Daniel and Adrienne #13: Part of the Crowd

“Ha!!” Adrienne shouted out and leapt from her computer, throwing her hands up over her head in celebration. Being just generally used to such behavior, Daniel paid her no attention, his eyes focused on the file in his hands that Sam had just brought him, Sam who was standing there, puzzled, watching Daniel’s assistant and the newest member of SG-1 scream at an inanimate object. Adding insult to injury, the best one could to a MacBook screen, Adrienne made a crude gesture at the machine and started to yell at it in coarse cajun French, ripping off her uniform jacket and her black t-shirt as she shouted, revealing a tank top underneath. One more fist pump into the air, she ran over to the speaker on top of the cabinet and flipped it on, shoving her iPod into the base.  Within seconds a loud rap song blasted through the lab, Adrienne dancing wild around the room.  Sam tried to contain her laughter as Daniel flipped to the next page, peering over his glasses. 

“What is that?” Sam inquired, still looking at Adrienne doing some strange hip hop dance move over by her desk. 

“That,” Daniel began, “is Adrienne sticking it to Rodney.  He brought down some stuff from the Atlantis lab this morning he wanted me to translate.  I told him you and I were working on some things and offered Adrienne. He said that there was no way she could finish by lunch.” Daniel pointed to the clock a quick glance confirming to Sam that it as only eleven in the morning. Daniel smiled, raising his eyebrows as he turned yet another page, “She finished.”  

Shaking her head in amazement, Sam peeked up at the very enthused young woman, trying hard not to erupt into a fit of laughter.  A few months ago, Daniel would have been screaming at the top of his lungs for Adrienne to turn that crap off and get back to work, but not anymore.  Now, not only were they friends but just a few short weeks ago, when they all thought Adrienne was going to be the latest casualty to technology gone wrong, Daniel had literally fallen to pieces over the thought of losing her. Hiding her face from Daniel with her hand, Sam smiled softy. She knew this would work out exactly as planned, just enough spunk, but not too much, and plenty of brains to be a challenge to him, a real equal. No wonder things down here were running so smoothly. 

“Stop smiling,” Daniel said, not even looking up from his reading, knowing full well what she was doing. Sam looked over at him innocently, removing her hand from across her lips and returning to professional composure. 

“I know you well enough to know what that means.  Yes, I like her; she’s grown on me,” Daniel replied, a thin smile started to spread across his lips, a smile he was hoping that Sam wouldn’t see. It was true, she was growing on him, and he really wasn’t sure what he could do without her anymore. Feeling Sam’s eyes boring into his temple, he started to look up, to refocus her attention to their task when a black tank top popped up into his line of sight.  

“Excuse me Sam, Daniel, may I run this down to Dr. McKay?” she asked, a huge grin on her face, the folder clasped tightly in her hands. 

“Can you be nice?” Daniel teased, knowing she would be, she would be so professional that Rodney would complain later that she had been too professional, or stuffy, or whatever, but she would do so just to annoy him.  

“Dr. Jackson, I am the consummate professional,” she smiled, “Only you get to see my wild side,” she winked.  Laughing, Daniel shooed her away, as she lifted her eyebrows and darted out of the lab, Sam watching her exit as well. 

“What was the turning point?” she asked once his assitant had disappeared around the corner. 

“Huh?” Daniel answered, confused, still absorbed in the contents of the folder. 

“Between you and Adrienne?” she asked, burning with curiosity. Over the years it had bothered her that Daniel always seemed to be alone.  Not that she was trying to find him a girlfriend, Vala had pretty much staked out that territory regardless of what she claimed from week to week, but he didn’t have anyone like him, anyone he could relate to.  Satterfield seemed to get on his nerves, acting more like a fan than a colleague and other than Teal’c no one else on the team really clicked with him, he just didn’t open up to anyone and in her opinion, that just wasn’t healthy. Sam had hoped that Adrienne was that friend that he needed and she seemed help him stress a bit less, he felt confident handing tasks over to her and therefore was improving his overall attitude, so it was a win win for everyone.  

“I don’t know.  I guess I realized that she didn’t hate me on the ride back from San Francisco,” Daniel responded, eager to get back to work.  Ok Sam, ok, you got your way, we are friends, he thought to himself, please let’s just focus.  He hoped his body language would convey his thoughts, but if it did, Sam didn’t care. 

“Well, I think being trapped in a car with anyone for that long can do it,” she said and Daniel started to speak again, desperate to drop this topic of conversation, but Sam just kept talking, “I think I am going to invite her to movie night.  She’s part of the team now and she hangs out with Cameron and Teal’c anyways, and sometimes Vala.  You were the hold out,” Sam informed him.  Accepting the fact that his friendship with Adrienne was not going to be the topic of conversation, Daniel closed the folder, a smart look on his face as he glanced up at his meddlesome friend. 

“The holdout?” Now Daniel was just annoyed. When did work become our little social club, he thought to himself, it used to be just work, but he knew exactly when.  When Sam and Jack ran off and got married, the day after Sam was promoted, the day after they could claim that Jack’s position was in the civilian government and that as head of the SGC Sam reported to the IOA and not him. That day and now Sam’s entire life revolved around this base, so she must assume everyone else’s did too.  

“Yes. Vala gets on Jack’s nerves enough as it is, but could you image the two of you fighting like you used to in my living room? As funny as it is to hear you get cursed out in Bayou slang, I don’t think Jack could tolerate that well,” Sam said.  Daniel shrugged his shoulders. 

“Actually, I think he’d probably join her in a verbal assault, but, sure invite her.  She’s free this weekend,” Daniel responded, without thinking, remembering the conversation about Saturday he and his assistant had had just this morning. 

“And how do you know that?” Sam asked quickly, the smirk taking shape on her lips. Looking up at her only with his eyes, throw off by her tone and pause, it took took a second before he caught the implication of the statement and rolled his eyes, setting the folder onto his desk to addresses her.  

“I know this because we were talking about going to a lecture at the Smithsonian on Saturday and she said she had no other plans,” Daniel answered.

“Just you and her?” Sam teased a bit now.  

“Yes, Sam, because would you like to go to a lecture on dating arrowheads from South America without access to a carbon dating system? Can you name someone that would? ” Daniel crossed his arms, waiting for a response. It was just a work lecture, nothing more, Sam could think what she wanted, but in reality he just wanted to discuss the information without who would actually understand what was being said, which narrowed down his field of companions to Adrienne.  

“Fine, when is your lecture over?” Sam asked, sensing his discomfort and trying to hold back.  It appeared that they really had become good friends lately, really good friends. This was an interesting turn of events....

“At 4 but then we had talk about din...” Daniel started and stopped as he watched Sam trying not to laugh at him, shaking his head.  

“Stop, stop right there.  It’s not a date Sam, just stop. Adrienne and I are friends. Just friends.  I can talk to her and she actually has a clue as to what I am talking about.  We were going to check out this Kenyan place that opened because, like the lecture, NO ONE else will go,” Daniel responded, closing the subject.  Sam gave up her teasing and reached for the folder, returning to the task at hand, her face still beaming. 

Adrienne was straightening her shirt when she realized that she was still wearing the tank top she was dancing around in.  Oops, she thought to herself, so much for being professional.  Just when she had proven herself to Daniel as actually having a brain, Daniel decided to let Adrienne translate things for Rodney.  She was kind of honored that he felt that she was capable of moving beyond the database and mission prep, but the thought of translating for Rodney was frightfully intimidating and she didn’t want to have Rodney say or do anything, to find any mistake, that would change Daniel’s opinion of her, and opinion she had worked so hard to set herself. Approached the lab door cautiously, Adrienne tucked the folder underneath of her arm and knocked lightly. 

‘It’s open!” she heard him yell. Taking a composing breath, and repeating a yoga mantra or two she walked in confidently but quietly not wanting to disturb his work and incur his rage.  Scanning the room she found him quickly leaned over something on a central table muttering about someone being an idiot. Glad it wasn’t her, at least not yet, she shook her head, trying to figure out what Jennifer saw in him, as she walked over to the workspace.

“Dr. McKay, I’ve finished those translations that you requested,” she said, handing the folder over, smiling politely.  He looked up at her and scowled, not taking the folder, but ather, standing upright looking down at her. He wasn’t that much taller than she, two maybe three inches, but his glare and sharp tongue made up for what he lacked in size. 

“That was fast,” he stated, smartly, putting down the tablet computer and taking the task from her.  He opened the folder, not looking at the contents, just glaring right at her.

“I hope you didn’t rush, it is just now a few minutes after 11,” he spat, his brown eyes boring into her own. Eesh, she thought, wondering if this was what Daniel meant when he said she tended to glare at people.  Not to self, glaring is mean, and scary. Stop glaring at people.  Except Daniel, he tends to deserve it. 

“No, not in the least.  I even went back and checked everything twice just to be sure.  You were correct in your assumption, they were researching the Asgard cloning patterns,” Adrienne threw in the last part, knowing it was an easy way to get on his good side. Rodney McKay liked being right.  Looked back down at the folder, finally taking those menacing eyes off of her, he began to read the information carefully and pace the room. 

“Yes, yes, see that is exactly what I thought.  Fascinating. If this is correct,” he said aloud dashing back to his tablet and typing away while Adrienne just stood and waited, hands lightly clasped at her waist, for a thank you but to be dismissed.  Rodney liked that too.  Finally he looked up, surprised to see her still standing patiently in front of him.   

“You’re still here?” he asked in his usual tone but Adrienne just smiled, thinking all the while of Daniel’s joking order to be nice.  Nice she could do. 

“I just wanted to see if you needed anything else Dr. McKay,” she answered.  

“No, no thank you Dr. Rowan, I will let you know if I need anything else,” he said looking back down, the tone gone and Adrienne smiled, nodding her head, slipping away while trying not to break out into a skip of glee as she made her way toward the elevators.  When she returned to her floor, she playfully popped her head around the doorframe to find the lab quiet, no Daniel, no Sam, no one and the main lights had been shut off. Her own laptop, however, was still sitting open, her TruBlood bottle screen saver bouncing across the screen, and she saw a small slip of white paper hanging from the top, a note. Smiling, she pulled it carefully from her computer, knowing who it was from, her dissappointment of him not being there when she arrived quickly vanished. 

 Starving. Not like you eat anyway.  Unless of course it’s Mexican.  I’ll save you a seat.  

She shook her head at his comment, she ate plenty, just not anything that Daniel deemed as food, closing the lid to her laptop, making her way to the commissary.  By the time she got through the line, surprisingly long for this day of day, she found him sitting at one of the side cafeteria tables, a seat saved right beside him among a throng of new cadets, as promised. Smiling, Adrienne made her way through the crowd,  plopping down her tray down at his arm, however, he didn’t greet her, just looked over at  her plate, making a face.  

“What is that?” he asked, giving her that condescending look that he used to give her when she first started.  Sitting down, Adrienne shot a glare at him, forgetting her vow from earlier, snatching her napkin from the tray to place it on her lap. 

“Uh, a tuna sandwich,” she replied, smartly, looking away from him to grab her sandwich as well.  Bread in mouth, Daniel watched Adrienne actually eat the sandwich, pausing from commenting for just a moment Daniel laughed for a second. 

“I have known you for, what, seven months now, and I have never seen you eat a sandwich. Ever,” he explained his reaction, anything to get those angry piercing eyes to unlock themselves from his.  

“Ha ha Indy, you’re so clever.  Let’s see what you have today shug; lasagna, two rolls, extra cheese, nary a vegetable to be found. Basically heart attack on a platter.  I refuse to perform CPR on self-induced heart attacks,” she stated, Smiling, Daniel made a pitiful face.  

“Aww, even me?” he said, pouting ever so slightly.  

“Especially you,” she answered, taking another bite of her meal. 

“So, we still on for this Saturday?” he asked, his mouth full of pasta, much to Adrienne’s disgust. Shaking her head, she placed her palm on his cheek, turning his face away from her. 

“Yes, but not if you eat dinner Saturday like that, why?” she turned to her sandwich, not eating it in longer, but rather taking it in to her hands, tearing her meal into smaller pieces. 

“Because, Sam has invited you, well, us to movie night,” Daniel stated, waiting for her reaction. Weeks ago, when they had gotten back from P5L-325, they hung out in her room for a while drinking some wine, talking about the mission and a few other things, when Adrienne had told him that she didn’t feel like part of the group, and even admitted after her official induction onto the team she still felt like an outsider, like she didn’t belong.  He felt awful, mostly because he had an inkling that he was partially responsible for her distance, since he had made it so clear to her for so long that she was an outsider, an intruder. If for no other reason than to calm his own worries, he was hoping this little invitation would change her mind.  

“Really?” Adrienne’s eyes lit up, just as he had hoped.  

“Yes, really,” he said, a feeling of relief forming in his gut that was quickly quelled as he watched her face drop again, almost as fast as her tuna sandwich pieces dropped onto her plate.  

“Are we still going to the lecture and dinner?” she asked suddenly now looking confused.  She’s worried about that? he thought, About breaking our plans? Honestly, he was touched that she still wanted to do something with him given the opportunity to “fit in” which she was so worried about doing and the expression on her face told him that her concern was genuine. Nodding, he smiled at her, swallowing his lasagna this time before answering. 

“Lecture yes, but dinner is usually pizza, everyone chips in and it’s BYOB.  Or wine,” he added for her. The twinkle resumed, her captivating brown eyes lighting the entire room, a look that he had learned meant all was right in the Adrienne universe. Smiling, she grabbed her sandwich again, resuming her tearing. Comments reserved, Daniel just shook his head and kept talking.  

“So, I’ll pick you up at ten so we can get parking relatively close to the Mall, unless you want to take the bug into DC Saturday traffic, then after the lecture we’ll head over to Jack and Sam’s.  I won’t drink so you can,” he explained. There was halt of sandwich piece, just a hair in front of her face and he could tell that Adrienne was holding back laughter. 

“What?” Daniel asked confused. 

“I’m your date,” she picked.  

“No, you’re not,” he defended.  

“You’re picking me up and driving me home.  That’s a date,” she teased.  He stopped eating and glared at her, but she just put down the sandwich bites, holding her fist to her mouth as she chuckled. 

“Are you picking up Vala?” she asked. 

“No, because you and I already had plans; this is just a change in dinner plans,” he answered as if she was stupid.  

“Do you ever pick up Vala?” she continued. 

“No,” again, he answered, giving her the tone of ‘are you stupid?’

“Why not?” she inquired, smiling, convulsing, being Adrienne. Annoying Adrienne.   

“Because then it would be a - “ he stopped himself and made a face.  

“Date,” Adrienne finished for him laughing, “You’re just too easy shug.”  

“And apparently you live to torment me,” he followed up.  She smiled again.  

“Pretty much, otherwise it’s too dull down there,” Adrienne answered reaching to pick up her sandwich, or rather what had become of her sandwich to resume eating, Daniel staring at her as she popped a piece into her mouth.  He couldn’t resist, especially given that she had just accused him of asking her out on a date.   

“Why on earth is that sandwich in a hundred pieces?” he asked indicating the pile of at least twenty pieces of sandwich on her plate. Still chewing, she looked up at him as if he was asking her the strangest question.  

“And yet I’m the easy target,” he replied, “Madame Neurotic.” 

When he arrived at her apartment on Saturday, she wasn’t ready.  Big surprise, he thought to himself, he could only really remember her ever being on time twice since he had known her, the interview and her first off world mission, although he was certain that her promptness for that latter had more to do with Cam than Adrienne. He knocked again, stepping back from the door and shoving his hands into his pockets, hoping she was at least close to being ready to leave. This time, the knob turned but the door didn’t open, so he let himself in, preparing to dodge his underwear clad assistant since she didn’t seem to have a problem walking around like that in front of him. Because, he recalled, he did count as human in her world either. However, his worry ceased when Adrienne, clad in jeans and a purple long sleeved T-shirt/blouse cross, was walking away from the door, fully dressed and ready to go, yet not saying so much as a hello in his direction. She walked into her dining area, kneeling at her wine cabinet, or wine shrine as Daniel had begun to refer to it, opening the lead doors to examine her stock. Finally acknowledging his presence, she glanced over her shoulder, motioning with her head for him to join her. 

“So, I’m guessing the wine will be for you, me, and Sam, right? The others will do pizza and beer?” within second, she had every drawer to the cabinet open, reading the collection of bottles carefully.  Daniel peered over her shoulder, in utter amazement as to the amount of alcohol contained in this lone piece of furniture.  

“There must be 30 bottles in there,” he stated, counting quickly to see if he was correct.   

“41 to be exact, I need to go to the wine shop,” she answered flatly, pulling out three bottles, a red, a white, and a blush, arranging them in a row on the top.  Biting her lip in concentration, she looked back at Daniel.  

“Where do they get the pizza from?” she asked.  

“I have no idea. A pizza place,” he replied. She rolled her eyes.  

“No smart ass, I mean is it a chain restaurant, a local eatery, authentic Italian pie?” she said shaking her head.  

“You are not trying to pair wine with pizza?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at her.  She smiled playfully in response.

“Of course I am,” she replied, “this is me we are talking about.  So, can you stop being a jerk for five minutes and answer my question.”  

“Anything to get you moving, I actually would like to get a good seat at the lecture.  It’s probably some local place, definitely not Italian authentic and it’s not a pizza hut.  They just get normal stuff, pepperoni and cheese, nothing fancy,” he replied. Adrienne smiled, grabbing the white and shoving the other two bottles into their drawers, they were sorted by color he noticed, and wasn’t surprised.She walked over to the sofa,grabbed her purse and made her way to the door without further comment. Shaking his head, he locked up behind her and pulled the door shut, following her to his car.  

“Do I want to know?” he asked as they got into his jeep.  

“Red fancy, white middle, pink crap, it’s not that complex,” she replied.  He laughed, knowing that it was far more complex, but he let her play it off and started the car. 

Adrienne could not focus the entire lecture, he could tell, her hands resting in her lap, picking her fingernails like she did when she was nervous. In an effort to ease her nerves, Daniel kept leaning over to mention something to her, trying to engage her in the topic, trying to get her to just calm down.  He saw her take in another slow breath, so he tilted his head in her direction yet again. 

“Ad, did you hear that nonsense, those are not intentional markings, those are bite marks from the animal that pulled the damn thing out of the ground,” Daniel whispered to her.  

“Yeah, pretty stupid,” she whispered back noncommittally. 

“You’re not paying attention, are you?” he finally asked, tiring of this game with her.   

“I’m sorry Daniel,” Adrienne whispered back, “I am a nervous wreck.”  Daniel tried to lean in closer, the best he could in these uncomfortable folding chairs. 

“Why? It’s just a movie,” Daniel asked, and Adrienne shrugged, trying to lean in more herself.   

“Look, you’ve always been a part of this little club. I’m the newbie.  There’s a lot a pressure on me right now,” she responded.  

“Stop doing that overanalyzing of everything that you do.  Just think of it this way, they let Vala come.  That should be enough to convince you that you’ll be fine,” he replied.  Adrienne chuckled quietly and reached over to squeeze his hand.  He had stopped flinching when she did that, it took him a while, but he finally realized she was just touchy with anyone she was friends with.  And they were friends. Good friends, and good friends don’t flinch at a squeeze. Flipping his hand over, he took hers into his own, returning the gesture with a quick grip, directing her with his eyes to the small woman leading the lecture from the front of the room, keeping a light hold of her hand through the rest of the presentation.  

She rode the entire way from the Smithsonian to Sam’s with her face in the mirror.  

“You look fine,”  Daniel finally said, “who are you trying to impress?”   She made a face at him, slipping the mascara brush back into its tube. 

“You,” she said, laughing. Daniel sighed, trying to look over at her and keep his eyes on the road.  

“Seriously, Ad, we’re going to hang out with our friends.  I mean, you’re with Cameron all the time, almost as much as me.  And Teal’c. And my shadow.  And trust me, Sam is pretty fun herself,” Daniel was trying to get Adrienne to calm down, but he was not having much success. The little bit of fingernail that Adrienne did have was chewed down to the quick, and with her make-up retouched, she was sending her hands traight for her mouth once again. He reached over and swatted her hand away, earning himself an evil glare in return, which he laughed off, continuing to watch traffic with one eye and his assistant with another. 

By the time they arrived at Sam’s house, Daniel was certain Adrienne’s fingers should be bleeding. He pulled in slowly behind Cameron’s truck and shut off the ignition, glancing over at her sneaking another nibble of her index finger.

“Trust me, this is a good thing, alright? It’ll be fine,” he said and leaned over the console, placing his hand on her shoulder.  Adrienne just nodded and reached into the floor to grab her bottle of wine not saying a word but walking unually close to Daniel as they made their way up the walk to Sam’s front door. Daniel stepped aside to allow Adrienne to knock, which she did quickly, moving behind him the moment her fist lost contact.   There was shuffling from the other side, a click, and the door opened to Sam, smiling cheerfully at their arrival.  

“Hey Daniel, Adrienne, glad you made it.  How was the lecture?” she asked, stepping back quickly to usher the pair inside. 

“Sad when you know more than the speaker does,” Daniel answered bluntly, dismissively enough to give Adrienne the jolt of courage she needed, courage to call him out for being a jerk. 

“Since every archaeologist in the world has complete and total access to the knowledge of intergalactic beings older than we, sure Indy, she was completely clueless. Here Sam, I brought some wine, I hope that’s alright,” Adrienne said, striding forward with more confidence than before in the Jeep. Daniel didn’t try to hide his smile. 

“Australian Prickly Riesling, nice choice, ” Sam complimented, taking the bottle gently from her hand. Adrienne beamed.  So far, so good, Daniel thought, following the chatting women into the living room. 

Sam and Jack’s house was simple and yet elegant, just as Adrienne would have expected from the SGC command power couple. The door opened right up into a large friendly living room, the walls painted a warm golden color, with a big brown leather couch and matching love seat and coffee table which were angled toward a red brick fireplace which Adrienne noticed also housed the TV in a very complex set-up.  Must be Jack’s doing, she thought, fighting the urge to go and see exactly how he had set up the system. Truth be told, she didn’t know him well enough to know if he would understand her geekiness when it came to electronics. Letting her eyes take in the rest of the new scenery, she looked out to where she could see the door to the kitchen, one of those swinging doors, white, old fashioned, noticing a small window with shutters that was opened.  On the other side Adrienne could Jack and Teal’c, taking slices of pizza out of boxes, placing them on to plate’s she was assuming, most likely at Sam’s request. 

“Vala!” Jack yelled, “Move your legs!”  Adrienne thought she saw him roll his eyes as Vala, who was sitting on the love seat, alone, pulled her legs from the arm of the piece, muttering to herself. She started to walk on when she heard a whisper in her ear.  

“See,” Daniel said and backed up quickly, letting Adrienne continue to take in the rest of the SG-1 typical movie night confusion to which he had grown accustomed. Sam was taking the wine in the kitchen to chill it, Vala slamming herself back into the love seat trying to get comfortable without throwing her legs up onto the arm of the furniture once more, swearing under her breath, while Cam, beer in hand, sat back on the sofa, looking over his shoulder longingly at the food on display in the window.  Finally taking note of Adrienne’s presence, Cameron looked over sat up quickly, his expression changing from hunger to excitement. Here we go, Daniel thought. 

“Hey Addy,” he said standing, “wanna beer?” he offered.  

‘Sure,” she replied blushing, and he dashed into the kitchen to fulfill her request. Thankfully, Vala looked annoyed as well by his boyish behavior, but that didn’t mean Daniel was planning to sit by her, lest he have his own fan club to deal with tonight. Daniel went and sat on the now empty couch pointing for Adrienne to join him and she didn’t hesitate to go straight for her comfort zone

¨Thanks,¨ he said quietly.  

¨Why?” she asked as she saw the answer in the corner of her eye. Vala was throwing her legs over the couch and muttering to herself something along the lines of “Of course” and “Screw Jack”.  Adrienne giggled.  

‘No prob,” she replied smiling, their exchange interrupted by a happy Cameron racing out of the kitchen handing Adrienne a beer.  

“It’s not your fancy beer, but it’s really not that bad, I promise,” he said, quickly taking the seat on the other side of her.  Adrienne didn’t even want to look over at Vala to see her reaction now. From behind the couch, Sam was announcing the arrival of food and Adrienne turned to see she and Teal’c bringing in large plates of pizza, piled high on serving dishes, Jack following with paper plates and the remote control.  He tossed the plates on the coffee table, much to Sam’s annoyance, and turned to face the TV, activating the power and clearing his throat. 

“Ok, considering what I have decided we’re watching tonight, there need to be a few ground rules set.  The first one is that Daniel is not allowed to speak for the next three hours,” Jack began. Adrienne started to laugh and Daniel’s mouth dropped open, his face preparing for the right that was bubbling up inside of him, but before he could speak, Jack activated the On Demand and looked over at Adrienne.  

“That goes for you too mini Daniel, I don’t care if that monster is not real, if that God was really married to another god, if the damn pegasus starts tap dancing and singing in Chinese, nothing.  Are we clear?” Jack said. Confused, and a little frightened, Adrienne nodded quickly as he returned his attention to the screen to start the film.  Sam leaned over, sensing Adrienne discomfort, as she set down the plate of pizza. 

“Don’t pay attention to him.  He blames Daniel still for ruining when we watched Troy,” Sam laughed.  

“Because that was Egyptian art made to be Trojan and it was a thousand years too late. A simple google search could have told any set designer that!” Daniel started to argue, the bubble burst, making Adrienne erupt into laughter.  Jack whipped around, glaring, shaking the remote at his friend. 

“I will kick you out Daniel, I’m not screwing around. I want to see this and I missed it in 3D,” Jack was deadly serious.  Adrienne was about to die.  She reached over for Daniel’s hand and flipped his palm upward, directing his attention with her eyes down to their open hands. He looked at her baffled, so she widened her eyes, glaring down once more, taking her finger and writing into his palm. 

 C-A-N-U-D-O-T-H-I-S

Daniel looked up at her and nodded yes, catching on.  Winking, Adrienne brought her finger back to his palm.  

W-E-C-A-N-M-O-C-K-N-O-W

Jack, however, was much more observant that Adrienne expected. She was just getting ready to ask Daniel if this film was that ridiculous 1980’s remake when the general spun around once more, scowling at them before turning his attention to his wife.  

“Separate them,” he ordered.  Standing upright and shoving her hands to her hips, Sam rolled her eyes at him. 

“Why? No one has said a word,” she replied.  Frustrated, Jack walked over to the couch, pointing at Daniel’s upturned hand.  

“Because the geeks have found a way to communicate and that’s just gonna lead to one of them saying something smart!”  Jack accused.  

“Jack sit down and start the movie,” Sam ordered pointing to an ugly recliner Adrienne had just now noticed, the only piece of furniture that didn’t seem to belong in this lovely home.  Not arguing, Jack sat.  Adrienne tried not to laugh, feeling her hand being flipped over and a finger running along her palm. 

J-U-S-T-W-A-I-T

She glanced over at Daniel as he nodded slightly, and let herself laugh, reaching forward to grab a plate and some pizza.  

“He doesn’t mean that you know, about you anyway,” Cam leaned over to her explaining, “Every time we watch anything historic, Daniel and Jack end up getting into some screaming match about whether or not it is accurate.  It is pretty damn hysterical.” Adrienne was about to answer when Daniel leaned across her lap, much to her surprise, frowning at Cameron.  

“I do not scream, Jack screams.  He just doesn’t like me to point out anything in anything,” Daniel defended himself, hissing at Cameron, and sitting up quickly to stare at the screen. 

“See... just wait, the fun will begin...” Cam whispered, sitting back, taking a long drink of his beer. 

“I can’t wait.” Adrienne answered, doing the same and no longer worrying about herself fitting into the mix and more worried about her bosses having a free for all at her feet that she would ultimately get sucked in to, a free for all that Daniel would suck her in to for support.  Calmly, Sam went over and took a seat by Vala, while Teal’c sat crossed legged onto the floor. Adrienne started to offer him her seat, but he insisted that the sofas were too soft, so she sat back and enjoyed her pizza and beer waiting for whatever Cam seemed to think would happen to happen. 

And then the fun began.  As the movie opened Daniel was shaking his head already, grimacing at the screen.  He flipped her hand over, his finger flying across her open palm. Apparently, her little plan was going to work well for them.

“Wrong, wrong, wrong,” he spelled.

“Duh,” she replied.  He made a face and stood to get a soda.  Giggling, Adrienne sat back to continue watching when she heard conversation from the love seat.  

“That’s the man from the blue people movie,” Vala stated.  Sam nodded in the affirmative.  

“He’s a bad actor,” she declared as she sat back on the loveseat, glaring at Jack as she tossed her legs over the arm, “and he’s not hot either.”  

“I thought he did well in Avatar ValaMalDoran,” Teal’c looked up from the floor, starting a third piece of pizza. 

“He didn’t have to act, that was a cartoon,” she replied. 

“No, it is hard to do the voice thing without the body thing,” Cameron added, “I used to act in high school and a voiceover is pretty damn difficult.”  

“Dammit, you guys, shut up, I missed the entire first part!!” Jack shouted from the lazy boy.  Daniel was coming out of the kitchen, two wine glasses in hand, evidently deciding to drink himself. He walked back over to the sofa and handed Adrienne a glass looking over at Jack.  

“Hades killed his family.  That was the big guy. That’s all you missed.  Which is totally wrong,” Daniel sat back down beside Adrienne. Jack shot him a glance.

“I told you not to speak! Do that spelling shit with Dr. Perky over there,” Jack turned back to face the screen. Scowling, Adrienne leaned over to whisper in Daniel’s ear.  

“I don’t think he knows my name,” she said.  Daniel backed up,  looked at her strangely over his glasses.

“Yes, he does,”  he assured her but suddenly didn’t sound so confident himself, “he has to.....” Daniel looked back over at Jack who was watching the film intently wondering if Jack indeed knew Adrienne’s name, in fact, he’d never heard the man use it. Settling back himself, sipping the white wine Adrienne had brought to the celebration Daniel tired to force himself to watch this awful film when the doorbell rang.  

“What in the hell is it now?” Jack asked, pausing the movie.  He looked over at Sam who was shrugging as Vala leapt up, walking over to the sofa, holding out her hand.  

“That’s mine, I need some money,” she said.  

“For what?” Cameron asked.  

“For my dinner,” she replied, shoving her hand to Cameron and then Daniel.  

“We ate dinner Vala,” Adrienne replied pointing to the pizza.  

“I don’t eat that crap,” she said, now shoving her open hand at Adrienne.  

“I did,” Adrienne replied.  

“Dr. Perky did you just call my pizza crap?” Jack asked, leaning over the chair.  Adrienne looked panicked, but Vala turned to answer him.  

“Yes, it’s the same damn crap we get every damn movie night.  It’s awful. I ordered real food, now someone give me $20 so I can eat it!!” Vala now turned to Jack.  Shaking his head, he pointed to Daniel.  

“I already paid for one woman to eat tonight,” he replied, cocking his head at Adrienne, who promptly elbowed him.

“You wouldn’t stop at the bank,” she replied.  Without any warning, and as Cam had promised, all hell broke loose, with Vala and Jack shouting at one another and Cameron trying to keep the peace, all the while Daniel sat back on the sofa smirking smugly. Adrienne was backing up from the screaming while Sam was laughing when an awful smell hit her.  It must have hit Jack too.  

“What in the hell is that awful smell!?!” Jack turned around searching for the source.  Teal’c walked between he and Vala handing her a box of food, Arabic lettering scrawled on the top of the paper lid.  

“Here is your dinner ValaMalDoran.  It smells awful and you owe me $20,”  Teal’c said and returned to his place on the floor.  Vala took the box without so much as a thank you and stomped to the love seat where Sam was already making a face, not eager to share her space with the stench.  Still frowning, Jack started back for his recliner.  

“Can we just watch this so it can be over?” Daniel asked.  

“Shut up,” Jack yelled and hit play.  Adrienne finally started to pay attention, but the movie was damn awful, just like Daniel had said it would be. She started trying to spell into Daniel’s hand, getting in a few short conversations here and there, but she couldn’t keep up with how bad the movie was, so eventually she just gave up and scooted closer to him.    

“I am literally dying over here,” she finally whispered.  

“I’m glad I’m not alone and look, they’re enthralled,”  he answered. Adrienne looked over at the group and saw that every last one of them was watching the screen and bad CGI intently.  Except Sam.  She was sitting on the love seat, having thrown her feet over Vala, reading a book. Adrienne looked over at her and she made a “shhh” with her finger.  Giggling, Adrienne tapped Daniel and pointed over to Sam, catching a wink as he grabbed her palm and spelled.  

D-O-N-T-G-I-V-E-A-W-A-Y-T-O-J-A-C-K

Adrienne nodded and tried to watch the movie, making mental notes of things to talk to Daniel about later.  Sipping her third glass of wine, she scooted herself closer to Daniel as Cam kept leaping from his seat whenever the hero killed a monster, which was often, and pretended to pay attention.  

“See Sam, this is why I want a 3D TV!!! How amazing was that and it could have been that much better!” Jack put the foot rest of the recliner down, declaring as the credits rolled.  Sam quickly stowed the book under the love seat, smiling at her husband as though she had watched the entire film.   

“Well, I think it sucked,” Vala declared, standing as Sam moved her legs.  

“It was most excellent O’Neill. We must find another of these greek epics for the next time,” Teal’c declared as he stood to stretch.  Cameron was nodding his head in agreement and standing to start to clean up while Daniel remained seated, shaking his head. 

“Please no,” Daniel pleaded, “please let me pick once. I promise, it will not be a documentary, it will actually be something entertaining that does not kill brain cells,” He started to stand himself, to follow Jack to the kitchen and plea his case, when he felt a weight against him.  Looking to see what was impeding his advance, he saw Adrienne leaning against him, fast asleep on his arm. His heart started to race, and he looked up to see that everyone was looking at him.  Looking at them....

“See, even Adrienne got bored, and she’s the perky one, remember?” he said quickly, trying to play it off, but he froze, not wanting to leap up and let Adrienne fall to the sofa but feeling incredibly awkward as she lay over on him.  

“Well that’s just so cute,” Vala said, rolling her eyes and grabbed her smelly Afghan Kabob box from the coffee table and made her way into the kitchen.  Cam muttered under his breath and followed her.  As quickly as it happened, the embarrassing moment passed and everyone else stood, starting to clean up. Feeling that the attention was no longer on them, Daniel tried to gently rouse his assistant.  

“Ad, Adrienne, wake up,” Daniel shoved her lightly.  Moving slowly, Adrienne sat up, rubbing her eyes, sniffing in lightly, her allergies getting the best of her.   

“I fell asleep didn’t I?” she asked.  

“Yeah,” Daniel answered, finally able to stand again, which he did quickly, trying to act as if he had been assisting with the clean up all along. Fully awake, Adrienne glanced up at him, realizing what had happened. 

“I fell asleep on you, didn’t I?” she inquired, growing red in the face.  He nodded in the affirmative.  

“Oops,” she said, “Sorry, you have a comfortable arm.” 

“No, it’s ok.  I think it only bothered Vala.  That being the case, I should be thanking you,” he answered smiling. Pushing past her embarrassment, Adrienne stood as well and started to assist in the clean up.  Sam met her at the kitchen door as she was taking the wine glasses in greeting her with a huge grin plastered on her face.

“Hey, I’ve got those, but thanks,” Sam said.  Adrienne just smiled, still mortified about not only falling asleep during the movie but on Daniel no less.  She started to turn when Sam grabbed her arm, carefully pulling Adrienne aside.

“FYI - when Jack picks, and I’ll let you know in advance, and you can sit over by me with a book. He never notices.  Just for future reference...” Sam smiled evilly and Adrienne’s eyes brightened, understanding that she had been invited again.  That she was part of the group. That they wanted her there. That she belonged.

“Unless of course, you prefer your current seat,” she adding, winking at her before walking off.  

“Wait, no, it was....” but Sam was already in the kitchen.  Dammit, Adrienne thought, that was an accident, I can fall asleep anywhere. 

Daniel was cleaning up the rest of the living room area when Jack walked over to him.  

“That was slick,” Jack said.  

“What was slick?” Daniel asked, confused.  Jack shook his head.  Daniel was completely hopeless.

“Nothing, nothing. Anyway, I don’t think you are capable of selecting a film we won’t hate so next time it’s your pick.  If it sucks, you owe me a case of beer. Of good beer. I think your little assistant will know good beer, so you can ask her to help you when you lose,” Jack challenged.  

“Fine, and if it’s a good pick, you stop Rodney from stealing my assistant, all of the time, to do his work. It’s hard to get anything done when you keep letting him interrupt me, take her, and then interrupt me some more,” Daniel requested.  

“Sure,” Jack, “whatever you say.” He took the pizza boxes in the kitchen without another word. 

Pretty soon, everyone started to leave and Daniel signaled to Adrienne it was time for them to go as well.  Waving to him that she understood, she stopped and thanked Sam and Jack for having her and headed out to the Jeep, the look in her eyes joyful and happy.  Letting her exit ahead of him, Daniel stopped at the door, looking back over his shoulder at his friends.   

“Thanks, that meant a lot to her, really.  She doesn’t always feel like she is part of the group,” Daniel said quietly, making sure Adrienne didn’t hear and she hadn’t, he was sure as he saw her get into his car out of the corner of his eye.  

“She’s sweet; I like her and we were glad to have her,”  Sam replied.  Daniel yelled around the door to Jack who was standing by his recliner, another beer in hand. 

“Jack, I’m leaving.  Goodbye!” 

“Bye, and bring your girlfriend next time.  She’s not so bad,” he yelled back.  

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Daniel replied, not as loud, hoping Adrienne hadn’t caught that.   Sam just laughed and shut the door as Daniel left.  

“He’s a moron,” Jack said and turned to head back for his lazy boy.