Daniel & Adrienne #39 - Breathe

Author's note- Not a lot of plot advancement, but don't they deserve just a little bliss?? Just a little?? 

“Oh shit!” Adrienne sat up in bed, swearing and looking over at the clock.  It was 8:30 in the morning and she would have no time to go to the grocery store, get what she needed, make it back to her apartment and bake and she started to panic, racking her brain for an alternative.  Noticing her abrupt exit, Daniel rolled over in the bed, reaching for her arm as her head whipped back and forth, her teeth already making quick work of her bottom lip.   

“Oh shit what?” he asked, still waking up himself, running his fingers slowly across her bare arm. Ignoring him, Adrienne leapt from the bed in search of her clothes.  

“Oh shit I forgot that lunch at Sam’s and I’m supposed to bring dessert and I have nothing.  What are you supposed to bring?” she asked, demanded really, running her eyes all over the floor to find her t-shirt lying at the foot of the bed, hanging off of the corner. She dashed over to grab it, throwing it over her head as she scanned the room for the remainder of her personal effects.They needed a better system than this every morning, this was getting a bit ridiculous.

“Sodas,” he replied sleepily, not getting up from the bed. He just didn’t feel the need to race out of bed anymore, everything he wanted was right there.  Well, was right there. Right now, ‘everything’ was standing that the foot of his bed making a face at him before throwing a pillow square in his nose. 

“Sodas? Do you realize how sexist that is? You just get to pick something up; I’m expected to make something,” she fussed, only half serious; she just liked to mess with him, more now than ever before, now that they weren’t just in limbo, now that she had and was able to give herself to him in every way. Frowning, Daniel rolled back over, turning his back to her, pulling the covers up his naked torso. 

“What are you talking about make something? I thought you couldn’t cook? We’ll just stop by a bakery on the way, you can get whatever you deem appropriate and then we’ll go,” he replied, pulling the blanket back up over his shoulder and stuffing his head into the pillow. Adrienne huffed and sat down forcefully onto the bed, trying to act like she was annoyed, glaring in his direction.

“WE can stop by the bakery on the way? WE will go? I thought WE were hiding this little thing we have going on here?” she asked, pushing at his arm, giggling.  He didn’t turn to face her, but she could feel him laughing lightly and trying to hide it underneath her hand that she was resting on his shoulder.    

“We are, but WE are always together anyway so unless I go into Sam’s with a big neon sign saying ‘Adrienne and I are sleeping together’ no one is even going to notice,” he replied and paused, waiting for the attack and as expected, she slammed the pillow onto his head once more.  

“You’re a smartass,” Adrienne teased. 

“Only when you’re armed with a pillow and nothing more,” he replied, chuckling before adding, “come back to bed.”  Adrienne rolled her eyes but pulled back the covers and did as he requested, crawling over to him and he rolled back over quickly, pulling her into his arms.  

“This is not a thing; this is a relationship,” he corrected, kissing her ear and Adrienne sighed out, letting herself melt back into his embrace. 

“I know, I was just giving you a hard time,” she responded, leaning back to kiss his lips gently.  

“Uh huh,” he said as he laid his head back down on the pillow.  Knowing that she had no intention of escaping his arms, Adrienne let out a sigh, glancing over at the clock to see that it was 8:45 a.m., plenty of time if she was not expected to make anything. They could just stop by that cute little bakery together like a normal couple and get some of those amazing Canolis or something close. Like a normal couple she thought again.

“Daniel?” she asked, the tone of worry seeping up once more. 

“Yea,” he said from behind her, sounding like he had fallen back asleep.  

“Are we ever going to be able to stop hiding?” she continued, hoping not to upset him. It’s not that she wanted or felt the need to rub it in everyone’s face, but now that she’d let herself accept this fact that she was going to be in an intimate, romantic relationship with Daniel, sneaking around like they were just felt, inappropriate.   

“When I’m certain that Woolsey can’t ship you to Area 51,” he answered honestly. Anticipating his answer, it was the same every time, she reached under the covers to where his arm was wrapped around her waist and pulled his grasp tighter, wanting the physical reassurance that he was there. 

“You’re sure no one has any clue?” Adrienne asked yet another worried question and Daniel shook his head in the pillow.

“No one has a clue, other than Cam and he’s too worried about having his team dismantled again. Trust me.  And I’m not one to be with anybody, so they’ve all just given up on me. They’ve decided that you are more like my sister than anything else,” he replied.  

“Oh that’s a comforting thing to tell your girlfriend,” she teased and Daniel just laughed.

“Ad, I’m going back to sleep.  Don’t move me until 10.  That gives you a full ninety minutes to come up with something else to worry about,” Daniel informed her, kissing her ear again and hugging her tighter.  

“Fine,” Adrienne pouted, a tiny part of her seriously worried inside, but allowed herself to relax in the comfort of his arms, closing her eyes.  

At ten when Adrienne woke up again Daniel was gone.  She heard the shower running and figured that he must have finally gotten up remembering that they needed to be somewhere at 12, Sam’s, and that moving and getting ready might be a good idea. Slightly annoyed that he had not woken her up, choosing to shower alone instead, she decided to go get even with him, in the best way she could think of. Standing from the bed she tiptoed to the bathroom and opened the door as quietly as she could. She could see his silhouette behind the shower curtain as he rinsed out his hair and she pulled the door closed, but not all of the way, dashing to the kitchen to get a cup of ice water returning quickly to the bathroom, pushing the door open.  Daniel was still in the shower, but this time she could see him with sponge in hand like he was going to wash himself.  She tried not to laugh as she stepped quietly over to the shower when saw his shadow look up, his head pointing in her direction.

“You’re up,” Daniel said from the other side of the curtain,”why don’t you join me?” he invited. Dammit, Adrienne cursed herself, not at getting caught but at having to turn down his tempting offer; she could never get enough of melting into his arms, kissing his lips, running her hands across him under the warm stream of water, but not now; now she was a woman on a mission.  

“I’d love too shug, let me get this shirt off,” she answered, as seductively as possible, hoping it would have the intended effect.  

“Don’t keep me waiting,” he pleaded playfully as Adrienne tried to contain her laughter.  This is going to be too good, she thought, hoping he didn’t catch her snigger. 

“Oh, I won’t handsome,” Adrienne responded as she reached the curtain. She started to pull it back like she was going to slip into the shower with him, instead peeking inside to make sure that he was where she wanted him and he was, leaning over and washing his leg, water droplets cascading down his back. Ordering herself to focus despite her burning desire to rush into the stall and take him right them and there, she quickly stood on her tiptoes, pouring the cold water over the curtain. 

“What in the hell!!!!” he screamed out loud and she heard him drop the bottle of body wash, swearing in at least three languages. Bruising her butt in the process, or at least it felt like it, Adrienne fell to the bathroom floor laughing hysterically, tears forming in her eyes. Daniel ripped back the curtain, not angry, but cracking up himself and stepped out of the shower glaring at her. Dear god, she thought, I will never get sick of seeing him naked, but before she could say anything at all he leaned over and lifted her into his arms, t-shirt and all and tossed her gently into the stall, reaching over and turning the water to cold.  

“Shower alone Dr. Rowan!” Daniel joked and grabbed a towel from the rack, wrapping it around his waist, still laughing at Adrienne who was now standing in the shower trying to frantically warm the water again all the while laughing and swearing up a storm in cajun french.  She peeled off her wet shirt and threw it at him as he tried to flee the bathroom but missed, the t-shirt slapping the bathroom door with a wet splat, Daniel’s laughter easily heard from the other side. Pulling the curtain closed with a frustrated yell, Adrienne grabbed the shampoo, trying to shower quickly before Daniel got any other crazy ideas.  

About five minutes later, record time really, Adrienne shut off the shower and reached for a towel from the rack and thankfully felt one. Luckily Daniel had chosen his retaliation to occur outside of the bathroom, so Adrienne just wrapped her self up and stepped out preparing for the worst. He had partially closed the bathroom door, so she opened it cautiously, looking left and right, noting the coast was clear.  

“What have I done to this man?” she asked out loud, laughing about how playful he had become with her.  They had had fun together before that night, two weeks ago, when they had made love for the first time and since then it had been absolute paradise. It was a perfect work situation; everyone thought that after the cave-in Daniel and Adrienne had some kind of heart to heart and come to the decision that they were better as sort of pseudo siblings, all but Cam at least, who still looked at them during team meetings like Daniel was going to just throw Adrienne on the table and take her right there in front of everyone. For the rest of the group however, such assumptions worked great for them, particularly because Daniel was terrified that if Sam’s superiors found out he was in a relationship with his assistant that he would lose her and lose everything. The next morning, after their night, after she had given herself to him completely, they both went to work like normal, acting like nothing had happened except for a few stolen glances or hidden smiles.  As night rolled on, everyone dashed off of the base, happy for the weekend and some leave granted while Sam deciphered what information the Tok’ra had given them, so no one even paid attention to Adrienne leaving in her beetle to go back to her apartment, Daniel following her only minutes later without a word to anyone else on the base.  

They went back to her apartment, ordered dinner in and didn’t leave the apartment, or answer a phone for that matter, until Monday morning when they had to return to base. Back to work on Monday was like nothing happened, including a short two day mission that week where they slept side by side as normal, their fingers clasped lightly but hidden so that no one would see.  The next weekend was the same, posing as their typical best friend geek fest movie night on Friday and this time locking themselves in Daniel’s place for the weekend.  They didn’t just spend the weekends in bed together, although it was love making like Adrienne had never imagined, soft, gentle, long and breathtaking, but they had fun, doing everything together from playing games, to kidding around, to just teasing one another in ways they were too worried to do before, too worried about what the other one would think.  It was honestly the most fun Adrienne had ever had in her entire life; she was madly in love with her best friend and life just couldn’t get any better, except for being able to tell people about it. That, she thought, would be nice. 

However, the biggest surprise of all was Daniel, not only that she couldn’t believe that she was so relaxed with him, that she was able to be with him like this, but he was just so different now. He had always been a little mouthy, but lately he had gotten spunky and he played right back. Last night, in fact, after they’d eaten a lovely dinner that Daniel had dashed down to the Italian restaurant to procure, he’d opened a bottle of wine and pulled her into his lap, singing opera loudly and playfully into her ear. She remembered turning around and slipping the glass from his hand, pushing him down onto the floor and making love to him then and there, the taste of the wine still on his lips, his singing a whisper in her ear as she rode him lightly, sitting in his lap as he held onto her. It was so magical, so perfect, and afterward he had carried her to the bed and proceeded to tickle her until she tackled him, pinning his neck as he tried to laugh, which is exactly what she was worried was going to happen right now. 

She had taken a few steps to the drawer in his dresser she was now stowing things in when she heard a sound behind her and turned, just in time to see Daniel grab her, pick her up again, walk her over and throw her down onto the bed, Adrienne landing with an uf.  He jumped up, pinning her with his body weight, reaching down for her sides.  

“Don’t you dare,” she threatened, laughing already.  

“Dare do what?” he asked, beginning his torture.  

“I’ll launch you off this bed Indy, I swear fo gah,” she retorted as he started to tickle her, working his way up and down, Adrienne trying and failing to hold back laughter and tears.  

“And how will you explain that? Huh? If I get hurt?” he teased as he continued, “Sorry Dr. Grumpypants, Daniel and I were rolling around in bed, he was tickling me, oh yes, I was only wearing a towel, you see I’d just gotten out of the shower and wanted to play rough and I threw him off the bed. Please don’t yell at me,” he continued until she was laughing so hard that she was screaming she couldn’t breathe and then he stopped, leaning forward, kissing her slowly, letting himself get lost, before he felt her grab him and throw him to the side.  Frowning, she pointed over at the clock.  

‘We’ve got to stop fooling around; Sam’s expecting us and I need to get a cake or something,” Adrienne declared and Daniel stood, his cheeks flushed slightly at his own behavior, walking over to the dresser to get some clothes to for himself.  Digging around for a moment, he pulled out a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt and turned, stepping into the jeans when he paused, a crazy thought in his head. Peering back at Adrienne, Daniel pointed to the drawers, about to say something he had never said before. 

“I can consolidate so you can have two drawers here if you want; make things easier,” he offered, his voice trailing at the end as if he couldn’t believe he had just said that.   Adrienne smiled, not only at the gesture but because for Daniel to be offering for her to invade his space he was serious, very serious and despite Adrienne’s insistence in the past that she remain single forever, with Daniel, serious didn’t seem so bad.  

“Only if you want to,” she answered, starting to get dressed herself but unable to take her eyes off of him.  Eight weeks later, eight weeks since she told him how she felt about him, eight weeks since he had looked her in the eyes and promised her that he would never hurt her and she was still in complete disbelief that this was happening.  She watched him begin to pull the black t-shirt over his head, changing, getting ready for his day like her presence there was just normal, like she had just always been there.

“Wear a blue one,” she requested before he could finish pulling it down.  Daniel paused, looking at her strangely, over his shoulder, fists of fabric halted at his chest still showing his perfect stomach.  

“Excuse me?” he clarified and Adrienne stood, pulling a purple long sleeved shirt over her head and walking over to him smiling, wrapping her arms around his waist and gazing up at him. 

“You have the most amazing eyes I’ve ever seen,” she whispered, “and when you wear a blue shirt they stand out even more.  Wear a blue one please,” she repeated.  He smiled, shaking his head, but stood back and pulled the t-shirt off, opening the drawer and reaching in for a new one.  He showed her a blue shirt, got a smile in approval and put it on, laughing lightly as he did. 

“I’m now letting a woman dress me,” he teased, Adrienne refraining from comment as she pulled her jeans up to her hips, feeling her own cheeks flush. She was indeed dressing him, she just wanted to stare at him, and she felt like for the first time there was a person that she just couldn’t take her eyes off of. Deciding to leave her hair as it was and put on her make-up in the car, she followed him out to the jeep to go, walking on air with every step. 

*****

She did have to admit though, dream come true or not, Adrienne was getting a little sick of him being right.  As Daniel had predicted, when they arrived together no one cared other than a set of raised eyebrows from Cam as though he could sense what they had been doing like some wild animal but Daniel had already come up with a story of Adrienne wanting his opinion on some antique furniture that they were going to go look at after the party so they had just consolidated vehicles. They bought the excuse, or so she hoped, Sam taking the pastries from Adrienne and ushering them into the house without another comment. 

The party itself really wasn’t for any special occasion, Sam just wanted to beat the winter blues and dreariness of DC winters with a fun Sunday lunch with her friends. Sam herself hadn’t been seen for weeks, every free waking moment spent on information from the Tok’ra, information that was coded in a complicated fashion and that Sam had only shared bits and pieces of with the rest of the team, mostly Daniel because of his own dealings with Anubis. He’d told Adrienne some of it, how much of what he knew she wasn’t sure, but what Adrienne did know that was beyond gathering personnel, Anubis was on a cross galaxy shopping spree of ships, weapons and supplies, using what the Tok’ra believed were a collection of assumed identities. It chilled Adrienne to the core, even as she laid there in Daniel’s arms every night, listening to the more detailed versions of their interactions with various system lords, terrified her that he, the team, the SGC would not be able to stop what their old enemy was planning. Sam must have thought the same, feeling they needed some sort of get together, even if it was just for an afternoon. 

The lunch was uneventful, a rarity for their group, an oddity that could probably be blamed on everyone’s apprehension from work transferring out, apprehension that had Daniel and Adrienne not been living in such a perfect escape for the past few weeks would have sucked them in. About 2:30 Daniel made their excuses so they could leave, going back to the furniture story, everyone said goodbye to them and they left without problem, just like Daniel had said.  He gave Adrienne the ‘I told you so’ look over his shoulder as they put their coats back on at the door and she kicked him playfully, the gesture escaping everyone’s attention but Cam, of course, who had started to act as if everything they had done before when they really were just friends was all of a sudden an indicator of their relationship affecting their work. Adrienne make a mental note to try to talk to him first thing tomorrow, to see if there was anything else she needed to know. Once they were in the Jeep and safely out of the driveway Adrienne reached her hand over to Daniel’s leg slowly slipping her palm up his thigh. 

“So, where are we going in such a hurry?” she asked as they got onto the interstate heading toward the city instead of one of their apartments, especially curious since 2:30 was much earlier than she intended on leaving and there was no antique furniture that needed looking at. Biting her lip, she started to slide her hand up a little further, thinking he planned to pick up where they left off this morning when Daniel laughed, pushing her hand away.  

“Promise not to kill me?” he asked, glancing over at her, a look of discontent on his face as he pushed his glasses back up his nose, gazing back out at the road.  

“Oh no shug, what did you do?” Adrienne asked, worried, her thoughts back to last night before bed, Daniel recounting how for a short time Anubis had possessed his body. Chills rocketing down her spine, Daniel, sensing her concern, reached over and squeezed her leg, rubbing it quickly before pulling his hand back to the wheel. 

“It’s what I didn’t do, so I could run away with you two weekends in a row.  We are due a check back in again with P3X-888, nothing Anubis related I promise. I was supposed to take our data from last time and go through some other things the IOA is going to have us check out.  We leave tomorrow and I told Sam I’d finish it all this weekend, since we’ve been busy with that side mission and going through the intelligence most of the week,” Daniel admitted, sheepishly, the first time in his life that he had allowed her personal life to come before his work. Adrienne blushed, his mind floating back through the events and details of the weekend, every last one of them. 

“And instead we ate take-out, watched movies, played a Monopoly marathon and well...” she teased reaching across to his leg again, unable to control herself. What had gotten into her? She had never acted like this before in her entire life. Now it was Daniel’s turn to get red in the face.  

“Stop ja-wer, you can’t do that to me in the car,” he responded, laughing, using his name for her now, Egyptian for “my love” and continued, “We’re going to the lab, I was hoping you would help so we can get done faster, and then we can go get sushi or something before we have to eat Unas food for a few days.” This time Adrienne reached for his shoulder, leaning over the console between the seats, kissing his cheek softly.  

“Of course I’ll help you sha, all you had to do was ask,” she said, returning the favor with a pet name of her own, one that she had heard used a million times before back home but never had used herself, not even with Joshua, the closest thing to a fiancee she had ever had. 

“I love you,” he answered in reply, glancing over at her quickly and then back at the road. 

“I’ll never get tired of hearing that,” Adrienne replied and reached to turn on the radio. 

Two hours later, Adrienne made her way over to Daniel’s desk, passing over the iPad, a smile of satisfaction across her face. 

“Alright Indy, everything we did last time, in short hand, on a spreadsheet so we can easily compare what we find this time,” she showed him flicking her finger around the screen, “with the additions you gave me and,” she dramatically clicked around some more, “a nice little chart to compare.”  Raising his eyebrows he peered up are her curious.

“As long as what I write on paper can be transferred to that thing we are fine,” he joked, knowing full well how to use the iPad, hell he used it all of the time now, and Adrienne shook her head at him, her boyfriend, the technological dinosaur, and started to walk away when he pulled her down into his lap, kissing her passionately.  Sliding the iPad over onto his desk and out of the way, she turned her body to straddle his lap, kissing him deeper, her hands behind his neck and his slipping down below her hips. They kissed for a long, breathless moment until she pulled away cocking her head behind her. 

“Cameras,” she said, unclasping her hands from behind his head and pointing over to the corner behind her desk.  Chuckling, Daniel just kissed her head, reaching his hand for her face and running his fingers lightly down her jaw.  

“I know, they can’t see over here. I just wanted to kiss you; is that a crime?” he asked and Adrienne smiled, throwing her arms up onto his shoulders.  

“Never,” she replied, letting herself get lost in his eyes for just a moment, leaning forward to softly press her lips to his lightly and then stood, grabbing the iPad, talking over her shoulder as she walked back to her desk.  

“My place?” she asked and Daniel stood, beginning to shut things down.  

“Yeah, dinner?” he asked, looking at the clock as he continued to close folders and books and various other items.  Adrienne started to answer when her phone buzzed in her pocket and she fished it from her jeans pocket, frowning in confusion.   

Can you separate yourself from him for five minutes?

It was Vala and Adrienne shook her head, more out of annoyance than worry. Vala still knew nothing, she was suspicious sure, but she had no clue as to what was really going on and Adrienne had no intention of changing that. 

“Do I want to know?” Daniel asked, clicking off his desk lamp.   

“Not really,” Adrienne replied, “but I think we’re going to have to start coming up for air.” 

“Well that’s no fun,” hr answered, walking up and wrapping his arms around her from behind and peering over her shoulder to see the source of their interruption.  She leaned back into his grasp, shooting off her answer.  

What’s up mon ami?

“She’s going to mess up our plans...” Daniel said at her ear, moving his lips to kiss her neck softly, lower and lower until she shrugged him away laughing.  

“Air, Daniel, air.  What have I done to you?” Adrienne teased.  

“You woke up a monster,” he responded, continuing his gentle kisses when the phone buzzed again.  

Get dressed or whatever, just ditch him and come by my quarters. I need your help with something. 

Adrienne peeked back at him and turned, reaching her arms up to his shoulders and gazing in his eyes. 

“Look, go to my place, it isn’t like you haven’t had a key for a while. I’ll go see what she wants and if it’s tragic then I’ll text you or something,” Adrienne offered, knowing that she needed to go if not for any other reason than to prove to Vala that she was not having this little interlude with Daniel, which she might be using this as a ruse to find out. On the other hand, it was a rare occasion that Vala every asked for help, so there was a very good chance that something was really wrong.  Giving her a pathetic look, a combination of true disappointment and teasing her yet again, he walked over to pack up her desk, shoving the things she had spread out into her black backpack. 

“I guess I also need to take your things to your apartment as well my dear,” he mocked.  

“Have I told you lately that I liked you better when you were afraid of me?” she replied.  

“Often, go see what she wants. I just have to occupy myself,” he said and pointed to the door, wanting her to go and get back as soon as possible. Rolling her eyes, but smiling, reading his face as she had learned to so long ago, Adrienne waved goodbye, slipping out to the housing floor. 

*****

“That was fast; did you find what you were looking for?” Vala asked, opening the door to her quarters at Adrienne’s first knock.  The cajun was lost for a brief second but then caught on quickly, remembering their excuse from earlier. Yet another reason to hope Daniel can figure out a way for us to go public, Adrienne thought, no more keeping up with your lies. 

“No, the sofa was just not in the best condition.  I’ll have to try further away I guess,” Adrienne lied and Vala rolled her eyes, not believing a word.

“Uh huh, that’s what you two were doing. Anyway, I just need you to help me with something,” Vala said, changing the subject from DAniel and Adrienne in bed together, which was a shock in an of itself, shutting the door quickly behind her, her face deadly serious.  It was a face Adrienne didn’t like. 

“What?” she asked cautiously and nodding, Vala walked over to her desk, which normally just held nail polish and pulled a folder handing it to Adrienne. It was stamped Intelligence and immediately Adrienne shook her head, handing the folder back. 

“Wrong department shug; I’m in nerd studies, remember? Follow around Daniel, bag and tag,” Adrienne responded as Vala pushed the file back in her direction. 

“This came in the other day.  Telford wanted me to take it to Daniel to translate since some of it was in Ancient, but I told him I could handle it, I mean I picked up a little here and there trying to get Glasses to acknowledge that I was alive.  But, well, I can’t do it,” she admitted. Still confused, Adrienne opened the folder, her dark eyes running across the pages rapidly.  It wasn’t that bad, looked like some poor photos taken of some ruins, nothing that would concern she and Daniel by the looks of it, and it was clearly over Vala’s head.  Adrienne looked back up at her frustrated, not really angry with her friend, this was what friends did for one another, but more angry at the situation. This was going to take hours, hours she would rather spend eating dinner with Daniel, talking to Daniel, kissing Daniel, making love to Daniel. Resigning herself to the fact that tonight she would not be crawling into his loving arms, at least for anything other than sleeping, she let out a sigh, glancing back at her friend.  

“You owe me...” Adrienne said, pulling out the uncomfortable military issue chair and taking a seat at the desk.  

“Why, did you have a hot date with your little lover boy? Did you ACTUALLY fess up to him finally, or are we still playing the idiot game?” Vala asked and Adrienne cut her eyes.  

“If you want me to do this you get to buy dinner. And I’m hungry, so go get something good,” Adrienne demanded.  Pleased, Vala smiled and bounced over, wrapping her arms around Adrienne’s neck and hugging her friend tightly. 

“Thank you and I swear, if you really have told him and I am taking you away from a night of hot sex or something I will make it up to you both!” Vala declared.  

“There is no hot sex Vala, now food, please,” Adrienne restated and Vala turned on her toes, dancing out of her quarters.  

“Definitely no hot sex tonight,” Adrienne said to herself as she shot off a text to Daniel, glancing at the clock the moment the message was confirmed send. It was 5:15 p.m.  She had told him she hoped this would only take an hour, but sitting here, her eyes running over the contents of the folder once more, she just hoped she was right. 

******

Adrienne had underestimated her favor, really underestimated her favor, being that it was 1:10 a.m. when she pulled into the parking lot of her apartment complex.  Her spot was empty, but she did see the Jeep over in guest parking, instantly relieved that he was still here and praying that he wasn’t angry. He hadn’t texted her back after his little sad face when she explained what was going on, cryptically so Vala didn’t get into trouble, so she was a little worried he would be upset.  Locking up the bug, she headed for her apartment door, throwing her messenger bag wearily over her shoulder before trudging to her front door. 

When she let herself in, the apartment was quiet and dark so she just tossed her bag and purse onto the sofa without bothering with the lights, walking over to the kitchen to get a glass of water.  Grabbing a glass from the cabinet and turning to secure some ice from the freezer, a small slip of pink paper taped to the door of the fridge caught her eye.

See why I don’t do Vala favors? There’s a slice of cheesecake in the fridge for you. 

“Dear GOD I love you!” Adrienne said loudly, too loud and felt bad for shouting as loud as she did given his terrible relationship with sleep.  As she feared, she heard stirring in the bedroom, the guilt washing over her instantly. 

“Ad,” his voice came echoing from the bedroom.  Forgetting about the water, she headed for the voice, more thirsty for his embrace, opening the door and letting the light of the hallway shine into the room.  

“Hey Indy. I’m sorry I woke you,” she apologized, dashing to the bed, eager for his touch.  She felt him reach out for her, so she extended her hand, squeezing it gently and sitting beside him, relishing in the contact.  

“What time is it?” he asked and Adrienne let out a sigh, back to her guilt from earlier.  

“One in the morning, give or take. I’m going to brush my teeth and try to nap before we need to get up and go,” she said.  Daniel was half asleep and she thought he said ok so she went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth and got ready for bed.  She dashed over to her dresser and pulled out a tank top and shorts, swapping her normal clothes for it and tiptoeing back over to the bed.  As soon as she got under the covers she felt him grab her, apparently not as asleep as she thought, and pull her over into his arms. She scooted over closer to him, rolling to face him, kissing him lightly on the mouth.  

“I missed you,” she whispered and he kissed her lightly again, a little slower than before. 

“We’re pathetic,” he answered and Adrienne just laughed.  

“What time do we have to get up?” she asked.  Daniel squeezed her even tighter, wrapping himself around her and burying his face in her hair before answering. 

“In about 4 hours,” he replied, his warm hug his apology but Adrienne groaned, thinking that she really needed to try to get some more sleep; between wanting to spend every possible second with Daniel and work, she was getting seriously behind in her quota.  

“You don’t have to go; I can do it myself,” Daniel offered, sweetly, even though Adrienne knew it was a lie; he couldn’t do it himself, at least not in a reasonable time frame. This time Adrienne did the squeezing, burrowing herself again into his chest.  

“No, not happening. And if they put us in that hut again, if it was repaired, I request you join me on that big pallet,” she whispered in his ear, not seductively, as much as her body was screaming that it wanted him, right now, sleep be damned, the possibly of being off world, just the two of them, wrapped in each other’s arms was just too tempting. Frowning and shaking his head, Daniel pulled away quickly, gazing down at her the best he could in the dim light of the electronics. 

“Ad, I’m not sure we can get away with that.  In fact, I am not even sure of sleeping in the same hut is a good idea...” Daniel replied, trailing, gauging her response and Adrienne sat up in bed quickly, reaching for his face in the dark. 

“Wait, what are you talking about? We’ve never bunked separate, even when we hated each other,” she protested, distinctly remembering this past week’s venture where he had still tossed his bag beside her and held her hand as they slept. 

“Adrienne, I’m going to be honest with you, alright? I’ve never been in a relationship like this, maybe close to this in grad school, but no where near as, Ad, I can’t even think straight with you around anymore. I love you, I do, but I am so distracted. I’ve never watched the clock before, ever, but every day I catch myself looking at it at least 5 times, wondering when the day’ll end so I can just escape back here with you,” Daniel explained, a slow sigh escaping his lips as he finished. Her shoulders slumping, Adrienne let one out as well, Cam’s voice in her head advising her, telling her that they needed to be careful that it didn’t affect their work. 

“Daniel, I’m sorry,” she began, rambling herself, “This is why I kept my mouth shut for so long, I was so afraid that - ” Adrienne began and paused, realizing what she had said, what she had admitted. No one, not one soul knew how long she’d felt this way about him, not even Vala, because how could she admit that? Yeah, I hated him Vala, for so long, and then one day as she looked through the haze on confusion past the burka shroud and into his worried eyes as he carried her to the gate, that her heart knew then and there even if it took her mind a while to catch up. She saw him look over at her in the darkness, his expression different, curious, and his hand was on hers then quickly rubbing her forearm. 

“What do you mean for so long?” he asked and Adrienne let herself fall back down onto the pillow; they had talked about a lot of things lately, but just how long she had been in love with him was NOT a topic of conversation.  Embarrassed, she turned her back to him and pulled the blanket over her shoulders, pulling away, but Daniel crawled himself over, leaning over her face, smiling, kissing her cheek bone to keep her attention.  How long is she talking about, he thought, remembering her months and months of harassment about Vala, Satterfield, and others and her declarations that she was never going to be beholden to any man. Wrapping his arms around her, he squeezed tightly, determined to get it out of her. 

“No, no, that’s not an answer.  How long are we talking about? I thought you were my great hold out?” he joked in her ear, kissing it gently, starting to wonder himself if at this point sleep was even worth it. 

“I plea the fifth,” she answered, embarrassed, giggling so Daniel, knowing sweet was not going to get him his answer, just reached under the blanket and started to tickle her again making Adrienne laugh loudly and roll back over.  

“Fine, what about you? For all I know you could have just decided one day that I was willing and didn’t have space herpes,” she joked, knowing that wasn’t the truth, especially with how gentle and kind he had been waiting for her to be ready to be intimate with him. 

“That is NOT the case and you know better. I’m not sure when it really started, but I know when I admitted it to myself,” he began, reaching to pull her back into his arms and she came, less tense then before, and he kissed her head once she was wrapped in his embrace, knowing he could tell her, he could tell her anything, he could admit to her how long his heart had ached just to tell her how much she meant to him. 

“When?” she pushed, cuddling into him once more. 

“When I thought I was going to lose you; when they were going to cut your position. I sat in that meeting panicking, trying to figure out who I knew at the Smithsonian to get you a job and how I was going to fit your furniture into my apartment until you were resettled when it hit me,” Daniel answered, she deserved the truth and his heart skipped a beat as he felt her sit up and turn, wrapping her arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly.  He started to hug her back, smiling, when he felt a drop on his bare shoulder and realized that she must be crying. 

“Ad, are you alright?” he asked and she pulled back, tears streaked down her face.  Smiling softly, Daniel wiped them away as she smirked at him.  

“No ‘uns ‘eva made me cry so gah damn much as you ‘ave,” she said, smiling herself at her words and her accent.

“I don’t mean to ja-wer,” he apologized, resting his hand on her face using those words again, words that made her melt. She shook her head, more tears flooding her face, tears that were quickly wiped away by her love as he gazed into her eyes, concern on his face.  

“My date with Dex,” she said suddenly, sniffing in and pulling away. Confused, Daniel removed his hand from her face unsure as to what she was talking about. 

“What about your date with Dex?” he asked and she laid back down on the pillow a third time, pulling him to her, holding him close.  He didn’t fight her, just let her wrap her arms around him.  

“That night laying in your bed I just realized that the reason the date was so bad was because I was in love with you. I wanted to hear those things come out of your mouth, not his,” she admitted.  Really, he thought, and Dex was talking about marriage and futures, topics Adrienne avoided at all costs. Trying not to be too hopeful, he reached down for her leg, rubbing her thigh softly.  

“We won’t take separate huts, but we can’t sleep like this,” Daniel relented, fighting the urge to ask her then and there how serious she really was, how serious this was to her. 

“I know; I was trying not to think about it.  Have we even slept apart since...?” Adrienne said, thinking out loud.  

“No,” Daniel answered, not counting the mission since he lay there with her, side by side, but he couldn’t get away with that visiting Chaka. 

“Sigh,” Adrienne said out loud playfully, “we really do have to come up for air.” 

“Unfortunately,” he replied. Feeling better, feeling like she had been worried about nothing, that this was just part of the adjustment process of being with someone, of being in a real adult relationship, so Adrienne leaned down and kissed his cheek, letting go and starting to roll over to assume their normal position.

“Well, we should probably sleep since we have to walk to the village and be coherent,” Adrienne concluded but Daniel grabbed her arms and kept them wrapped around him, just rolling back over to his side.  Smiling Adrienne adjusted to his silent request, kissing his back softly.  

“This is new,” she whispered into the dark.  

“Sometimes we like this too you know,” Daniel defended, reaching for her arms like Adrienne would always reach for his now, forcing her to hug him tightly.  

“I love you Indy,” she said quietly. 

“I love you too,” he answered and let himself fall back to sleep, this time in her arms. 

***** 

5 a.m. was too early. As always, Daniel was up and moving already and Adrienne had discovered over the course of their work relationship, their friendship and now their much more intimate relationship that he just didn’t sleep, ever, yet he still looked great all of the time. She secretly hated him for it.  Standing from the bed, she saw their two mission bags packed and ready to go sitting over on her desk and Adrienne laughed; he was really too perfect for words.  Hearing the shower running, she opened the bathroom door to find him reaching for a towel from the other side, so she handed him one, surprising him she could tell by his grasp. 

“Leave it on,” she said, “I’m moving.”  He laughed as he stepped out, toweling himself off right there in front of her. Oh sweet lord, she thought, trying to calculate how much time they had left before they needed to go.

“Wonders never cease,” he teased, “We have to leave in about twenty minutes; I was just coming to negotiate with you.”  Adrienne made a face at him, both at the confirmation that she couldn’t shove him back into the stall with her and at his relentless teasing about her lateness. 

“I’m not that bad,” she defended.  

“Oh yes you are,” he replied, “Twenty minutes or I come in here with the cup of ice water.”  Adrienne threw her tank top at him.  

*****

They drove separately to work using a little system of deception so people like Vala wouldn’t think that anything had happened, and trudged down to the lab to get the rest of their things.  Sam, who Adrienne had determined also didn’t sleep, was waiting for them, in full dress uniform and a smile on her face. 

“You two look tired, is everything alright?” Sam asked as they approached, Adrienne struggling with her bags and her staff weapon.  Without a word, Daniel reached over and took Eric from her, trying to help as Adrienne glanced at him, at her boyfriend, not just her friend any longer and noted that he looked ready to roll as usual.  

“Took me calling every phone she had to wake her up; she was helping Vala with something until at least midnight,” Daniel explained and Sam made a face at him.  

“You weren’t over at her place?” she asked. Uh oh, Adrienne thought, knowing I’ve got a thing for your friend here in one thing, but knowing we followed through with it. She started to panic, but Daniel answered right away, the lies just rolling of off his tongue with ease.  

“No, I went back to my apartment to sort through some old boxes. Did you call? I thought I heard something but just figured whoever it was would call my cell phone next,” Daniel replied deftly, all the while Adrienne thinking how months ago he criticized her for doing the exact same thing. Hypocrite, she thought, deciding to throw that up in his face later. 

“No, I didn’t call. Anyway, if you two are alright I told Jack I think overnight should be sufficient,” Sam stated, a look on her face that Adrienne swore was disappointment but could have just as easily been Adrienne hoping that they had an ally. Nodding, Sam turned around to signal the dialing a the gate began to move, each chevron locking loudly into place. Daniel looked over at Adrienne as Sam stepped away.  

“You’re a good menteur,” she whispered, choosing to call him a liar in French rather than English just in case. 

“I don’t want anything to mess this up,” he replied smiling and together they stepped through the gate, the world of gray and concrete disappearing behind him.  

It was much warmer when they crossed to the other side, the season change on P3X-888 in full effect.  Adrienne tilted her head back, taking a deep breath and letting the sun wash over her face.  

“I’ve decided that in another life you must have been a beach bum,” Daniel said, shaking his head at her dramatics as looked around to see if anyone had come to greet them but not a soul was in sight.  Noticing the same, Adrienne tossed her pack down and started peeling layers, intent of taking in as much sun as possible.  As she began to peel her jacket away she felt hand on her shoulders and lips at her neck and smiled, peeking around her shoulder.

“We’re on a mission,” she teased, chills running her spine as Daniel just kissed his way up to her cheek and pulled back, readjusting his glasses on her face.

“I know, but the coast was clear and I wanted to get in one last...” he started when Adrienne just whipped around and began to kiss him passionately right at the gate, reaching for his tac vest to undo it, getting the zipper down and she felt herself start to get carried away, looking around for somewhere they could run off too, just for a little while, so she pulled back.  

“Last time,” she breathed out, “I swear.”  Daniel laughed, refastening his vest and looking to see if they had any witnesses to their indiscretion.  

“This is what happens when you hide it for so long, it slams you like a storm. Next time, I think I’ll say something sooner,” he said and raised his eyebrows, hoping she would catch the suggestion, which she must have, since as soon as he was a few steps ahead her jacket smacked him in the back of the neck.

“Next time? Next time; there better not be a next time Dr. Jackson,” she glared at him, but he didn’t turn around, just shrugged his shoulders, as he headed for the village, wondering if even she understood the suggestion of permanence in that statement. 

They were about a half a mile from the gate when they heard a familiar shout and looked up to see Chaka with a fellow warrior walking their way.  

“Daniel! Addy!” he shouted, saluting them joyously.  Adrienne smiled, no longer afraid of the large man that was approaching them, waving back with as much glee as he stopped to embrace his friends, hugging Daniel tightly first and then Adrienne.  However, as he squeezed Adrienne, he paused, pulling back, his foreign eyes scanning their bodies in curiosity as he stepped back, looked at them strangely and then approached them both a second time, sniffing them like a dog.  After only a few sniffs, he stepped back, his expression changing, a wide grin spreading across his green face. 

“Addy mate!” he declared and Daniel laughed, shaking his head at Chaka, remembering the last time they visited Chaka he had confused Daniel’s female assistant as his mate.  It was true this time, but Daniel still didn’t want to announce it to the world just yet, his mind already racing as he imagine Adrienne shipped off to some far corner of the galaxy.  

“No Chaka, we went over this last time,” Daniel began, “Addy is my friend.”  Chaka, however, frowned, shaking his head muttering something in the Unas language before switching back to English.   

“Daniel love Addy. Daniel say love Addy,” Chaka retorted. Shocked, Adrienne looked up at Daniel, trying to calculate how long it has been since they were at the Unas village last.   

“You told Chaka before me!?!” she asked incredulously and Chaka was laughing, speaking to the other Unas beside him. Nodding, the creature walked up to Adrienne and began to sniff her, crushing down embarrassingly lower mutter again in Unas, something that must have been quite shocking as Daniel was turning about fifty shades of red in the process. He stepped over to Daniel, doing the same, the archaeologist hand pinching his nose underneath his glasses and then stepped back, laughing and looking at Chaka. 

“Rithe say Addy mate,” Chaka stated, “Addy smell of Daniel. Daniel smell of Addy. Mate!” Finally clueing in on the extent of their examination, Adrienne just started to laugh uncontrollably, her palms of her thighs, peering over at Daniel who looked so mortified that he would run and hide if that was an option.   

“It’s just Chaka. I’m sure that Chaka can keep a secret,” she said, trying to control her giggles for the sake of her boyfriend,  who let out a sigh, looking back over at Chaka, defeat on his face.

“Yes Chaka, Addy mate,” he admitted so Adrienne reached out and grabbed Daniel’s hand tenderly interlocking their fingers.  Nodding and smiling brightly, Chaka reached out for Adrienne stomach, rubbing it in a forceful and circular motion. 

“Mate have baby?” Chaka asked and again Adrienne coupled over with laughter as Daniel was shaking his head quickly.  Composing herself, Adrienne glanced back up at Chaka.  

“No, no baby,” she answered causing Chaka to look at Daniel with concern.  

“Sad,” Chaka replied and finally Daniel laughed.  

“Chaka, it’s different on Earth. Remember how woman can be warrior?  Well, two people can, well, you see, they can,” amusement over as quickly as it began, Daniel started to stammer and turn red as Adrienne tried contain her laughter, “be a couple without trying to make a baby, or make one, or.”  Chaka looked confused again and came up to smell Daniel once more, leaning down to where Daniel did not want a face before rushing over to do the same to Adrienne. 

“Daniel work. Addy work. Why no baby?” Chaka continued as Adrienne tore her backpack off of her shoulder, tears now streaming from her eyes and pulled out her iPad, pointing it at Daniel.  

“What are you doing?” he asked, clearly flustered, his neck now as red as his face. 

“I want to document how the brilliant Dr. Jackson explains Taur’i courting rituals and birth control to the Unas,” she said lightly and he shot her a vicious glare, turning to try to explain to Chaka once more.  

“Daniel love Addy.  Maybe someday a baby, but not now. Right now, Daniel wants to be with Addy. Just Addy,” he explained.  Adrienne made a face of disappointment at how rational and simple an explanation he had given, putting the iPad down and the Unas smiled, apparently accepting the explanation. 

“Chaka happy Addy mate.  Daniel love Addy,” he said and turned back for the village.  Stuffing her iPad, sadly, back into her bag Adrienne stepped forward to follow when she felt a hand grabs hers, interlocking fingers and looked back at Daniel surprised.  He shrugged, squeezing her hand and pulling her closer to him.  

“You said it’s just Chaka,” he argued. 

“Fine, just Chaka.  But we need discuss this ‘someday a baby mess’ my sha,” she joked, squeezing his hand and walking onward to the village. 

*****  

It took them a bit longer than last time since the IOA had requested they take soil and mineral samples as well,  including specifics regarding where they were taken. Trying to break their tasks into sections, they worked separately on the same things that they had before and met up again for Adrienne to enter the data into the iPad before gathering the rest of the information.  It was sunset when Adrienne finally looked up at Daniel to show him what they needed to do next  only to notice that he was sitting there, on the floor of the hut, a rebuilt version of where they had stayed before, just smiling at her.  

“Ok, ready for part two,” she said slowly, unsure as to how to interpret the look on his face. Standing, Daniel walked over to her, shaking his head and grabbing the iPad from her hand, putting it back into her pack and tossing it over to the side. That grin still plastered across his face, he reached down, pulling her to her feet.  

“Let’s do part two tomorrow; we don’t have to be back until eight,” Daniel said leading Adrienne out of the hut with him offering no further explanation.   

“You’re turning down work?” she asked, “What have I done to you?” 

“I’m not turning down work.  We’ll get it finished, in the morning. In the meantime I would like to do something with you that we can’t do at home,” he explained, leading her over to the large grassy field on the outskirts of the village. Adrienne was confused but followed, blushing as he held her hand in front of all of their friends, more than one of which had noticed the two archaeologists were now together rather than colleges. Well, either noticed or Chaka was about as good of a gossip as Vala, it was hard to be sure which. 

At the edge of the field, the village now a blip in the distance, Daniel sat onto the ground, facing the horizon, guiding Adrienne to take a seat as well in between his legs. She did so, a smile of appreciation on her face and sighed, leaning back against him, letting him wrap his arms around her and kiss her cheek.  

“Good idea,” she admitted as the sun began to slip its last rays into darkness, changing even the air around them it seemed, giving it all a more romantic quality. Smiling, relishing in the scenery and the scent of her hair, some tropical shampoo that she had been using lately, Daniel hugged her tighter never wanting to let go.  

“I’m glad you approve. We have to be so careful back home we never just get to sit and enjoy something like this,” he replied a small part of his heart longing to stay here forever, with her, letting this perfect dream become his reality. 

“It’s winter back home.  Maybe by the time it gets this warm we’ll be able to tell everyone,” Adrienne said and Daniel sighed, rubbing his hands down her arms briskly. 

“Maybe,” he answered quietly, his tone telling her that he didn’t have the answer she wanted to hear. Breathing in, Adrienne reached for his leg, rubbing his shin and squeezing herself between his calves. 

“You have no plans of telling anyone do you,” she asked, leaning her head back on his shoulder and letting him caress her cheek. He was scared, more so than her, for different reasons she knew, but it still concerned her, made her question how far she was going to allow this to go.

“Ad, I don’t want you to get the wrong impression, I don’t.  I love you. I love this; but I’m so worried that this will blow up in our faces,” he breathed out and pausing, hoping that she wouldn’t be angry but she just sat up and turned around, kissing him softly.  

“I am too,” she admitted truthfully as she backed away from his lips, keeping her face so close, close enough to nuzzle her nose at his, “Think about how it makes me look, the minute this comes out every single thing I do is going to be credited to our relationship rather than my work. I don’t want to push anything either,” she said, the last part a lie, knowing in her heart that she just wanted him to say to hell with the world giving her the reassurance that this all wasn’t some colossal mistake she was to live to regret.  Wanting more reassurance, wanting his touch again, she leaned in to kiss him quickly, turning to looking around them, the fires of the Unas village popping up in the distance as darkness enveloped the sky.  It was just so breathtakingly romantic that worries or not, she just couldn’t pass up the opportunity here in front of her. Glancing back over at him, she laid herself down into the grass, pulling him slowly on top of her.  

“Adrienne, what are you doing?” he asked her, but was starting to catch on as he felt her hands at his waistband, slowly pulling apart the buckle at his belt.   

“Something else we can’t do at home,” she replied as she started to kiss his neck, lingering at the spot she had now learned was going to get her the response she wanted. 

******

Daniel awoke confused the next morning in a field of grass with Adrienne in his arms and no recollection as to how he got there. Glancing up and around, the sun rising over a collection of small huts and other crude structures in the distance he remembered suddenly the night before, every last amazing detail. Thankfully, they must have taken the time to get themselves somewhat dressed because he could see Chaka approaching them fast, arms waving as though he was very concerned about their location and well-being. Embarrassed, Daniel put his head in his hands, rubbing face before looking over at his sleeping companion, pulling slowly from her and shaking her gently.  

“Adrienne, ja-wer, wake-up.  We never made it back to the hut,” he admitted out loud, cringing to hear himself say that. Add this to the list of things he had never done before. Adrienne stirred and squinted as the bright sunlight shone on her face. 

“What? Oh no....” she said and sat up, adjusting her tank top.  Daniel just laughed and made a face at her.  

“You’ve ruined my life Adrienne Margaret,” he said and kissed her, standing to signal his friend. Finally realizing, remembering rather, what had happened, she laughed from the ground, pulling his pants leg to get his attention. 

“Oh come on, never?” she joked.  

“Not that I can remember happening willingly or not under some crazy ass drug,” he replied honestly, brushing the dirt off of his pants, quickly refastening them as well; guess he’d missed that last night too. As the Unas approached, they could hear Chaka laughing, clearly understanding what had happened. I guess this could be worse, Daniel thought to himself, Sam could have caught us.  

“Daniel! Addy! No sleep in village!” Chaka was shouting. 

“No Chaka, we fell asleep watching the sunset. We’re just fine!” Daniel shouted back. 

“Correction, we fell asleep in the darkness after mating in the great wide open,” Adrienne joked.  

“Ad!!” Daniel scolded.  

“He can’t hear me,” she said and shook her head as she stood, adjusting her own uniform and fixing a few more intimate articles just in time, Chaka coming to a abrupt halt in front of them. 

“Morning food ready,” he said to the both of them.  Still ashamed and flushing, Daniel grabbed Adrienne’s hand and walked with her to the village, hoping that Chaka wouldn’t want a better explanation or details on the way back.  Thankfully he didn’t.  

******

They managed to wrap up everything in a few hours, packed up their gear and bid the Unas farewell, Chaka still babbling on the entire way to the gate about how happy he was that Daniel finally had a mate.  Daniel made sure to stress to him how Chaka needed to not tell anyone that he and Addy were together because they might take Addy away from him which didn’t take a whole lot of convincing since Chaka didn’t want anyone to take Addy away, so he agreed to pass the word around the village.  It was just cover, Daniel knew, because no one would believe him anyway if he slipped after the confusion last time, but Chaka’s care and effort to keep the secret was appreciated anyway.  

Sam met them at the gate and was pleased that nothing went wrong as it normally did.  She requested they drop the information by Rodney so he could run some analysis on the samples and for Adrienne to send copies of their findings to Jack and the other powers that be.  Parting for the first time in over twenty four hours, Daniel grabbed the sample bag heading for Rodney’s while Adrienne decided to swing by the lab and hook her little gadget up to the mainframe there to send their data off to Homeworld Command.  

Two hours later, Adrienne sat at her desk waiting for the information to upload, a small rainbow colored circle taunting her as she stared at the screen, hypnotizing her into sleep. She was more tired than she thought, they really hadn’t gotten that much sleep last night she recalled, blushing at the memory.  It was taking forever and she didn’t want to be caught face on keyboard, so Adrienne clicked on her favorite internet radio station and slipped on her headphones.

Turning the corner to the lab Daniel saw her, headphones on, dancing away in her seat as he caught the sounds of her music pouring out of them.  It sounded like hard core rap and Daniel just laughed, remembering back when she was first hired and how he had hated the sound of that music more than anything.  He still didn’t like it very much now but it reminded him of her, of her smile and of her optimism and of happiness, and in that case he would listen to Eminem or Fifty Cent forever. Shutting the lab door behind him, he walked over to switch off the camera in the corner, hoping that Sam wouldn’t notice and tiptoed over to Adrienne’s desk, pushed her hair away, and kissing her neck lightly.  Startled, she jumped slightly before easing into his arms, sliding down her headphones and turning to face him.  

“Indy, what are you doing?” she asked but Daniel didn’t answer, just clasped her hands, pulling her to him.  

“Cameras,” Adrienne cautioned, pointing over to the corner of the room, not trusting the look in his eyes. 

“Shut off,” Daniel answered, lifting her up into his arms.  

“Forgot to mention something the other day,” he said as carried her over toward his desk.  Smiling, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his lips, pulling back to ask respond to his leading statement. 

“What is that?” she asked, curious but unable to break her gaze into his magnificent eyes to see what he was talking about. 

“Remember that cot I wanted, the day we interviewed you?” he asked and Adrienne laughed, remembering the story.  Daniel kissed her again, interrupting her laughter and smiled.  

“It arrived last week,” he replied, cocking his head over to the corner of the lab where a small cot had been positioned, catty cornered behind his desk. 

“I thought we were going to come up for air?” she asked not meaning a single word that crossed her lips.  

“Tomorrow,” Daniel said as he laid her down onto the cot, crawling on top of her, “let’s come up for air tomorrow.” 

Adrienne didn’t argue.