 

“What?” he asked as if he really did not realize that Powerbars were not food, despite the hundreds of times that Adrienne had tried to educate him otherwise.  

“We are on Earth Indy, not trapped God knows where in the Milky Way. I’m not eating that; that’s not food,” she told him plainly.  Powerbars seemed to be the only thing any of SG-1 ate when off world, much to Adrienne’s disgust when she was taken off world with them. She refused to eat them unless she absolutely had to.  

“What do you want then?” he asked, fearing her answer.  He was not in the mood for some organic garden bar. 

“Mexican,” Adrienne replied, whipping out her phone, frantically searching for nearby places before he could have a chance to argue.    

“You always want Mexican,” Daniel countered, relieved that she wanted her junk food craving rather than her usual count down to the individual carrot and grain of cereal that he had grown accustomed to witnessing at every meal.  He had learned from a few late night work sessions that there was one junk food indulgence that his assistant had, one strong enough to make her toss away her super healthy lifestyle for one fleeting moment and that cuisine was Mexican. Not his first choice, granted, but it could be a lot worse.  

“Yeah, but we are closer to Mexico here.  Better chance of real Mexican,” Adrienne reasoned, beaming. 

“I still fail to see how Mexican fits into that healthy food plan of yours,”  he replied smartly, giving her that look that an attack was imminent.  He’d asked before, but her reaction was priceless, he just couldn’t resist.  

“It goes under that psychological aspect of my diet. If I don’t eat Mexican, I’ll sink into the furthest depths of depression,”  she answered, smiling at her joke.  He shook his head, laughing lightly, these past couple of weeks with Adrienne having been like that, laughter and fun, and he had to admit he was pretty hungry himself.  If they stopped for lunch and a rest they might be able to go 5 more hours.... just far enough to get past Vegas.  Not that Adrienne would want to stop there, she hated gambling, but he wanted to avoid as much of the insanity around the city as possible. 

“Find one?”  he asked, giving in to her request; she had a point, a taco sounded pretty good right about now.  Adrienne was running her fingers around that complicated phone of hers, the one that did everything but cook the meal itself, probably having the damn thing calculate the exact distance of each restaurant versus it’s authenticity knowing her. That was something else he had learned about his assistant; no matter the problem she had an endless stream of gadgets to help her solve it.

“Yep,” she answered, “exit after next.”  

Like most of what they had encountered on the road, this wasn’t a chain restaurant, but rather a small hole in the wall, most likely family run. Adrienne couldn’t have been more excited. Daniel was barely out of the cab when he saw her dashing through the front door of the restaurant, leaving him to bring up the rear.  She was already seating and ordered by the time he had locked up, checked on their precious cargo and made his way inside the restaurant.  

“Quiero una margarita para beber y le traiga a mi amigo un cafe con leche,”  Adrienne requested politely, and the waiter nodded darting off to fetch the drinks.  Daniel sat down as another waiter brought chips and salsa to the table, conveniently right in front of him.  

“Damn,” Adrienne said as the man left.  

“What’s wrong?” he asked. She pointed at the bowl of salsa that he was just beginning to dig in to.  

“That?” she answered.  

“Is something wrong with it?” he paused, not moving the chip or his hand.  

“No, I’m sure it’s fine, but that is American salsa.  In Mexico they eat Pico de Gallo,” she explained.  Daniel knew that, he had visited Mexico quite a few times, but he just let her think she had him on this.  She enjoyed those small victories.  Besides, she had given him enough fuel already, he remembered as the drinks arrived. Targeting his harassment in another direction, he pointed at their drinks, a smirk tiptoeing across his face. 

“A margarita? At noon?” he taunted.  

“Yeah, you’re driving.” she retorted.  

“What if I decided I needed a break?,” he raised his eyebrows, shrugging and waiting her reaction. Adrienne gave him a dirty look, muttered something under her breath which he assumed were Cajun swear words and then switched the drinks.  Containing his laughter, Daniel reached for the margarita, brought it to his mouth to sip pausing dramatically, then quickly returned to drink to the table, switching the cups back to their original position. 

“No, I think I’ll let you write.  That is, if you can do so inebriated,”  he said, winking at her. 

“You’re an ass,” she replied and began to sip her drink, trying not to roll her eyes at him too badly. They ordered their food, Daniel looking at his watch the entire time.  It was slightly annoying at first, but Adrienne did realize that he was doing most of the driving and that she really didn’t want to make this trip take a week, unlike Vala who would have reveled in the prospect.  According to Mapquest, the trip straight would take 43 hours and they had figured that driving an average 10 hours a day it should take only 4 days.  They were on par for day one so far and she knew he wanted to log at least 10 if not 12 hours today.  Deciding not to mock him, Adrienne ate her meal quickly, calling for the check just as fast to get them both back on the road. 

6 hours later, as Daniel was determined to make it 11 hours today at the very least, they pulled into a Howard Johnson’s hotel, securing themselves two rooms.  It was only 7:30 p.m., but Daniel was tired of driving and Adrienne really needed to stand and walk around, her normally active legs feeling sore and cramped. However, the exhaustion of being on the road so long took its toll, so when Daniel knocked on her door for dinner, figuring he might as well eat with her again since there was no one else around. 

Reading on the bed, Adrienne was surprised by the knock at her door. She didn’t have to wonder who it was, she knew it was Daniel, she was just trying to figure out what he was going here. Tossing her novel aside, Adrienne stood slowly from the bed, lumbering  toward the door like a zombie.   

“Hey, I saw some places to eat on the way in we could walk to,” he started until he saw her get-up, a olive colored Tulane University t-shirt and oversized gray pajama pants. Not saying a word, she motioned him in, heading slowly back over to the bed,  and flopping down dramatically.  

“I guess that’s a no,” he ventured, entering her room, shutting the door behind him since she was in her pajamas and then pausing to note that he was in her room, alone, with the door shut and she was in her pajamas.  He felt a sudden urge to leave. 

“I really don’t want to interact with fellow humans right now, sorry Indy,” she replied, reaching for the book that was laying casually on the bed, tucking a bookmark to preserve her place.  She pointed over to the chair at the table in the room, a silent signal for him to join her.   Apparently, he wasn’t human.  Good to know, he thought. 

“I was going to order a pizza or something. I’m too achy and bitchy to go to an Applebee’s  or some other place and try to smile,” she contined, reaching for her cell phone, “You want in?” 

She had never actually invited him to spend time with her casually, well at least seriously, since the True Blood fiasco had apparently been a joke. In fact he was fairly certain she thought that he was the most boring person on the planet and only spent the time with him that she did because he was her boss. He would never admit it to her, but he was touched by the invite.  

“Sure, and you know me, I’ll eat anything,”  he answered.  She smiled kindly and called the pizza place, ordering just a simple pepperoni and cheese.  Hanging up the phone with a tap of her finger, Adrienne glanced back over at Daniel, who was sitting uncomfortably in the chair across the way, looking like he had no idea what he was doing here or what he should do next.  

“Wanna find a movie?” she asked him.  

“I doubt we’ll find one we can agree on,” he told her. 

“You really think I am that ‘out there’? “ she asked, a insulted tone creeping up in her voice.  

“No, I am,” he answered honestly.  Adrienne rolled her eyes. 

“I doubt that.  I think you just want me to think you’re different,” she challenged.  

It was true, but he had also endured Cameron and Teal’c’s movie selections for years. He didn’t necessarily hate their choices, but he didn’t really like that many of them either.  

“Fine,” he responded, “I’ll pick.”  

Shaking her head, Adrienne rolled her eyes, tossing the remote toward his lap, missing terribly as the bounces off of his knees and hit the floor. He stood, collecting the clicking, standing in front of the TV trying to find something. He flicked through the channels, determined to prove to her.... well something.  That she didn't know him as well as she claimed that she did? He really wasn’t sure what he was trying to prove, but he was determined to prove something.  After a few minutes of clicking around while Adrienne was packing away her things into her backpack, he settled on a film:  Schindler’s List, garnering a strange look from Adrienne in response. 

“See,” he responded, “it’s best I don’t pick.”  

“No, it’s a great movie, it just makes me cry. A lot.”  she said and stood, lumbering sleepily over to the bathroom.  

“You?! Cry?!?”  he asked, unable to resist,  his answer was a box of tissues thrown into his chest, Adrienne scurrying from the bathroom scowling at him as she returned to the bed. He watched as she arranged some pillows and plopped down, patting the seat beside her.  

“You pick a sad film, you get to sit here and dispense tissues.” Before he could answer there was a knock at the door, “And pay for the pizza,” she added smiling, knowing that the pizza man would be the only person waiting at her room door. Laughing Daniel stood, reaching into his back pocket to abide by her request and retrieve dinner.  There were no plates, no nothing, so he walked over to the bed and set the box between them, taking a seat on the opposite side, a part of him still unsure as to how this was all going to unfold. The movie had just started and Daniel wasn’t real sure as to what he should say or do, sitting here, on the same bed as his assistant, watching a film that she guaranteed would make her cry, something else he wasn’t exactly comfortable with, but he sat their quietly, eating the pizza as Adrienne intently scanned the screen, a seriousness in her dark brown eyes. Sure enough, as the first scenes of the concentration camps flashed by, he glanced over at his assistant to see that she was about to do just as promised, quietly sucking a few deep breaths in and focusing intently on the screen. He knew what was coming and did nothing to embarrass her, just grabbed the box of tissues from the table beside him, pulling out a few and passing them over.  She took them without a word.  The majority of the movie continued in this fashion, with little to no conversation, Daniel noting his superwoman acting assistant sobbing throughout the majority, a sight he wasn’t used to and wasn’t prepared to deal with.  He didn’t say a word, but was starting to regret his choice, since despite her earlier protests, Adrienne was sitting here on the bed with him falling to pieces. Why couldn’t he ever have any kind of normal interaction with her?  When it ended at 11, Daniel excused himself swiftly and went to bed, only telling Adrienne, in fear of her late cajun ways, that he was planning to head out no later than 7 a.m. the next morning.  

She was knocking on his door at 5:45 a.m.  

“I can not eat another iota of junk food.  My entire body is so full of unneeded carbs right now it’s threatening to go on strike.  It’s bad enough I haven’t run in day, but I need protein and vegetables.  Now.” 

He stepped away from the door and let her in, an interesting turn of events after the night before, too shocked that she was up and moving, without coffee, so early in the morning, so early period, so early that she actually going to be on time for once, packed, dressed and ready to leave.  Setting her suitcase and duffle on the floor by the door, she walked right past him and flopped herself onto his bed.  

“Make yourself at home,” he said, staggering over to the bathroom.  

“Get ready, at this point, I’ll take eggs and apples from McDonald’s,” she declared from his pillow, adjusting to make herself comfortable. Oh no, he thought, oh no. His heart began to race.  

“Can I shower?” he asked, regretting the suggestion the instant it crossed his lips. Why was she here?  

“Can I get real food no matter what?” she countered from the pillow, his pillow, laying sprawled out on his bed. 

“Yes,” he caved, “we will not leave until you satisfy whatever food quota you must meet.”   He answered and watched her carefully for her next reaction.  

“Good, go hurry.” She pointed at the shower and rolled to her side, reaching for the remote at his night stand turning on the TV.  There was some crazy sci-fi movie playing in the background as he slowly entered the bathroom, starting the shower.  He hurried, worried that she would burst into the bathroom demanding food, playing a prank, something, perhaps something Vala-like the way she has just leapt into his bed, but she didn’t, he showered completely undisturbed, the sounds of laser beams and scaring monsters echoing from the other side of the wall. Shutting the water off, Daniel dressed himself quickly and reentered the room to find his bags waiting for him on his bed, his assistant sitting crossed legged on the end, a smile on her face, and shut off the TV.

“I packed your stuff up, nicely, nicer than you had it actually,” she teased, standing from the bed to secure her own things from beside the door. Still puzzled by her behavior this morning, Daniel walked over to the night table, checked over his things and there was nothing behind.  Feeling bad for doubting her about the bags, about her intentions this morning, he grabbed his bags and went to check them out, preparing himself for the long road ahead.

The drive through Utah and into Wyoming was awful.  Adrienne wrote, played music and even tried to get Daniel to play some silly license plate game to pass the time and he appreciated the effort as the miles just clocked on by endlessly. Their conversation felt a little different this morning, as if Adrienne was less on the defensive, more friendly and open. Maybe it had to do with all that crying during the movie.  Regardless, he limited his harassment of her to playful picking that he wouldn't need to explain.  For the entire second day of driving, they stopped only for a quick fast food lunch, where Adrienne was delighted to find a salad that she ate with no dressing, and hit the road again, mile after barren mile.  

When they crossed over into Nebraska, Daniel just couldn’t drive any longer, his eyes glazing the road, is legs numb from being seated for so long. They had stopped for dinner a few hours ago, hoping that he could encourage himself to go just a little further, maybe make it past ten hours and log as many as thirteen today. This trip seemed to be taking forever, but he knew that was partially because of how long and barren the roads were, there were no sights to welcome them into the next state or town, just hundreds of miles of identical highway that blended together in his mind in one large mass of driving.  Adrienne had offered to drive on numerous occasions but he just felt for some reason that she shouldn’t have to drive and he wasn’t quite sure why.  

By the time Adrienne was insisting that they stop, that he was starting to drift over into the shoulder of the highway, he saw that the next exit off of the interstate had only one small motel listed, not a lot of options, but he didn’t care.  They had slept in tents on dirt off world before, so a little redneck motel wasn’t really a big deal to him, however, as he started to exit, the lights of the small roadside inn gleaming brightly to his immediate left,  he did recall that he was not alone in this quest and that Adrienne might not be so keen on a venue such as like this. 

“This place ok?” he asked, as he pulled into the lot, glancing over to judge her reaction.  The sign was dead on, there was nothing else in sight, save for a McDonald’s a few hundred yards away. Unmoved, Adrienne glanced over at him, a look of concern growing the moment she made eye contact. 

“Yeah, and you looked wiped out,” she sympathized. 

“Well, it’s not the Ritz, so I wanted to make sure,” Daniel explained, sweeping his hand in front of him, making sure she was clear as to what she was agreeing to. Adrienne just nodded. 

“No, I’m fine, really.  I was broke in college; we stayed in all sort of strange holes,” she shrugged.  Not sensing any dishonesty in her tone, Daniel shut off the truck and got out of the vehicle, walking to the other side to meet her and together they walked into the small office.  It wasn’t dirty, but it was tiny, definitely a leftover of the mid 20th century motel era, so much so that Daniel could feel the sarcasm and smart remarks radiating from Adrienne.  

“No Bates Motel jokes. In fact, no horror movie references at all,” he ordered her playfully. 

“Scared?” she asked, bumping him with her hip. That was new, his mind flashed for a moment, but he just smiled back down at her shaking his head.   

“No, just, no,”  he replied, more confused by her friendly behavior than scared of ghosts. Refocusing on the task at hand, he walked up to ring the bell, a tinkle echoing against the pressboard covered walls. There was a moment of silence as the bell ceased, and a  nicely dressed elderly gentleman came to the counter. 

“Can I help you sir?” he asked Daniel.  

“We need two rooms for the night please” Daniel answered, pulling out his credit card as he leaned onto the counter.  

“We only have one left, sorry,” the man answered apologetically, pointing to the single set of keys posted on a peg board behind him.  Daniel froze.  One room; he’d have to share a room with her??  Panicked, he glanced back at Adrienne.

“Wanna keep going?” he asked quickly, hoping he had it in him to drive further, at least far enough to get them both to reasonable accommodations, but Adrienne shook her head,  her pleasant smile accented by kind eyes. 

“No, I think we can handle sharing the same room for 12 hours,” she replied, smiling evilly and added, “Vala will be so jealous.” Daniel just rolled his eyes, hoping sincerely that she had nothing up her sleeve and paid for the room.  

Fortunately, there were two beds so the awkwardness somewhat ceased after he resigned himself that he would be sharing this tight intimate space with her.  Breathing a sigh of relief that Vala was not staying here with him, he tossed his duffle onto the bed and began to dig around for some less traveled clothes. With Adrienne there was no worry of waking up to a woman in his bed trying to undress him, in fact, she would probably be writing or reading or something until she passed out for the night.  Adrienne might play it cool, but in reality, as he was learning, she was pretty nerdy.

She had informed him, rather bluntly, that his bed was the one closest to the door on the walk to the walk to their room and he didn’t argue, but wondered why she was so adamant about that particular sleeping arrangement. Walking over to her bed, she tossed her own suitcase on top, taking out a few things and turning to face him. 

“I’m gonna go shower now; I feel nasty,” she stated.  

“Be my guest,” he answered, debating on whether or not to shower himself once she was finished and walked over to switch on the TV not wanting to work after another 11 hour driving day.  There was nothing on but Law and Order on every channel, or so it seemed, so he just switched on the news and left it there.  

Minutes later, Adrienne appeared from the bathroom, clad in a towel only.  His first reaction was fear, he thought of all of the times he had to fight Vala off and tensed out of instinct, but his assistant didn’t acknowledge him; she just walked over to the bed and sat down, grabbing a small toilet kit from her duffle.  He relaxed, slightly, realizing that there was nothing to worry about, Adrienne couldn’t care less about him or having to share a room, she was completely absorbed in her own personal care, but he just kept staring at her.  She really was a beautiful woman, he hadn’t really paid attention before, thinking of her only as a lab rat, as his assistant, but here she sat, her wet brown hair dripping lightly down her pale shoulders, water droplets making a trail across her skin.  

“Do we have any more water bottles left?” she asked him, waking him from the trance, and he opened and closed his eyes, realizing that she was speaking to him.   

“Sure,” he replied, reaching over for the small cooler they had carried in the U-haul.  Two bottles left. He made a note to stop at a gas station before they hit the road again.  Standing from the bed, he walked over to her, trying not to stare for fear of getting caught. She had her back to him, but he could see in the dim light of the room what looked like a bruise on her left shoulder.  Without thinking, he reached out to touch her shoulder to see what she had managed to do to herself, since injury seemed to follow her where ever she went. Flinching suddenly, Adrienne turned her head around to face him, a surprised look in her eyes.   

“Sorry, I was wondering how you did that,” he said, pulling his hand back and noticing that it was not a bruise at all, but a tattoo, a very intricate blue and gold tattoo of two serpents, intertwined, each biting the tail of the other.  He knew a lot about ancient images, but he has never seen this before.  Not replying immediately, not screaming at him in anger or offense,  Adrienne looked back to what she was doing, opening a bottle of lotion and squeezing a dab into her open palm.  

“It’s called the Auryn.  It’s from a book, means ‘do what you dream’,” she answered, beginning to rub the lotion into her arms.  Ironic, he thought but did not say, considering she had put her dreams on hold for her father, it was strange to have a tattoo encouraging her to follow her dreams.  Glancing over her shoulder slightly, Adrienne smiled softly, reading his mind.  

“Just because I was taking care of my father does not mean that I didn’t live out my dreams.  Taking care of him is how I taught myself to write, and how I won the awards I did teaching community college,” she stated this simply, no tone, no defensiveness.  

 “Do you have any others?” he wondered, intrigued by the symbol. Other than people from other worlds and a few marines, he never knew anyone that had actually gotten a tattoo before, much less more than one, especially someone like Adrienne, an academic. A female academic. 

“I have five others,” she answered, still worrying with her lotion.   

“Five?” he clarified, trying not to convey too much shock in his voice. 

“Yes, five....” she looked at him, rolling her eyes, “I guess that dashes all of the progress I have made in the past three months proving to you that I’m not the moron you thought I was.”  

“I never thought you were a moron,” he answered and walked back over to his bed, sitting down softly glancing back over at her, “I just find tattooing interesting.  Everyone on Abydos had one, but I just never gave in. Besides the fact that they are permanent, their methods weren’t the most sanitary....”  he trailed in explanation, but she seemed to relax a bit and go off of the defensive.  He shouldn’t push her further, he knew he shouldn’t, but his curiosity was getting the best of him.

“What are they?” he asked as he sat back down, hoping she wouldn’t turn to rage at him. Instead, she faced him once more, a slight smile on her face.  

“No laughing,” she requested, her hands in her lap, pick picking again at her fingernails.  

“Fine,” he agreed, chuckling at her worry. He really didn’t think any less of her, but was just curious about the whole thing.   

“And no picking later.  And no telling anyone at work, except for Vala and Teal’c, they’ve seen them, but especially not Sam. She still thinks that I am the consummate professional, despite the piercings.  Finding out about my boat load of tattoos might change that opinion,” she continued.  She appeared eager to share, almost excited and Daniel had to bite his tongue though, seeing her entire argument about Sam thinking les sof Adrienne for more body art to be quite absurd. 

“Ok, ok. I won’t say a word,” Daniel swore, placating her.  Adrienne paused for just a moment, gazing into his eyes, trying not to show the nerves in her own and turned to face him, scooting over closer to his bed and putting her legs out in front of her.  She started with her left leg and he saw that not only did she have one on her ankle, but vine trailing up her foot as well.  She was in shorts a lot, running shorts, but it appeared that her socks and running shoes covered these up pretty well. 

“This, obviously,” she started pointing to the one on her ankle, “is the yin yang, just the traditional taoist version.  I got this one shortly after my father was diagnosed to remind me that we need the pain in life to appreciate the beauty.” A true statement, he thought to himself, but let her continue.  

“The vine here,” she showed him how it began at her middle toe and went up her foot, “was inspired by my practice of yoga.  In yoga, before you begin a new posture you have to ground yourself to the earth.  I felt as if I needed a reminder to be grounded outside of practice.”  

“These are well thought out,” he finally had to say something, “do they all have a story?” 

“Yes,” she answered and then extended her right arm, turning it over.  She was usually wearing a large cuff bracelet on that arm, and now he could see why.  On the underside of her wrist was an owl, but not a modern looking owl, but one done in a more Hellenistic style.  

“Athena’s owl,” Daniel said before she could tell her story.  

“Right,” she continued, “I got this when I was writing my thesis for my master’s to remind myself that the wisdom was there, I just needed to not be afraid to use it.”  

“Are you telling me grad school would have been better were I to get a tattoo of a pyramid on my arm?” he tried to be funny.  She smiled, unafraid this time. 

“Something like that,” she answered softly, “then,” she lifted her towel up the side of her right leg, just to mid thigh, right over where her running shorts would cover, “I got this one last month.”  Shaking slightly, scared to be opening up to him so much, Adrienne pulled back the towel slowly revealing a rather large Earth Chevron inked into her side. 

“Now that’s dedication to work,” he joked, hoping that she knew it was a joke.  

“No, I was paying homage to the job that literally changed my life. And saved it,” she added quietly.  

“Saved it?” he tilted his head, pushing his glasses up his face to take a better look at her.  She was so different here with him right now, so, uninhibited.  It made him nervous but also sparked a million questions about her, things he had never thought to ask until now, but he bit his tongue, letting her continue, the look on her face telling him she needed to. 

“Yeah, let’s just say that things weren’t going so well for me, emotionally anyway.  Sam’s phone call was the miracle I was waiting for,”  she said as she looked down, folding her hands in her lap, the picking resuming once more.  She was quiet for a moment and then turned away from him, grabbing the lotion bottle as if they never had this conversation, she shut down not only her words but her body language. He decided to not ask her for further details, standing to go to the bathroom himself and shower when he realized that she had skipped the last tattoo.  Turning back around to where she was now applying lotion to her legs, Daniel paused for a second, afraid to ask, and then just did, the words trickling out before he could stop them. 

“That was only four, five total, I thought you said that you had five more?” he tried to verify.  

“I did,” she said, as she stood to make her way over to her duffle bag, pulling out a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt.

“Then what’s the last one?” he asked.  

“That one’s personal,” she responded.  

“One of those,” he said aloud, again, not minding his words, thinking he was making a joke, but realized as the phrase came out of that it did not sound that funny, in fact, it sounded down right accusatory and offensive.  He went to amend, but the look on her face Adrienne had picked up on that as well.  

“It’s not a gah damn tramp stamp if that’s what ya thinking in that sick little male mind of yahs,” she shouted at him, her accent slipping, a clear indicator that he had erred.  

“No, I didn’t mean that, that came out wrong, I’m sorry. I meant. Well, ok, I meant nothing.  If it’s personal, that’s fine. I’m sorry I asked. I didn’t mean to offend you.  Really,”  In an effort to avoid any further fighting, he turned once more to the bathroom door, the shower serving as his escape. It would give him time for her to cool off and hopefully avoid a shouting match. But she didn’t scream, in fact Adrienne looked at him, with a sad look in her eyes, like she wanted to tell him something but was afraid to.  

“I’m gonna take a shower, ok? I want to leave as soon as we possibly can in the morning,” he said over his shoulder and Adrienne breathed in. 

“It’s on my hip,” Adrienne told him quietly.  He simply turned around, not to see, but to acknowledge that she was speaking to him.  She didn’t scream, in fact Adrienne gazed at him, a deep sadness in her dark brown eyes, torn, like she wanted to tell him something but was afraid to.  

“It’s ok, I told you, that’s fine, you said it was personal,” Daniel insisted, still not wanting to anger her. Blinking a few times, maybe fighting off a few tears he thought, she stood quickly and walked up to him and carefully covering herself as she lifted the towel to the side to expose her left hip bone and nothing more.  There, beautifully and intricately carved into her soft pale flesh was a half-finished tree, a cyprus tree, cut perfectly symmetrical down the center.  Daniel glanced down quickly, his heart racing with worry, not wanting to appear that he was starting at her, staring at it, this breathtaking symbol drawn so carefully near her most intimate places. 

“Why isn’t it finished?” he asked, puzzled, making sure to look at her face as he spoke.  Not answered, she pulled down the towel and fled to the bed, collecting her lotion.  

“It is finished.  It was my first tattoo. I got it when I was 18.  It’s stupid and sappy and permanent,” she grabbed her clothes and put the lotion back into her toilet kit, her face flushed with embarrassment.

“Does it have a story?” he asked, wondering why she was so upset and ashamed.  It could have been a lot worse, in fact, on non-personnel, even his relatives on Abydos, he had seen far worse.  

“Sorta.  It’s a Jewish symbol - “ she started, forgetting who she was talking to.  

“It’s Beshert,” Daniel stated, realizing what the tree was, the Jewish symbol for soulmate.  However, Adrienne’s tattoo was only half complete, and he knew why she was embarrassed by it instantly.  

“Yep, and when you are 18 and an Ancient History major, you get these crazy ideas to create art on your body for when you find the love of your life or stupid shit like that, and carry around this childish notion that true love is a man who will get a matching tattoo and sweep you off into the sunset,” she rolled her eyes are her own words, but it was clear that this meant a lot to her, or at least had at some point of her life.  

“Don’t be embarrassed,” he told her, “we all do impulsive things when we are young.” However, Adrienne didn’t look convinced, in fact, she looked so vulnerable right now, more vulnerable than he had ever seen her before, including her crying episodes last night during the movie.  He had an overwhelming urge to hug her, to try to reassure her, but he didn’t move, he just stood there, frozen.  

“Who knows Addy; you might find him,” Daniel added, trying to make her feel better, but she just looked down at her fingers again, turning to her side and giving him a nonverbal cue that she was finished. Sighing slightly, he walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.  

The water was hot and soothing, and Daniel leaned back in the shower stall letting the stream work out the kinks knotted in his body from sitting in the driver’s seat for two days now. As he let the scalding liquid cascade down his back, Daniel couldn’t help but think about Adrienne and how different she had been on this trip, so different in fact that he was actually enjoying spending time with her.  Considering how long he had been trapped in the cab of the truck, he should have wanted to stay in here longer, letting the heat work the tension out of his muscles, but he really just wanted to get back to her, to check and see if she was feeling any better and try to cheer her up.  He rinsed himself quickly, grabbing and towel and drying off, rushing to put on his pajamas. 

“If you can find anything on to watch, I believe that it’s your turn to choose,” he offered, stepping out of the bathroom as he was toweling off his hair.  She didn’t respond, so concerned, he pulled the towel away from his face, looking over to her bed to see what was wrong. 

Adrienne was fast asleep, book in hand, her brown locks drifting down her cheek. She had changed and was wearing a pair of baggy shorts and a loose t-shirt, her side floating lightly up and down as she breathed.  Daniel stood for a moment just watching her, noting that she looked so peaceful when she was not trying to drive him insane.  He walked over and gently removed the book from her hand, reading the title was something about being dead and had a poorly drawn blond Dracula on the cover. Laughing at her choice of entertainment, her marked her place with her Star Wars bookmark and placed into her backpack.  Since she was laying on the comforter, he grabbed the extra blanket that was placed on top of the luggage rack and spread it over her gently, hoping not to wake her.   

“Goodnight Adrienne,” he said in the darkness as he shut off the light.  

The next morning they set a goal of reaching the outskirts of Chicago, a 12 hour drive from where they were.  Daniel looked exhausted, so he allowed Adrienne to drive the first stretch, at least until lunch since she had assured him that 6 hours was nothing.  They were on the road by 8 a.m. 

Traffic near Gary, Indiana and the coworkers took that opportunity to stop and eat.  Considering they were driving during the day, they had missed many city rush hours and traffic just by sheer luck.  However, rather than get discouraged though by this turn of events, since they could see the traffic still at a stand-still from the truck stop they were eating at, Adrienne suggested a trip to Lake Michigan, since it was early spring and she wanted to see at least one of the Great Lakes up close.  Knowing that they were going to be stuck here for a while, he agreed and Adrienne used her phone to find a small beach where they could park the U-haul and walk around.  

When they arrived at the beach, she didn’t leap from the car or anything else childish like he expected, instead, she calmly got out and walked straight to the water.  Arriving at the shore, Adrienne removed her shoes, set them beside her on the beach and walked in. 

“Adrienne, it’s March, that water has got to be about 30 degrees!!!”  Daniel shouted, running to pull her back, but she just stood there, hugging her arms to her body to keep herself warm, not saying a word.  After a few moments like this, she walked back over to the shore, still expressionless and grabbed her shoes walking over to him.  

“I have to, it’s tradition,” she informed him.  

“It’s tradition to try to freeze your extremities off?”  he asked. Once again, she had totally lost him, but she smiled, shoving him playfully. 

“No, it’s something my dad started.  When I was small, we didn’t have a lot of money for vacations and such, so we would go on minitrips, camping, etc. We could never afford the fancy hotels near the water, so we would just run out and stick our feet in, right on those private beaches before we got caught,” she explained, “it was fun.” He smiled and felt a small sharp pang of jealously, that despite not having a mother, she did have a father who cared for her very much.  

“How many bodies of water have you waded in?” he asked.  

“Tons,” she answered, and starting walking down the beach. He followed, eager to hear more about this mysterious woman who had just popped into his life only a few shorts months ago, “The Atlantic, the Gulf, the Mississippi, the Ohio, the Rio Grande and those are just the big ones.  Once, we went to Tampa Florida and I ran out into the water like a wild woman, disregarding the cops guarding the private beach.  Dad was chasing behind me, screaming like a Banshee, Adrienne Margaret!!” she was laughing hysterically at the memory.  

“Margaret?” he asked. 

“Ugh, yeah, my awful middle name.  Some grandmother I never met.  Anyway, when I heard Margaret, I knew I was gonna get it,” she laughed.  

“See, I never had that problem,” he offered.  

“Really? Never got the middle name?” she inquired.  

“No, I got it sometimes, but usually I was never with one family enough for them to remember my first name, much less my middle one,” he spoke honestly, not seeking any sympathy but unable to believe his own words. He had never told anyone that before, sure, Sam and Jack knew he was a foster child, but he had never actually mentioned it to anyone before, but for some reason, right now, with her, he just felt that he could.  There were no faces made, no mockery, as Adrienne transferred her shoes to her right hand and lagged back a bit so that they were walking side by side, running her left arm through his. He didn’t pull away.  

“It’s ok,” he answered, sensing her concern, yet leaving their arms interlocked, “Fate has an interesting way of bringing you where you need to be.”  She didn’t respond, just squeezed his arm tighter as they walked in silence down the beach.  

“What is it?” she asked, breaking their silence. 

“What’s what?” he responded.  

“Your middle name?” she continued.  

“Nice try,” he responded with a smile, “Classified.” 

“Come on, you know mine.....” she pleaded, pulling his arm toward a bench where she let go of him, sat down and began to put on her shoes.  

“You volunteered that information. I didn’t ask,” he stated.  

“Is it that awful?” she pried.  

“Not exactly, just doesn’t fit me, that’s all,” he stated and began to head back toward the truck as she was standing.  

“Well, don’t expect me to beg,” Adrienne jogged lightly to catch up to him, “but I’ll find out.  I have my ways....” 

“Uh huh,” he said.  

“Race you back?” she asked.  

“And give you another reason to harass me? I think not,” he replied to her smiling. 

“Fine, but I’m going to jog back before we are trapped in that cab for six more hours.  See you at the truck.”  She jogged off in the direction from which they came and he watched as she went over the hill, glancing back at the lake once more, and smiling at the thought of her standing there shivering in the cold water.  

They stopped for the night once they crossed the Ohio border, Daniel requesting to dive once more. Adrienne spent part of the car trip trying to get him to tell her his middle name, not by begging or pleading, but by trying to trick him and he outsmarted her every time.  Eventually she gave up, put on her iPod again and began to educate him on the history of hip hop music.  Despite his better judgement he was actually impressed by her ability to sing, or rap rather, the entire discography of Salt n Pepa.  Overall, they had a really good time together the last 6 hours of the day’s drive and he wasn't even nervous about the rest of the evening as they pulled up into another chain hotel, only to discover that there was no where to park.  Puzzled, Daniel pulled into the loading loop and put the truck into park.  

“I’m going to run inside and get a room and we can worry about parking later,” he hopped out of the truck and jogged into the hotel.  Adrienne waited in the cab for what seemed like forever until she saw him coming through the mains door shaking his head. A look of displeasure on his face, he climbed into the cab and started the truck.

“So what’s the deal?”  Adrienne asked. 

“Booked.” Daniel stated. 

“We have to share a room booked, or no rooms booked?” Adrienne clarified. 

“No rooms for a hundred miles booked. Some big convention in town and a bigger concert tomorrow,” he answered and popped the car into drive.  

“Well, I can do a hundred miles, let me drive again,” Adrienne offered.  

Daniel made a face at her, “You’re just as tired as I am.” 

“There was a 7-11 a few miles back.  Let me get a 5 hour energy or a coffee or something and I’ll be able to do it,” she argued but Daniel shook his head. 

“No,” he stated simply, “we’ve come too far to have something happen now. Do you know what would happen if we got into an accident??” 

“Then what do you suggest?”  Adrienne asked, cocking her head at him.  

“There was a truck stop right by the interstate, I guess we can crash there,” Daniel offered his only suggestion.  

This time Adrienne made a face, “Is that safe?” 

“Truckers do it all of the time,” he responded.  

“Since you look so much like a trucker?”  she teased.  

“Are you scared?” he poked back.  

“No, it’s just gross. And I want a shower,” she defended herself. 

“Please, I’ve gone way longer without a shower crybaby.  You just think some trucker is going to stalk us back to the pentagon or something,” he continued to pick, hoping to ease any fear that she might have while still having fun with her.  

“You’re mean. I thought you said no horror movie references,” she fought back.  

“No worries,” he said as he turned onto the road heading back for the truck stop, “I’ll protect you.”  At that statement, Adrienne erupted into laughter.  

“You’re delusional,” she said. Daniel was right, there was plenty of space for them, so they parked over among the line of big rigs, their U-haul dwarfed by their massive cousins.  Adrienne kicked off of her shoes, trying to get comfortable, but scanning around the cab as though there were something amiss.  

“I can’t sleep in jeans,” she started to complain.  

“Then change,” he replied.  

“Here!?!” she exclaimed.  

“You do realize that you were parading around in a towel last night right?” he pointed out to her.  

“That was just you! That’s different!!!” she hissed back and he laughed. Nice to know she was comfortable with him at least, but a part of him guessed it went back to his not being human.

“Look,” he offered, “let’s just get a few hours and then we can hit the road, go a few hours, get a room, sleep and the finish up the rest of the way. Does that work? Just try to go to sleep.”  She grudgingly grabbed her backpack from the floor and put it onto the seat, laying down across it.  She adjusted herself into somewhat of a comfortable position, when she suddenly had a thought and glanced up at him.  

“Wait, I’m taking up all of the space. What are you gonna do?” she asked, now concerned, his handsome face tired and weary. He needed rest as much as she did, especially if he was going to insist in a few short hours on doing the driving again. 

“I am good leaning here; I’ve slept in worse,” he replied, grabbing his duffle from the floor and setting it against the window.  

“Are you sure?” she pushed.  

“Positive,”  he assured her and he wasn’t kidding.  As Adrienne was continuing to get herself comfortable, she heard a slight sound of heavy breathing, although not quite snore.  

“Indy?” she asked, looking over at him, but he was fast asleep. Guess he is good over there, she thought, rolling over to get more comfortable when she saw something sticking out of his back pocket.  Squinting she noticed it was his wallet; he had left it in his pocket after running in the hotel and smiling evilly to herself, she reached over to his backside and slid it out carefully.  He didn’t stir, much to her relief, and leaning forward to hide her diabolical little scheme with her body, she opened it slowly and peered at his license.  

Daniel Anthony Jackson 

Seriously? she thought to herself, he was all bitchy over Anthony?  She laughed, closing the wallet, and slipping in into the small opening under the radio, laying herself across the seat and fell asleep thinking about how ridiculous he could be.  

Daniel awoke to the smell of hash browns and he left his eyes closed trying to figure out who could be in his kitchen cooking hash browns when he realized he was laying against a duffle bag and cold glass.  

“Good morning, Anthony,” he heard Adrienne laughing beside him.  Opening his eyes he saw her sitting on the other side of the truck cab, a disposable plate of food in front of her and his wallet peeping out of the cubby on the dashboard, Adrienne smiling from ear to ear.

“No fair going through a man’s wallet while he sleeps,” he tried to play angry but really wasn’t.  For some reason, it just didn’t bother him that she knew. 

“I didn’t go through anything,” she said, “It just so happens your wallet was falling out and your license was right on top....”  He gave her a dirty look.  

“Never underestimate me,” she declared.  

“No, never again. Please tell me you got me something to eat and aren’t just going to torture me with the smell,” he inquired. She reached onto the dash where he saw another clear plastic covered plate awaiting him that she passed it over, tossing a pack of utensils on top.  

“Thanks,” he told her but she just smiled and kept eating. 

They ate quickly and left again, having slept longer than they intended. A few hours into the trip he volunteered to stop, but Adrienne insisted that she wanted out of the truck for good sooner than later so they kept on going.  They stopped for gas and snacks and at 9 p.m. were rolling into the parking area of the Pentagon where the men at the gate radioed Rodney.  He was at the truck in minutes. 

“I hope you two managed not to break anything,” he said smartly.

“I assure you Rodney, it was an uneventful trip,” Daniel answered.  Adrienne grabbed her duffle and backpack from the cab as the two men talked, heading into the SGC personnel entrance.  

“Hey wait up!” she heard Daniel yell from behind her, and she saw him jogging up to catch her, his duffel and messenger bag strapped across his body.  

“Indy, I need a shower,” Adrienne turned back around, looking annoyed.  

“No, trust me, I need one to,” he started to speak, “I just wanted to thank you for coming with me.” 

“You kinda made me,” Adrienne responded with a shrug.

“You could have refused.  But you didn’t and it wasn’t as bad as it could have been,” he said.  

“No, it wasn’t,” she replied hesitantly.  Nodded his head nervously, he stepped up to open the door for her and she walked through and ahead of him, heading for the elevators.  She was only a few steps away when she paused, turning back to face him, her upper teeth lightly biting her lip.   

“Daniel?” she asked. 

“Yeah,” he said as he caught up to her.  

“We should hang out sometime.  Voluntarily, outside of work” she stuttered slightly as she spoke, starting to pick the skin on her nails.  

“I agree,” he answered and hit the elevator button pointing down. The door opened and they stepped in, heading back to their respective quarters.