Daniel & Adrienne #34 - Uninvited Guest

“Oh Indy!!! I’ve got a surprise for you!!!” Adrienne shouted at the open doorway hoping he would hear her because in her hands was something he had been complaining about, for a while something he had been whining about just last week.  He would love her forever.  In her wildest dreams, Adrienne thought to herself, not the love part, she knew that was true, but the forever part, momentarily annoyed by how much of her thoughts Daniel took up now.  He was her first thought when she woke up and her last thought before bed, effectively making her the kind of woman that she swore she would never be. She had become one of those women, pining, hoping, planning, but at least she had admitted to herself that being with him was something they might be able to handle. Now she just needed to figure out how to handle it and until then, cute coffee favors would have to do. Ducking around the corner to the lab, Adrienne discovered quickly that she needed to set down the tray in her hands before her little gift spilled itself all over the floor.  

“So apparently, if you want a pumpkin latte after Thanksgiving, all you have to do is ask!! I  just threw it out there and the lady had no problem making this for you.  Now, you must bow down low to worship that greatness that is Adrienne!” she declared, setting the items on the desk in front of her and grabbing Daniel’s drink.  She turned around smiling and paused.  

“This must be Dr. Rowan,” an accented voice spoke.  A tall, thin, blond woman, with long wavy hair was looking right at her as she stood beside Daniel, stood very very close to Daniel and Adrienne’s stomach sank to the floor. This was someone Adrienne hoped she’d never have to meet. Ever. Ever. Ever. Daniel nodded his head at their visitor and smiled, stepping forward and sweeping his hand in her direction. 

“Adrienne, I would like you to meet Dr. Sarah Gardner.  We did some work together at the tail end of my graduate studies,” Daniel explained as if Adrienne didn’t already know. who she was. She knew everything, she was his best friend, she knew work together was code for ex-girlfriend. Adrienne tried to contain her emotions, her brain creating a thousand different romantic scenarios between the two people standing before her, a small voice in her head screaming wildly. Forcing herself to be professional, she walked the drink over to Daniel, reaching out her hand to offer a greeting.  

“Nice to meet you,” Adrienne kept it short and sweet, pulling her hand back as she passed the latte over to her boss.  Gratefully, Daniel took it, cutting his eyes at Adrienne, before taking a sip and swallowing.  There was a pause, as he teased her with a delayed reaction and then he smiled.  

“You are to be worshipped my faithful assistant,” Daniel joked, walking back over to his desk. Adrienne started to kid right back when she heard Sarah laughing from beside her.  

“Since when do you drink lattes?” she asked, flirtation in her voice, causing bile to rise up in the cajun’s stomach. Smiling Daniel cocked his head back over at Adrienne, taking another quick sip before answering.  

“Since Adrienne introduced me to the wondrous things one can do to flavor their caffeine,” he responded, still smiling at her.  Ha, Adrienne thought to herself, take that lady, see how close we are and she giggled, allowing immature thoughts to take over, winking before continuing their exchange.   

“Hey, only after you got me hooked on those chocolate covered coffee beans Indy,” she played back, intentionally using his nickname.  Their guest looked puzzled, glancing back and forth between the two of them before going to sit on the corner of his desk.  Ignoring Adrienne, who was across the room trying not to explode, she peered back down at Daniel. 

“Indy? Wow, a lot has changed over the years hasn’t it?” she asked smoothly so Adrienne just walked over to her own desk, reminding herself that he did love her, that she was insane and needed to stop acting like a child, while Daniel, forever oblivious to everything in life, smiled once more, glancing over at Adrienne.  

“Sarah was just coming by at Sam’s request, considering the Anubis fiasco and all, and volunteered to help us go through some things that SG-13 had picked up with Vala last week. I thought it would save us some time,” he offered but Adrienne wanted to stand and slap him then and there. What in the hell was wrong with him? They didn’t need any help, she and Daniel got along down here just fine, alone. However, instead of objecting, she nodded, telling herself that in his complete cluelessness he was only trying to help.  

“Sure, the stack on the center table needs to be started,” Adrienne replied, indicated a pile of papers with her finger, however, rather than move to attack said items, Sarah looked over to her and smiled. 

“Actually, I’m helping Daniel with what he was working on, but I’m more than happy to go through those things afterward,” she responded cooly.  Adrienne was going to explode, but she tried to contain herself, just nodding again in reply.  

“Great, thanks,” Adrienne said and watched the two old friends, the two exes, begin to work away. Desperate for escape, Adrienne opened her computer and pulled up her chat box, disregarding real work and messaging the only person she could think of. 

HELP!! PLEASE BE THERE!!

What in the hell is wrong with you so early in the damn morning? 

God bless Vala, Adrienne thought, her go to person to whine about Daniel, which was weird enough, but it worked. Relieved, Adrienne began to type feverishly.  

I need you to come up with a classic Vala excuse to get me out of the lab, like five minutes ago.

Why? 

Adrienne went to type and stopped. DAMMIT! Vala would never let her hear the end of this, ever, escaping a jealous rage would be moved to the top of the harass Adrienne till the end of time list. Changing her mind, starting to type back that she just had a stomach ache and needed a soda, Adrienne heard Sarah giggle again and peeked over just in time to see her put her hand on Daniel’s shoulder. Oh no, Adrienne thought, better Vala any day than this.

The former paramour of my little obsession is here. I need to leave before I go insane.  

There was a pause, a pause long enough to make Adrienne start to panic again as she forced herself to not eavesdrop into their conversation. Binging, her headphones alerted her to her friend’s delayed response. 

Sorry, I needed to look up how to say this: ROTFL

Adrienne made a face at the reply when she heard Sarah’s tinkling laughter again.  She was now doubly annoyed; translation is not that funny...

Can you just be a good friend for once!?! Help me!!

Adrienne waited for an answer, watching the little indicator bubbles on the screen light up as she knew Vala was typing back. 

There is a simple solution to this...

Thank God, Adrienne thought to herself, Vala always had an out. True, the woman might not be an academic, but her gift for weasling was Nobel worthy. Now it was Daniel speaking as they were going through the file, Sarah whispering like she was trying to keep it between the two of them.  Vala better come up with something good, Adrienne thought, as she typed her reply.  

What? Simple is good.  

You simply say “Daniel, I’m in love with you.” 

A loud sighed escaped her lips and Daniel looked up, confused.

“Everything ok over there Ad?” he asked, Sarah joining him in his stare. Dammit Vala, she thought, as she shook her head in response. 

“Oh nothing, just the circle of death on my screen, trying to work around it,” she answered, playing it off and covering her face to hide the flush of her cheeks.  Flustered, she typed back to Vala.  

I can’t do that!!!

Why the hell not? That man is head over heels in love with you! Just continue to not believe me and we’ll see what happens.  Stay miserable Addy.  

Adrienne made a face that Vala couldn’t see. Vala was right, dead on, he’d told her now twice, well, one and a half times technically, but besides the fact that she just wasn’t ready to be with anyone just yet, her mind riddled with fears that she knew were irrational but still there, it would screw up everything they had.  She could lose her job, her new family, their friendship and she just couldn’t, yet...

Please help me Vala.  

Normally Adrienne wouldn’t beg, but she needed to get out of here, in the least conspicuous way possible, and she needed to do so without crying.  She stayed glued to the screen, hoping Vala would respond but there was no answer.  It was the ringing of her dear friend’s desk phone that broke her trance.  

“Hello?” Daniel answered, Adrienne peeking over at him curious as she watched Daniel’s eyes widen and him leap from his seat.  

“You did what!?!” he was starting to shout, “Why?! No, Vala, I don’t even want to know. Oh no, Adrienne’s not doing anything, she just sits around waiting for you to screw up expensive electronics.  Fine, she’ll be right there,” Daniel finished and slammed the phone into its cradle.  Adrienne tried to act surprised as Daniel looked over at her disgusted. 

“You just had to wire everything in her room didn’t you?” he asked, acting annoyed with her.  Not exactly the reaction she wanted, especially considering the present company, but Adrienne would just have to go with it.  

“It was either that or keep finding remotes and fixing multiple broken electronics as opposed to just one thing. What did she do?” Adrienne replied, hoping the smartness in her tone would serve as a warning.  

“She says she spilled soda all over the router box and now nothing will communicate,” Daniel replied and Adrienne made a face. She hoped Vala was just making the entire thing up and hadn’t really poured a coke into the router Adrienne had just installed.  She stood from her desk and walked over to her messenger bag, packing up her geek tools as Daniel like to call them, pausing at the door to peek over her shoulder. 

“You do realize that I’ve become her babysitter?” Adrienne teased. He smiled back, the annoyance from earlier gone.  Good, she thought to herself, that’s my Indy.  

“Better you than me; you think it’ll take long?” he asked and with those words Adrienne’s entire mood changed.  Let him want me, she ordered herself, missing me is good for him.

“This is Vala we’re talking about Indy...” she replied, tossing the bag over her shoulder, not making any promises about how long it would take. It will take as long as I need to not act like an insane twelve year old, Adrienne thought. She was trying to leave again when Sarah, who had remained silent during this exchange, glanced at Daniel and then back at Adrienne.  

“Take your time, we’ve got this under control, right Daniel?” she interjecting and Daniel, the most oblivious human in the galaxy, nodded his head.  

“I keep forgetting we have a third set of eyes.  Yeah Ad, get her taken care of so you can be ready to go off world uninterrupted,” he added.  Holding the growl she wanted to make inside of her throat, Adrienne just gave him a thumbs up, walking backwards out of the lab.  She made it to the stairwell before she couldn’t wait any longer, pulling her phone from her pocket and typing furiously.

Please tell me that you didn’t pour a beverage into your router!!!

The response was instant. 

Did you tell him that you love him? 

No. 

Then I should have.  

Adrienne rolled her eyes and jogged up the four flights of stairs, too impatient to wait for the elevators. When she got to the housing floor, she opened the door and made a quick dash down the hall to Vala’s room, keying in her access code.  It was 252433, or in numbers on the phone, Alcide, her favorite character on True Blood. Vala had suggested using her birthday, October 31, the one Adrienne had given her, but Adrienne insisted that it was too easy to figure out, especially since Adrienne had intentionally made her birthday on Halloween, a joke that only her friends from this world seemed to fully understand. The light flashed and Adrienne twisted the doorknob to let herself in, nearly walking into her friend. 

“I can’t keep getting you out of trouble with him you know?” Vala was waiting for her, hands on her hips and eyes rolling.  Not responding, Adrienne made a face and walked over to her bed, dropping the bag onto the tile floor, flopping onto the comforter.   

“Why can’t I just want to be with Ronan, it would make all of this so much easier.  Or gay? Why can’t I just be gay?” Adrienne whined, rubbing her face with her hands. Shutting the door behind her, her face drawn into a scowl, Vala waltzed over and laid down beside her, staring up at the ceiling. 

“Why can’t you just tell him? You said last week that you were going to tell him. I fail to see why any of this is such a crisis,” Vala responded, refusing to acknowledge Adrienne’s whining.  Rolled to her side, Adrienne sighed out again, hugging her friend and resting her head on Vala’s shoulder. 

“I’m working my way up to it, but Vala, what if he says he loves me but we can’t be together? How do you think that is going to make the comfort level in the lab?” Adrienne replied, her voice annoying and nasal. 

“About the level it is now. For fuck’s sake Addy, you two act like a damn married couple anyway,” Vala replied, shoving her away. Allowing her growl from earlier to escape, Adrienne threw herself back onto her back, holding her hands in the air while she picked her nails. 

“Ech! Don say dat! The last thing gawd damn thing I need is a gawd damn husband.  Aunt Barb’d have her damn dreams come true. NO HUSBANDS,” Adrienne replied, having told Vala her only other reason for keeping Daniel at a distance; because Aunt Barbara had been right. Well, not exactly, her exact words were something along the lines of “Addy wun dey ya gunna fine ah gud man whose gunna put up wit ya and ya nonsense,” but the message was clear. She’d found him. He put up with her and what scared Adrienne more than anything was that she could see herself walking down the aisle with him, in some big damn dumb church wedding, with her redneck family just smiling away. 

“I liked you better when you hated him. And when you weren’t whiney and kicked ass. What happened to her?” Vala teased, not really disliking this side of Adrienne, if anything, it gave her more fuel for the fire. 

“Thank you for listening to me whine, especially, you know, given ya’ll’s history,” Adrienne continued and felt a hand grabbing hers, peering down to see Vala clenching her palms and squeezing it tightly.

“I like to think of that as a very sad and depressing time in my life where I thought that being with a boring old stick up the ass man was what I needed.  I have since learned that I need a big, dark skinned man, with muscles.  Lots and lots of muscles.  Men you seem to throw away like it’s nothing,” Vala answered and Adrienne just laughed.  Vala had really set her sights lately and not on Daniel, but on Ronon. That was on Adrienne’s next order of business, play matchmaker between her dear friend and the handsome Sateadan. 

“You’re a bad friend,” Adrienne accused, not meaning a word. 

“Are you still in the lab with that snotty bitch?” Vala asked.  

“No,” Adrienne replied.  

“Then I’m a perfect friend.  Now, we need a plan,” Vala concluded.  Puzzled, Adrienne rolled back to face her.  

“Vala, I’m not gonna tell him anything yet. I’m not ready,” Adrienne whined again but Vala screwed up her face at her. 

“No, we need a plan to get rid if that woman. She would make him boring again.  I like you much better,” Vala replied and Adrienne laid back on the bed, grumbling and staring at the ceiling. 

“I still kick ass you know. His ass to be precise,” Adrienne added, hoping Vala really didn’t think she had become one of “those” women. 

“I know and I find it to be hysterical every single time we train,” she replied, standing from the bed to go grab the TV remote. 

About an hour later, her phone was buzzing in her pocket.  Vala had moved over to her desk, better known as her makeup station, to concoct a plan of sorts while Adrienne just sat on her friend’s bed playing with her computer ignoring the movie Vala had put on because she said the lead actor was hot, some dumb flick about some damn dumb giant snake. The hot guy didn’t even do a Southern Accent correctly, so she just popped in her head phones and watched some preview clips from her zombie show.  Distracted by the sudden movement of the gadget, she reached in her pocket and pulled out her phone, looking down at the name. It was Daniel of course, the word Indy and a manipulated picture of her best friend’s face over a fleeing Indiana Jones body plastered across the screen.  She slid the bar over to answer it, a tiny bit of glee racing through her system. 

“Yes......” Adrienne answered, playfully, drawing out the word dramatically.  

“Are you almost finished?  We’ve got something,” Daniel replied on the other line.  Adrienne was pleased, he had missed her; her exit had had its intended effect.  

“Yeah, she didn’t do too much damage,” Adrienne lied and heard some talking on the other end, accented talking.  Nosey bitch, Adrienne thought to herself.  

“Good, well hurry back,” he replied and ended the call. Standing and packing up her things Adrienne glanced over to meet the eyes she felt watching her.

“Daniel, I love you,” Vala said, trying to do so in a mock southern accent.  

“Keep your phone on,” Adrienne ordered, not acknowledging her comment.  Rolling her eyes, Vala turned back to her desk, resuming her sorting of eye shadows as Adrienne scurried back down to the basement. 

When she arrived at the lab, Daniel and Sarah were leaning over the center table, excitedly like they would normally do and Adrienne instantly wanted to turn back to go whine to Vala.  Instead, she took a breath in, tossing her bag onto her chair and casually shoved her hands into the pocket of her uniform pants, strolling over to the center table.  

“Ok, what’s the good news?” Adrienne asked, raising her eyebrows and shrugging cheerfully.  Daniel went to speak but Sarah placed her hand lightly on his arm, looking at Adrienne smiling.  

“It appears that your friend Vala has stumbled upon a Go’ould weapons cache,” she replied.  Adrienne nodded, wanting to add that her friend Vala probably didn’t stumble onto anything, she probably knew exactly what she was looking for, but refrained.  

“Cool,” Adrienne replied, walking over to stand behind Daniel since Sarah was clearly not going to move to let her see.  Adrienne debated for just a moment and then leaned forward, onto Daniel’s back, like she would normally do were this visitor not here.  Daniel didn’t even notice as she peered over his shoulder, her palms resting on his shoulder blades, but Sarah apparently did.  

“Here Dr. Rowan,” she said, a look of disgust on her face as she moved over to let Adrienne in.  Still oblivious, Daniel pointed to the photos while Adrienne scooted in beside him, to what looked like the foundation of a pyramid complex. Peering over to examine them carefully, the pictures not that great in quality, Adrienne saw a small segment covered by large stone slabs with hieroglyphs as Daniel leaned in close to her and pointed.  

“Assez stupide pour marquer qu'il armes,” Adrienne commented (Pretty stupid to label it weapons).  Daniel laughed. 

“Personne n'a dit qu'ils étaient intelligents, simplement signifier. Un peu comme vos Romains ...” he answered. (No one said they were smart, just mean. Kind of like your Romans) Chuckling, Adrienne bumped his hip with hers, shaking her head as she leaned in, grabbing his magnifying glass to peer closer, trying to read the glyphs.  

“Les Grecs étaient intelligents, les Romains simplement roulé dans leur gloire. Quand partons-nous?,” Adrienne replied. (The Greeks were smart, the Romans just rode in on their glory.  When do we leave?) Antipcating her question, Daniel stood, tapping the photos with his finger before gathering them back into the folder.  

“Dès que je montre Sam. Elle va probablement nous glisser entre certaines équipes sortantes pour obtenir emballés et appeler l'équipe, voir qui peut partir à court préavis,” he answered. (As soon as I show Sam.  She’ll probably slip us in between some outgoing teams so get packed and call the team, see who can go on short notice). It was then that Sarah cleared her throat, reminding Adrienne of the white elephant in the room. 

“Pensez-vous qu'elle va me permettre de venir aussi?” Sarah asked. (Do you think she will allow me to come?). Adrienne held back a groan.  Of course she speaks French, why would Adrienne have expected less? So much for her and Daniel’s secret language; she’d have to try Spanish next since there was on way that Miss Perfect spoke as many languages as she did, or so she hoped. Realizing their error, well his error since Adrienne didn’t care, Daniel stood and looked at Sarah, embarrassed.  

“I’m sorry, Ad and I do that a lot, without thinking.  We’ll stick to English; it gets on everyone else’s nerves as well,” he apologized, walking over to the phone at his desk.  Sarah smiled and leaned back against the table once more.  

“It’s quite alright,” she answered, nicely.  Adrienne looked for a tone and got none; she actually seemed to be acting nice and have a genuine interest in their work. I can’t hate you if you’re not a bitch, Adrienne cursed inside as she tried not to scowl. His mind already through the Stargate, Daniel walked over to his phone and dialed Sam’s office, knowing that a store of Go’ould weapons would be something she could not pass up.  

He was exactly right, Sam felt this was a find that couldn’t wait and slipped their party in between an incoming and outgoing team later that afternoon.  Vala came up with some excuse not to go, which Adrienne knew was intentional, and Teal’c was away with the Jaffa council so that meant Cam was the one available team member to accompany them. With Sarah in tow, because Sam had of course thought that was a splendid idea as well, it was a team of four which the general saw as an acceptable number.  She reasoned that Adrienne plus staff weapon was akin to a mini-Teal’c and while Adrienne was annoyed that with Sarah there, she had been downgraded to grunt, she refrained from raising a stink, deciding that she would just stick to Cam like glue and let Daniel and his little flame enjoy one another’s company. 

Their planet was dialed at 1400 hours, thankfully right on time, and the foursome went through, Sarah acting as if she had done this a million times before. Letting her walk ahead with her boss and rattle on about the find, Adrienne hung back with Cam, discussing their race last weekend and what other upcoming events they could find in the weeks to come. Once through to the other side, the flowing sound of molecules and energy zapped away, like some kind of intergalactic zipper, Daniel pulled out the iPad himself, from his pack. Rather than asking for Adrienne’s help, he started to muddle through and try to pull up the information. He was having some problems it seemed, but when Adrienne stood to assist him she was cut off by Sarah, who was more than happy to help.  Disappointed, Adrienne slunk back beside Cameron, unable to hide the expression on her face. 

‘What’s wrong girl, ‘fraid of losing your job?” Cam asked, as clueless as Daniel. Adrienne had been able, up until this point, to keep her secret between her, Sam and Vala and Adrienne wasn’t even sure if Sam really bought her drunken reveal some months ago.  Honestly, the general had probably just chalked the entire thing up to Adrienne drinking too much because she hadn’t said a word since so that just left Vala to harass Adrienne. Until the end of time. There was a light laugh ahead of them and Adrienne glanced up to see Sarah grab Daniel’s arm, just like she did.  It was enough to make Adrienne want to turn around and dial home but instead, she decided to take comfort in her friend, whine a little and garner some sympathy. Peering over at Cam, Adrienne decided to stretch the truth, just a touch. 

“Just don’t like women who act like that is all, the flirting.  I might act like that with Daniel but he’s my best friend.  When we do it, we’re just being stupid, and mocking people just like that,” Adrienne lied through her teeth, but Cam smiled, buying the excuse. Slipping his arm through hers, he pulled her close, walking along as her escort. 

  

“Which is exactly why I love you Addy. Come on, let’s play their game,” Cam joked and pulled her on.  Feeling better already, Adrienne laid her head onto his shoulder. 

“Oh Colonel Mitchell, my true love,” she joked and arm in arm, they followed behind the two archaeologists.  

The group was only about twenty minutes into their walk when Daniel stopped, looking back at Adrienne.  

“Ad come take a look at this,” he requested.  Adrienne had been letting Daniel and Sarah do the work, lagging back to talk to Cam about anything but the weapons cache since Daniel hadn’t seemed to need her.  Secretly excited, she contained her reaction and excused herself from her running partner to jog over to him.  

“What’s up shug?” she asked.  Frowning, a clear indicator to Adrienne that something wasn’t quite right, Daniel opened the folder and pointed to a few aerial shots.  

“We should be there, according to these calculations, but we aren’t. Can you take a look at this?” he asked, and Adrienne nodded, scanning the penciled in notes on the side.  They were in Sarah’s handwriting.  Adrienne was silently pleased. Her brain kicking into gear, she ran the figures through her head, grabbing the folder and falling to her knees, setting it on the ground.  It was simple trig triangulation, but Adrienne really only knew how to do it because of her dad, who in his attempt to push her away from archaeology and to his field, engineering, had made sure she learned early.  Since he never really got to continue his career as an engineer after her mom died, he just annoyed Adrienne with endless math lessons.  More things that made her the proud nerd she was today.  Laying on her stomach, Adrienne crunched a few numbers, tapped some things into her phone and stood again, handing Daniel the folder, pointing west.  

“That way,” Adrienne stated, “probably another half mile or so, give or take.” Confused, Sarah looked over at her.  

“How can you be sure? I was certain my math was correct,” Sarah argued.  Smiling, Adrienne tried to keep her reply professional.  

“Normal mistake, it wasn’t a right triangle,” Adrienne answered, as politely as she could, and started to walk, Daniel following.  Hustling to catch up, Sarah took the folder from his hand, opening it to scan over her work once more. She was nodding as she walked.  

“She’s correct, what a foolish mistake. I hope I have not impeded our plan,” she said sweetly and sensing her disappointment in herself, like he always did, Daniel stopped, reached out for her back, rubbing it lightly.  Christ, where is Cam, Adrienne thought and kept walking in the direction of her calculations, trying to ignore the romantic reconnection going on behind her. So much for being in love with me, she thought, when she heard footsteps behind her, coming quickly.  Thank god Cam knows me so well, Adrienne thought to herself as she stopped and turned, half tempted to doing something Vala like to their team leader, but there was Daniel, a look of concern on his face. 

“Hey, what’s the hurry? We have plenty of time to get there, MALP gave us the all clear,” Daniel asked, a look of curiosity directed at his assistant who had been power-walking toward their new destination. Adrienne just shrugged.  

“Just collecting weapons and leaving, nothing else right? No reason to hang around,” Adrienne answered dishonestly again because more than anything she wanted Sarah to leave before she burst with jealousy.  Adrienne turned to walk again, looking ahead in the distance trying to see if she saw the ruins from the photos when she felt her arm grabbed, gently. She didn’t even have to look to see who it was. 

“Dime lo que está pasando contigo,” (Tell me what is going on with you) Daniel requested, quietly and in Spanish. Sarah must not speak Spanish.  Good, Adrienne thought.  

“Nada, segura. Solo que tenemos que regresar pronto,” Adrienne answered curtly, regretting her words as she hadn’t meant to convey that attitude.  She began to walk on quickly, Daniel trying to catch up again.  

“Mentirosa,” he accused and Adrienne tried not to laugh.  He sounded like a child on a playground calling her a liar, but she wasn’t about to start a fight with him here, off world, with these witnesses in particular.  

“Indy, es todo. Segura,” she answered.  

“Tienes celos,” he continued, annoyance creeping up in his voice.  She was hiding something from him, he knew it, and he wasn’t going to let her stand here and tell him that everything was alright.

“De qué!?!” Adrienne stopped, whipping her head around.  How dare that asshole accuse her of being jealous! Jealous of what!?! It was Adrienne that had the dream job, Adrienne who had....well no. It was not Adrienne who had him, Sarah did, at least used to and the thought of that alone was more than she could take. 

Daniel saw her reaction to his words; she was angry.  She really is jealous, he thought, I’ve never seen her react like this; maybe she does feel the same way. He decided to try, reaching out for her arm tenderly and changing his tone. 

“De nuestra huepeda,” he responded, cutting his eyes in Sarah’s direction, and Adrienne froze.  So, this was how it was going to go down, this was how he would find out everything, while she threw a jealous fit.  No, she determined, she wasn’t going to let this happen, she was going to tell him how she felt about him under her own circumstances and when she was darn good and ready. 

“Tengo un trabajo aquí. Recuerdas como te sentías cuando llegué. Que nadie tenía confianza en ti todavía.  Es como siento ahora,” Adrienne spat.  That should do it, she thought, letting him be slightly correct without doing any personal damage. It must have worked because Daniel let out a sigh, his expression changing. 

“I’m sorry Ad. You’re right; I was doing to you exactly what I complain happens to me.  I’m sorry,” he apologized, as Adrienne tried to avoid eye contact a moment longer, giving the tears building up in her eyes the opportunity to dry. As her head was turned, she saw Cam and Sarah still heading in their direction, pitifully behind.  She really must have been walking fast.  Eying Sarah cautiously, why she wasn’t really sure, Adrienne walked back over to Daniel, reaching up to hug him.  

“It’s ok. I should have told you and not pouted like a spoiled brat.  Sorry Indy,” she kissed his cheek and backed away, looking forward to their destination. 

Sarah and Cam stared ahead as they walked side by side, Cam having caught up with the temporary team member when Adrienne and Daniel slipped away.  It seemed that the pair had finally stopped, the two of them embracing, before Adrienne pulled back, kissing Daniel’s cheek lightly. Adjusting her pack awkwardly, the woman glanced over at Cam confused. 

“They have an odd relationship,” Sarah noted but Cam just nodded. 

“Yeah, they’re kinda like siblings, they bicker and feud but you better watch your ass if you mess with one of them,” he responded, not thinking that this woman needed to hear the particulars of his friends’ relationship. Cam was pretty sure that the two of them were sleeping together, but their sex life was none of her business, so he left it at that.  Likening them to siblings or not, Sarah still thought it was strange, she really didn’t know any brother/sister pair that was quite that physical, but she kept quiet.  He obviously wasn’t with the woman, or was he? She walked on, her train of thought when she saw some structures on the horizon. Jogging to catch up to Daniel, Sarah went crashing to the ground as the world began to shake.

“Take cover!” Cam shouted, the two in front hitting the deck at his order. The shaking continued and Daniel, having gone to college in California, recognized immediately what was going on. 

“Earthquake!” he shouted out, looking for Adrienne first but she was alright; she let him know by grasping his hand and holding it tightly.  Whether she was scared or not he didn’t care, he just wanted to touch her to know she was there.  Holding her palm firmly, he looked back toward Cam and Sarah and saw Cam had grabbed Sarah’s arm and was holding her to him when the shaking stopped. 

“Stay down everyone,” Daniel ordered and leapt to his feet, gazing out to the ruins that lay ahead. Remaining on the ground as he requested, Adrienne following his eyes, squinting into the blinding sunlight. 

“Everything ok?” she asked, not daring to move until she was told it was ok. Frowning without answering, he reached to help her up, breaking his stare to look her over carefully as she stood. 

“I’m fine Indy, it was just a quake right? Not like we haven’t been in one before,” Adrienne responded and the earth beneath them tremored slightly once more and there was a crack in the distance.  Daniel gave Adrienne a strange look.  

“Ad, can you pull up the geology on this planet,” he requested.  Nodding, making a frown of her own, Adrienne turned him around, grabbing the iPad from where he had slipped it into his bag and began to tap around. 

“What’s going on?” Sarah asked as she and Cam caught up, watching Adrienne make some motions on her device. Giving his assistant time to find the requested information, Daniel started to explain.  

“That wasn’t a normal quake, aftershocks aren’t usually that soon after and the sound was not normal either,” he answered, walking over to look over Adrienne’s shoulder.  

“Here, typical survey from the MALP, looks clear, is there something I am supposed to be seeing?” Adrienne asked, passing the iPad over to him.  His eyes scanning the images as well, Daniel signaled Cam over hoping he would see something. 

“No, it’s normal, not a damn thing out of place, why?” Cam spoke, as Daniel was already shaking his head.  

“So, there’s no reason for that to happen. No fault lines, nothing?” Daniel asked, Cam sighing, reexamining the gadget before looking up at him a second time. 

“Not a single fault line,” Cam answered, the world shaking around them once more, less intensely this time. 

“Is it not safe to stay?” Sarah asked.  Stupid question, Adrienne thought, don’t you think he is trying to figure that out now? She must want some physical reassurance, like a typical needy woman, the kind of woman Adrienne refused to be. Leaning to peer over Cam’s shoulder, catching out of the corner of her eye that Daniel, of course, had placed his hand on Sarah’s arm. If we ever get together Indy, I’m going to seriously school you on being so clueless, she thought, reading the scan again.  

“Something is wrong, but what we came for is right there,” Daniel answered without answering, indicating the structure that Adrienne was just now noticing was close enough to read the glyphs on the nearest obelisk. 

“Let’s do this. You keep going, go get the guns and whatnot and I’ll head back and get a puddle jumper, jet back out here just in case we need to make a fast getaway,” Cam suggested, checking his watch to judge how long it would take him to jog back to the gate. 

“I’ll go with Cam, you two can go scope out the ruins,” Adrienne said, seeing not only a chance for escape but a chance to think about something other than Daniel.  Who was she kidding; she was going to think about Daniel the entire time, wondering if he and Sarah were rekindling things, wondering if he really loved her or if she was just the one that was here. Not expecting that reaction, however, Daniel looked over at her surprised.  

“Ad, I’d really like for you to stay behind with us, just in case we need a third set of eyes,” Daniel stated and Adrienne wanted to run up and kiss him right there. He wanted her to stay. But then her worry set in; does he just want to make sure that he’s not offending me professionally?  Adrienne sighed, wanting to just run away to the gate, hop back on home and go whine in Vala’s room like she had been before.   

“Nah, stay with your fellow geeks girl,” Cameron said, as if he wasn’t a nerd himself, “I’ll jog back and go get my toy.”  Daniel just nodded in agreement as Cam winked at Adrienne, taking off in the direction of the gate.  Adding ‘get revenge on Cameron for leaving me behind’ to her to do list upon her return, Adrienne followed behind Daniel and Sarah, who had started to walk on without her.

As Adrienne had claimed, the ruins lay west, at just the exact distance Daniel had originally estimated.  Adrienne wanted to make a comment about how good of a team she and Daniel were, but again, refrained, trying to play nice. Sarah really wasn’t that bad or arrogant and she had been filling in Daniel about some of the other people they had worked together with in graduate school, most of which had made quite a name for themselves while Daniel had disappeared after becoming a laughing stock.  Adrienne felt bad for him, but he seemed to take it all in stride, genuinely inquiring about everyone’s well being.  Sarah had adjusted as well too after her stint under Go’ould control and Adrienne learned chatting with them that he had helped her secure a teaching position at UPENN and she was currently on sabbatical which is why she had been able to come and help. And visit.  Not all of the conversation was as reassuring, Adrienne learning that Daniel had gone to post traumatic counseling with her too, which tore Adrienne up inside the minute she heard that.  Not only did she have yet another reason to think he was the perfect man, but she had another reason as to why she was the outsider. Adrienne was quiet for most of the rest of the walk after that revelation.  Finally, much to her relief, the ruins were no longer shadows in the horizon, but a reality of rocks at her feet. 

“We’re here, just as Dr. Rowan said,” Sarah complimented. She was trying to be nice, Adrienne thought, maybe she wasn’t so bad after all.  

“It’s Adrienne, please call me Adrienne,” she corrected nicely, Sarah smiling at her words and Adrienne felt bad for hating her.  She was a nice person and Daniel had told Adrienne what had happened, hell he told her everything. She hadn’t done anything wrong in their relationship, it was Daniel being, well, Daniel that had messed things up. Adrienne needed to stop thinking about this before she drove herself crazy, needed to stop analyzing every little detail of Sarah’s words and Daniel’s body language but like clockwork, the source of all of her turmoil spoke. 

“Let’s split up, see if we can find this store house. North, south, east and meet west?” Daniel suggested.  Relieved at his suggestion, Adrienne just smiled quietly and started to walk away, giving her mind a new task upon which to focus. Only two steps away from her comrades, the earth shook again, sending Adrienne cascading to the ground, bruising her elbow as she caught herself on her forearms. She heard shouting behind her and looked to see Daniel up and pulling debris from Sarah, who wasn’t hurt, thankfully. Seeing that she was alright, Daniel helped her stand, dashing over to Adrienne the moment Sarah was upright. 

“Ad!! Are you alright?” Daniel asked, falling to his knees.  Wincing at the throbbing in her arm, Adrienne crawled up as the trembling began once more.  Daniel grabbed her arm, holding her protectively to him.  It passed quickly, but not before they heard a crash in the distance.  Together, they looked out to see some of the taller ruins come crumbling to the ground.  Reaching for his radio, Daniel sat up and letting Adrienne go. 

“Cam, you headed our way?” he asked, taking a risk, hoping that the colonel had left some line of communication open.  There was a pop and crackle and a voice came over the radio.  

“Sir, Colonel Mitchell is in the loading bay, running through opening check.  Estimated time of 2 hours to departure,” Walter responded from Earth. 

“Thanks,” Daniel answered, not entirely happy with the timeline given the circumstances. Biting the inside of his mouth in concern, Daniel glanced  back at the women, Sarah having walked to join Adrienne.

“I think we should stay together.  Let’s take a look at those photos one more time and see if we can determine where this place might be,” he instructed. Adrienne didn’t need to be told twice, opening her backpack and pulling out the original folder with the printed MALP photos passing them around.  

“There!” Sarah shouted out suddenly, having only looked at the photos for a brief moment, starting to move in the direction of a large statue of Thoth laying on its side, the beak broken violently from the face.  Adrienne followed, remembering feet to a statue beside the photos she had translated with Daniel, Daniel himself trailing behind her.  They climbed over the statue and there it was, the stone slab marked weapons, just as Adrienne had made fun of earlier. Daniel almost cheered, but Adrienne stood back, shaking her head.  

“Help me get this off,” he said, directing Adrienne to his side.  

“I don’t like this Indy,” she answered, looking around herself cautiously, “this was too easy. Why was this so easy to find? Why is it labeled weapons? And why did the shaking stop? I don’t like it.” A glare on his face, Daniel cut his eyes over at her, essentially refusing his order. 

“So, you’re not going to help because we might actually have something here that we can use and obtain without getting shot at? Oh that makes sense? Let’s completely disregard that most of these planets are uninhabited because of the Ori and start jumping to conclusions,” he spat in returned, angered by her stubbornness. No, he thought, you’re just pissed that Sarah is here, but he didn’t say that, hoping his assistant would come to her senses and take advantage of this break, present company or not. 

“Daniel, shug, listen to me a sec. What if this is a trap?” the cajun woman tried to reason with him, but he didn’t even acknowledge her second argument, signaling Sarah to join him in removed the stone cover. She rushed over, reaching underneath the slab and beginning to lift.  The stone was massive and heavy, but together they shifted it over, setting it carefully on the sand, while Adrienne watched, more upset than angry her warning was going unheeded.

“Nice work Vala,” Daniel said out loud to their absent teammate, making Adrienne too curious not to look.  Peering into the small concrete hole, she saw that it was exactly everything that had expected, hand devices, rings, bracelets, items that looked like Egyptian jewelry but had another purpose, a more sinister purpose.  Adrienne had never seen so many before and watched as Daniel and Sarah both stared on in amazement.  

“Can you? Would you?” Daniel asked, peering slowly over at Sarah, her look of amazement quickly turning to one of concern. Adrienne was confused for a moment, just a moment, when she remembered why Sarah had been volunteered to help in the first place, and it was not to annoy her. 

“I think I still have enough left in me,” she replied and reached in, grabbing a hand device.  Running her fingers cautiously through each tip, Sarah stretched her hand to make it fit, pointing her open palm to the statue that had fallen and closing her eyes.  A blast emanated from the center of her palm, scaring Adrienne to death, and she quickly forgot her worry from earlier. She had never seen anyone do that and out of the corner of her eye saw Daniel squinting his eyes, making Adrienne remember the only thing he had ever told her about those devices.  She squeezed his arm supportively, getting his hand slid over her own in return while Sarah sat back on her heels, seemingly pleased with her ability.

“It works, so I assume that most of them will work as well,” she stated, saying without directly saying it that she had no intention whatsoever of testing the remainder of the cache. Breathing in deeply, she removed the device from her hand and set it beside her.  Adrienne couldn’t say that she blamed her, Sarah had been invaded, violated as well, albeit in a different and maybe even more horrible way. Despite being spooked by the display in front of her, Adrienne grabbed the folded up protected canvas bag from her gear and opened it up, filling it carefully with the ancient items.  Coming back to reality, that reality that they were not being attacked, Daniel leaned over to help her.  Sarah stayed carefully back,  her eyes gazing out into the horizon rather than examining their find. Guilt washing over her for the third time today, or was it the forth, Adrienne leaned over closer to Daniel, whispered softly in his ear. 

“That bad?” she inquired.  

“Yeah, Tok’ra is one thing, but system lord.  It messed her up pretty bad for a while. She’s not Vala, no where near as strong,” Daniel mumbled back, under his breath.  He was looking back at her, worried, that look Adrienne had come to know so well.  

“Te necesita?” Adrienne asked. She didn’t want to send Daniel running into her arms, but he needed to go and if he wanted to go, he needed to. She had to stop being selfish; if this man really loved her, loved her like her heart wanted him to love her so badly, then there was nothing she needed to worry about. His eyes heavy, those tell tale blues no longer able to lie to her, Daniel peered down at her, reaching his hand over her own. 

“Estás segura?” he asked, trying to ascertain if he should go over to Sarah, who had left the pit of tools she had been so anxious to acquire and was standing looking back in the direction of the gate.  Adrienne nodded, hearing Vala’s words in her head, hearing Vala tell her that she needed to tell him. Vala was right, he needed to hear, it was only fair, but not here, not like this. She rubbed his thigh quickly and he didn’t say another word, just stood, walking over to Sarah and putting his arm around her.  Adrienne continued to pack the bag, that feeling in her stomach rising once more, despite her personal assurances. 

Gathered the items as quickly as possible, Adrienne was unsure if she could withstand anymore of Sarah’s crying.  She caught snippets of the conversation, Sarah apologizing for thinking she could handle it and for coming back while Daniel assured her it was alright and that he was glad to see her while Adrienne kept fiddling with her radio, hoping to hear Cam’s voice coming over it, to take her away from this hell she was enduring.  Maybe Adrienne’s original concerns had been correct, fate’s way of staving her off; maybe someone like Sarah was who Daniel really needed, no matter how painful it was to admit the possibility. Swallowing strongly, Adrienne reached down into the pit once more, the ground shaking lightly as it had done before, sending Adrienne tumbling forward into the hole, her hands instinctively thrusting themselves in front to catch her. She felt a stop, but rather than be rock or stone as she expected, it was soft. Squishy. Wet. Confused, she pushed a small stack of zats aside, shrieking at what that action revealed. 

His heart stopped in his chest at her scream, a shout of sheer terror that sent chills to his core. He tore away from Sarah, even though the ground was shaking, the fear of anything happening to Adrienne over taking the rest of his senses.  She was partially in the cache itself, her left shoulder leaning in, her hand unseen, her right holding onto the ledge, her knuckles white as she clamped her palm onto the stone. 

“Jaffa, it’s a Jaffa, Daniel, it’s, right, trap, Jaffa, dead, I,” she rambled, looking over at him, her face trembling as her ebony eyes met his, lifting her left hand slowly. It was covered in gore, humanoid flesh, decomposed, and she held it in front of her face, her expression on the brink of falling apart. Daniel didn’t think, didn’t hesitate, just ripped off his tac vest and jacket, using the material of the coat to wipe the blood and flesh from her hand the best he could. The ground started shaking again. 

“Daniel!” Sarah was shouting behind him, and he glanced quickly over his shoulder to see that she was unharmed, having retained her balance and making her way toward them. 

“Sarah, just stay put, don’t come over here,” he ordered, not wanting her to see this, this that he could now see himself with Adrienne back on her heels, holding her left arm as if it were contaminated, shaking as she stared into the hole. The woman froze, walking over to a broken side wall, sitting down to wait. 

“It’s one of his, he’s killing his own. You were right Daniel, you were right,” Adrienne’s babbling started up again, and he peered into the cache to see what she was talking about. Unloading the remainder of Zats, he was able to reach the body, or what was left of it, the symbol of Anubis tattooed carefully on his forehead. Turning his head to breathe, the stench too much for him as well, Daniel caught an image, meticulously drawn onto a sheet of papyrus tucked underneath the late warriors arm. 

“Sarah!!” Daniel shouted out, knowing the glyph, the picture, the assertion; it was Petbe,  the god of revenge, and Daniel could only imagine what that could possibly mean, for him or his friends. Shoving the canvas bag away, he reached for Adrienne, drawing her into his embrace, “HEAD FOR THE GATE NOW!” 

“Daniel, he’s killing them, there’s an extra hand in there, that was a free Jaffa, he is wearing red robes, Daniel this is a message, he’s trying to prove a point,” Adrienne babbled into his chest, shaking violently, pointing back at what he now saw was a loose hand, the skin darker than that of the body in the whole and he knew that she was correct, this had all been too easy and Anubis knew they were hear. He stood, drawing Adrienne to her feet with him, when the tremors started again, taking every ounce of power that he had to hold her upright. 

“Run Adrienne, run,” he ordered her, wanting her away, the tremor unlike the last, unlike any earthquake had ever felt. He was coming, the moan in the air of ancient technology, coming at them, heading straight for them and she must have heard too, her eyes widening as she started to shake her head. 

“No, you’re not gonna stay here,” she spat back, reaching for his hand, pulling him along. Checking over his shoulder quickly, he noted there was no visual for the sound yet and allowed her to take his hand. Standing behind her, he pushed her forward first and dashed after her, waving for Sarah to continue her sprint as well. 

The earth beneath them trembled again and there was a loud boom, a large crack appearing in space behind them Daniel saw as he looked back, realizing that the moan had not been from an aerial attack like he had expected. It was a booby trap; the entire cache had been a trap like Adrienne suggested and based on the sounds crashing around them, they were bombs buried beneath the surface. 

“Don’t you DARE stop Daniel!!” Adrienne screamed, noticing his pause, her voice bringing him back to reality. Peeking at his watch, he saw they still had at least fifteen minutes before Cam would arrive, fifteen minutes to hope that Anubis didn’t rig the entire planet to explode. Daniel stood, powering on, keeping a close eye on the two women racing to safety in from of him. 

It’s an explosion, Adrienne thought, an explosion from under the ground. The entire thing had been a ruse, Anubis knew that Daniel and Sam couldn’t resist and there wasn’t a more perfect way to kill what members of SG-1 would be tempted by an unscathed collection of Go’ould weaponry. Another crack, blast and she went cascading to the ground, slamming her face onto the compact sand, bruising her cheekbone painfully in the process. 

“Ad, get up!!” he ordered behind her, and she scrambled to her feet, glancing over her shoulder to give him a silence yes in return when there was another loud clap, a sound of rock breaking from rock and movement, behind Daniel, under Daniel and Adrienne watched as Daniel just slipped down, sinking in the abyss.  

“NO!!!” she screamed, tripping and scrambling, falling down to her knees, crawling back to him, back to the edge where Daniel was hanging on. 

“Indy, grab my hand,” Adrienne ordered but Daniel shook his head.  

“No Ad, you can’t hold me and yourself,” Daniel answered, digging his fingers into the sand and rock the best he was able. Looking back up at Adrienne he saw Sarah running over to join them, falling to her knees as well and reaching out for him. 

“Daniel, dammit, listen to me you stubborn ass. I can lift you. Trust me. Sarah can help,” Adrienne answered, looking back over her shoulder.  Sarah didn’t look too thrilled to be volunteered, she looked terrified at the prospect of having to lift a six foot tall man from a ravine. More booming, more thunder under the ground, and the motion of the earth rattled all three of them, Adrienne leaning further into the gap to reach for Daniel. 

“No Adrienne, no. Cam should be back with the ship anytime now, don’t risk it, back up,” he hissed, her body too close to the edge, close enough where one more tremor would send them both over but Adrienne cut her eyes and placed her hand over his, reaching down for his wrist. 

“Adrienne, I can hang on, it won’t be long,” he pleaded, the fingers on his right hand growing weaker.  

“Don’t you dare leave me Daniel,” Adrienne hissed, laying down onto her stomach and grabbing his other wrist, digging in her fingertips before glaring back at Sarah.  

“Brace me,” she ordered and the other woman did as she was told, holding Adrienne down by her calves. There was a seriousness in her dark eyes as she brought them back to meet his own.

“I’ve got you, just hold on to me,” she ordered gently and, again, Daniel shook his head.  

“No Ad, I won’t risk you. You or Sarah.  Let go,” he replied but Adrienne held his wrists tighter, tears now streaming down her face. Daniel felt his fingers slip again and he fell slightly, his right hand now being held up only by Adrienne.  She was holding strong and started to try to get to her knees to pull him back over the edge as Sarah backed away, unsure as to what to do.  Dragging him backward with all of her might, Adrienne wasn’t able to move him at all, despite how good of shape she was in, Daniel, dead weight hanging over the edge was just too heavy and she felt more tears start to well up in her eyes.  

“Stop, Ad, Cam will be right here,” Daniel assured her, as he was feeling his other hand begin to slip and Adrienne must have too, grabbing his wrist tighter, squeezing so hard he felt what little fingernail she had digging into his flesh. He was about to speak, lie to her once more about help that wasn’t going to make it in time, help that he had to now hope would make it for her, when he lost his grip completely on the rock and fell further, pulling Adrienne toward him, toward the edge of the ravine.  She was straining to hold on to him and he looked up into her eyes, the eyes of his best friend, the eyes of the love of his life. He couldn’t let her die.  

“Let go Adrienne,” he said.  Adrienne was trying not to cry, trying instead for focus on pulling him up, holding onto him, her body slipping forward even more as she was shaking her head, sucking back tears. 

“No, Daniel, stop, just hold onto me,” she pleaded, slipping forward again.  She felt hands at her ankles and saw that Sarah was trying to hold her up, but she was a small woman and Adrienne knew that it was in vain.  

“Adrienne, listen to me. We’re both going to die if you don’t let go,” he reasoned but Adrienne just continued to shake her head.  

“I don’t care,” she answered, angering Daniel. He wasn’t going to let her throw her life away for him, why would she want to do that, Adrienne was the one person, the only person he had ever known so full of life and an appreciation for it. Unless...

She loves me. 

The realization hit him harder than anything else had before in his life, and it was confirmed by the look in her eyes, a look he had seen so few times in his life. She loved him and was holding him on the edge of this cliff, willing to sacrifice her own life for the non-existent chance of saving his. 

“Adrienne Margaret, you listen to me.  I’m not going to let you die. Let go of me now!!” he screamed at her, rage, panic, every extreme emotion he could experience welling up inside of his soul, but she ignored him, squeezing tighter.  Daniel felt them both move more, gravity pulling him downward, more so as the ground shook again, Adrienne’s chest now leaning over the edge.  They would both go over soon.  Heartbroken, because now he knew, he knew she felt the same, the person he never thought existed, never thought could exist was right here at the end of it all.  He loved her, more than anything, more than he had ever loved another person in his entire life and even if he could never hold her ever again, never kiss her, never be with her, he wasn’t going to let her die.  

“Jack always says I’ve got nine lives. I think I should have at least three left,” Daniel said and let go.  Without his help, Adrienne couldn’t hold on any longer, especially with the ground shaking again around them, and she felt herself being pulling back by her legs as he slipped from her grasp, his wrists, his hands, his fingers and fell, into the ravine and out of her sights.  

“No!!!” she stood screaming, “No, no!” There was a clap of thunder, the sky falling to black and laughter, deep evil maniacal laughter. It was him, it was all a trap and she didn’t see it, didn’t catch it and he was gone, forever. She stepped forward, ready to throw herself off of the edge after him, choosing to die with him when she felt a hand at her wrist, and there was Sarah, tears in her eyes, understanding what Adrienne had intended to do.  Instead, Adrienne stepped forward and hugged the woman and they stood there, both crying, so much so that they didn’t even notice the beam of light around them.  

“Two now,” Adrienne heard as the light dimmed and their surroundings changed.  Adrienne turned and saw Daniel sitting on the floor of the puddle jumper, smiling slyly at her.  She stood and ran over to him, throwing her arms around his neck, crying into his shoulder. 

“You stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid tchew,” she swore at him, hugging his neck tightly. She pulled back, gazing into his eyes, trapped there for a moment in the realization that he wasn’t dead, that he was right here, that he was going to be alright. Slipping her hand behind his neck she pulled him closer, turning her head to press her lips to his when she froze, feeling eyes on her. Leaping back, Adrienne remembered where she was, Cam and Sarah both staring at the two of them in disbelief. 

“I didn’t know Ad, I just hoped.  Now stop,” he said, playing it all off deftly and peering over at Sarah who was crying as well, “both of you stop. I’m fine.” 

“And could somebody please waltz down to McKay’s lab once we get back to inform him that adding beaming tech to the puddle jumpers was a good idea and that it was my idea,” Cam added, standing with his arms across his chest, smiling brightly.  

*****

When they arrived back, Daniel insisted on going to the lab to go through the items they had found, the few they managed to beam aboard, before quitting for the night.  Adrienne was about to volunteer to join him when Sarah stepped up and starting talking as though the two of them had already decided back on the ship that they would be the ones going through the find. Before, Adrienne might have been jealous, but she was actually relieved by the woman’s presence, needing to take some time to think about what had almost happened, both on the edge of the ravine and in the puddle jumper. 

Daniel glanced up from the file Sam had given him at the briefing to tell Adrienne that she might as well fire up that coffee maker of hers, that is was going to be a long night, when he saw that she was gone.  That wasn’t like her, just to disappear like that, she hated it when he did it,  but she had just been through a lot, watching him fall, so maybe she just needed to decompress.  She did that sometimes; he called them her calm-attacks. Understanding, resisting the desire to just leave this all in the lab, rush to find her, take her into his arms and tell her that everything was going to be alright, he decided to give her some space and check in on her later. Refocusing on the weapons, Daniel indicated with his hand the direction of the lab and let Sarah lead the way. 

Sarah pushed his back against the wall the moment they arrived back at the lab, tossing the bag of collected items over onto Adrienne’s desk. He had never seen her so forceful before, in all of the time they had been together, and it startled him, making him freeze, at a loss for words. She brought her face closer to his, her scent familiar and bringing back a swarm of memories and he felt her press her lips to his. 

“Stop, Sarah, no,” he pushed her away instantly, stepping aside, his insides filled with shame although he had done nothing wrong. Why hadn’t he seen? This was why Adrienne had been so jealous, women’s intuition, something that made her see what he hadn’t. 

“Did I miss something?” she asked, taking a step back and Daniel sighed, pushing her further away by her shoulders, shaking his head. 

“Sarah, I’m sorry. I just can’t,” he answered and began to head for Adrienne’s desk to retrieve the artifacts as Sarah stood there mystified for just a moment when it all became clear.  The nicknames, the way they interacted with one another, the cliff...

“It’s her. It’s Adrienne.  You’re in love with Adrienne,” she said to her old friend, to her former lover.  Daniel sat down at his desk.  She had him.  He was madly in love with Adrienne and at this point the only person that knew was Chaka.  And Vala. He hadn’t told Vala, but she had figured it out and liked to remind him of it often. Not knowing what to say, Daniel put his head in his hands, in his opinion indication enough. He was sitting there in silence when he felt a hand on his shoulder. 

“For what it’s worth, I think she does too.  She seems pretty annoyed by my presence here,” Sarah said, realizing what she had seen between her and Daniel had just been his general friendliness and caring and what she had seen between Daniel and his assistant was something she and Daniel never had: true love. 

“You think we were complicated?” he started, admitting it without saying it, “If I say anything,” he trailed off sighing, a look in his eyes she had never seen before. She understood; she couldn’t imagine the position that he was in. A colleague was one thing, an assistant, a subordinate was another.  Sarah squeezed his shoulder, offering him the only advice she had.   

“But if you don’t, can you live with that either?” she asked, honestly. What if he had died there and never told her how he felt about her? What if she never knew? His expression one of such sorrow, despair she had never seen in him before, Daniel rubbed his face, looking back at his desk, choosing not to reply. Straightening her jacket, Sarah walked back over to gather her things from the center table, quickly, wanting to leave in the hopes that he would stop working, something he had never done for her, and go find her, wherever she had gone. Ready to go, she looked back at him one last time. 

“Thank you. Again, for everything,” she said.  He stood and walked over, hugging her tightly and then stepped away. 

“I hope you’ll let yourself be happy Daniel,” she offered one final piece of advice, walking out of his lab, and his life, forever.  

*****

Adrienne sat crying in the locker room shower stall, wrapped in a towel, having finished her shower ages ago. Despite Carolyn suggesting that Adrienne take it easy after everything that had happened, Adrienne had decided instead to go for a run. A long run.  She had set out on the treadmill to just do five miles, but when the machine shut off at an hour, Adrienne just got angry and went up to the track.  She had lost track of the miles by then, she just ran until her sides hurt and she felt herself starting to cry.  That she didn’t want anyone to see, Vala and Sam knew and that was bad enough, she wasn’t about to announce to the entire base that she was falling to pieces over her boss.  She needed to get ahold of herself and face reality; Daniel Jackson was ruining her life.  

Tears streamed down her face, burning past the marks her last set had already made. She had never felt this way about another person before, she had never allowed herself to be so vulnerable to her feelings.  She loved him like she loved no one else in her life and hated him at the same time. He was reckless, careless, marked by the one entity in the galaxy that was hunting them down.  Standing and raging, at both the fact that he wasn’t her, but also at the fact that it seemed that even if he was he would just be ripped away from her, she grabbed her bottle of shampoo, launching it to the floor. The green plastic top popped open and a thick white liquid began to ooze out onto the ground.  

“Fuck you!!” Adrienne screamed at the top of her lungs, throwing herself onto the bench, sobbing into her hands.  

“Adrienne, what’s the matter?” she heard a voice, a man’s voice.  Of course, he has to come in here.  She didn’t look up, she couldn’t look up. What would she say? Daniel, i am crying over you, because I love you so much and you almost died, I didn’t even get to tell you that I loved you and I’m too weak to tell you right now. 

“I thought you learned to stay out of the girls locker room?” Adrienne asked from her hands, trying to pinch her nose and wipes the tears away when she felt Daniel sit down on the bench beside her.  

“Well, when Dex calls and says that my assistant is killing herself on the track for no good reason, I like to find out what’s wrong,” he replied and I am worried as hell about you, he added in his mind.  Truth was since Sarah left Daniel had been thinking over and over about what she said, how he would regret it if he didn’t tell Adrienne how he felt about her. He started to reach his hand out slowly for her shoulders and then realized that she was just wearing a towel and pulled back quickly, hoping she didn’t notice.  Shaking her head, Adrienne stood, walking back through the empty shower stalls to the dressing area, not saying a word and Daniel followed, remaining silent.  Adrienne stood at her locker, doing the combination and pulled out her neon yellow gym bag, tossing it on the bench behind her so He sat down and began to open the bag, handing her the jeans and t-shirt inside.  

“I’ve got that Indy,” she said, pushing his hand aside and quickly grabbing her undergarments keeping them out of sight, a pointless gesture. This man loved her, he didn’t just want to sleep with her, he loved her, and this was just care and concern. She walked the clothes over to the curtained dressing area, slipping inside to change.  

“It was just a rough mission Daniel, no worries.  You might be used to dying or being damn close, but I’m not. I just needed a run to clear my head,” she answered from the stall, feeling herself choke up as she thought about how close she was to losing him, how very close, cursing herself again for her weakness.  

Daniel sat on the bench, silent.  I have to tell her, he urged himself, I have to.  She didn’t let go; I saw the look in her eyes.  Vala’ s right, she does love me, but we can’t, she’s my assistant and even if she does love me there is some reason that she just won’t say. he debated internally, waiting for her to speak again. 

“Sarah left,” he chose instead, wanting to smack himself in the head right then and there.  He heard Adrienne make a noise from the other side of the curtain that he could not tell was a laugh or a sound of disgust.  The curtain opened and Adrienne came out, orange tank top and jeans, shaking out her wet hair as she passed by him heading to the dryers. It didn’t seem as if she was going to respond to that either. 

“I haven’t had a chance to tell you, with the excitement and all,” Daniel began, his heart pushing him to do it while his head gave him at least a hundred reasons as to why not, “but thank you. If there is one person I know in this world that will never let me down, it’s you Adrienne.” Close enough, he placated himself but Adrienne just nodded.  Smiling slightly, Daniel stood, leaving the locker room.  Adrienne watched him walk away, her heart falling to pieces. Dammit you idiot, she swore, he almost died, so if you can’t say it yet, the least you can do is acknowledge you are glad he is still right here. 

“Daniel?” she called out behind him and he stopped, turning quickly, a look on his face that Adrienne thought for just an instant was eagerness, and she thought that he might rush into her arms, sweep her off of her feet and tell her that he loved her, but he just stood there, as if he was waiting for her to do the same. 

“You know me and, well, stress, I’m never going to get to sleep. Do you want to just hit up a movie here on base or something?” she asked, trying to make the request sound as normal as possible. We do this all of the time, she assured herself, and maybe in the confines of my quarters we can talk. 

“I think that’s a great idea, meet you in your room in a few?” he asked, completely disregarding the pile of artifacts stacked onto his desk. He would rather be with her, just her, always with her. Work could wait.  

“Yeah, and I promise nothing horror,” she joked, fighting back emotion when Daniel laughed, making it all less awkward. 

“Don’t worry about that Ad, you’ve officially desensitized me to all gore,” he said and started walking for the door again.  He pushed it opened and headed out into the hallway, hoping there was some wine in his own quarters that he could take down for them to enjoy. Maybe a few glasses and he’d tell her, even if no one else could know. 

The door slammed and Adrienne just sat back down on the bench, rivers flowing from her eyes. Never understanding what it was to have everything in front of you and not being able to get even close, she wept for a love that her heart wanted so badly that fate seemed to never want to be. Yet she would go, meeting him in her room, watch some terrible movie and fall asleep beside him. Because, for now, she would just let him continue to ruin her life.