19This is my first time writing for Stargate, so please don't flame me too bad. I didn't get a chance to have this beta'd so I apologize in advance.
This turned out being S/D, if you don't like that pairing, get out now. This is your only warning! Flames belong in the fireplace so please don't send them. Constructive criticism is always welcome however.
I was in the mood for some Christmas stuff and decided to take a stab at writing this. I hope it turned out okay. It's set during Season 7, with no real spoilers with the exception of Fallen.
Reviews are very welcome!
Christmas Snow
Sam cleaned up her desk and looked at the clock. It was 1900 hours and she was still at work on Christmas Eve. She sighed as she looked at the specs for the new drive components being installed into the Prometheus.
Usually she felt full of Christmas cheer. For some reason, this year had felt different. Mark, his wife and their kids went to visit her parents, so she wouldn't see them until after the New Year. Her father was off, who knew where doing work for the Tok'ra. Jack and Teal'c had gone to help with some issues the rebel Jaffa were experiencing, and Janet had taken Cassie to a ski lodge for her Christmas present.
She had gone for a cup of coffee earlier and the mountain had felt like a tomb. All members that had family were with them, and the base was running on a skeleton crew. She had walked past the offices earlier and heard a few strains of Christmas songs playing, and stopped in to see Walter and Siler wearing Christmas hats and humming along to the tunes playing.
A knock at the door startled her out of her thoughts and she looked up to see a rather disheveled and dirty Daniel standing in her doorway.
"What happened?" She said getting up from her chair to see the bruise forming on the side of his face, his cheekbone was already beginning to become a bright shade of red fading into a dark purple.
He smirked slightly and allowed her to pull him into the office and sit on her chair. "That artifact that SG-8 brought back packed quite a punch."
"Are you alright? What was it? Do we need to call anyone?" Sam couldn't stop the rapid-fire questions.
He nodded and dusted himself off a little more. "It's all okay, the box was kind-of spring loaded, and I just got winged." He laughed a little sardonically then winced at the pain.
Sam got an ice pack out of her desk drawer and broke it then shook it to mix the chemicals together before handing it to him. "At least you don't need stitches. Janet's off and you don't want to have Burgen give them to you!" She added with a smile. "I think he takes pride on trying to make military guys wince and want to cry sometimes!"
He looked up at her for and she felt his cerulean eyes hold on hers for a moment before she shifted her gaze to the blossoming bruise.
"I honestly didn't think anyone else was here." He said.
Shaking her head, she paced back to her computer to put some space between them. The feeling was all too comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time. "Well I don't have anywhere to go so I figured that I would get some work done. It's not like there's ever a lack of stuff for me to do around here!"
"I know the feeling." Depression leaked ever so slightly into his tone.
Only her years of knowing him had allowed her to notice it and immediately she felt remorse. It had to be tough for him, not having any family. To top it all off, it was his first Christmas since he had returned and there was no one around for him to spend the holiday with.
"This is really going to be colorful isn't it?" Tones of sarcasm touched his voice as he repositioned the ice pack on his cheekbone and looked at his reflection in the gleaming steel of her cabinet.
Looking up at him, she couldn't help but wonder why the two of them were sitting here in her office on Christmas Eve. Why couldn't they have Christmas together? It wasn't like they really had anytime to do anything together anymore. Truth was that she missed him, maybe more then she had a right to. Suddenly that didn't matter to her.
She made a quick decision and turned off her computer and grabbed her jacket, ignoring Daniel's nonplussed expression until she was standing next to him. "C'mon we're getting out of here and going to have a Christmas Eve dinner and some Egg Nog."
"But Sam…" he started, but she cut him off.
"Don't, but Sam me. We are not going to sit here on Christmas Eve and mope around like this!"
A smile spread gingerly over his face. "I just need close up my office."
"Okay then," she looped her arm though his and walked down the hallway to his office.
She couldn't say what exactly came over her in those minutes in her office. It was as if all of the stress from the past weeks had been building until she finally felt the need for release. The fact was that she knew Daniel needed some time to relax as well.
Standing at his office door she watched as he took off his blue BDU jacket and wrinkled his nose at the dust clinging to it. A cursory glance told her that the object must have exploded in a shower of dust. It almost looked like they had used sand as a packing device.
Noticing her looking at the office he shrugged. "Maybe I should clean up a little bit?" He began to grab a broom from the corner before Sam took it from his hands and threw it back into the corner.
"No way, I promise, it will still be here when you come back to work." The grin tugging on his lips at her action was infectious and she felt herself smile in return.
They quickly changed and then headed out. Sam stopped at the mini-mart by he house and she and Daniel walked through the aisles looking at the options for drinks.
"Beer?" She asked as they looked through the glass refrigerator doors.
"I thought you said we would have Egg Nog?" The slightly distasteful look on his face as he said the words Egg Nog was enough to clue her into his thoughts of the thick and rather rich drink.
"Why don't we get some apple cider too? Do you like that?" She compromised.
"Yeah, that works." He said grabbing a bottle.
She got a bottle of Egg Nog as well and some various snack foods for later. They paid and continued on to her house where they both went in and she looked in her refrigerator for dinner while he went to the fireplace in the living room.
"How does tortellini and salad sound?" She said poking her head out and looking over to Daniel who was sitting in front of her fireplace starting to stoke the fire.
"Great. Ouch!" He shook his hand as some of the ember that was starting to ignite popped and landed on his hand.
"Daniel, do me a favor and just sit down somewhere." Exasperation leaked into her voice as she put the pot of water on the stove to boil and started pulling together the items for the salad. If he got more injured, she was going to have to confine him to her bed.
A bright flush colored her cheeks at the thought and she quickly ducked her head back into the refrigerator to avoid any detection, and had to smile at his next words.
"I'm feeling really accident prone tonight." he remarked as he walked over to her Christmas tree that was standing, but hadn't been decorated. Her eyes were drawn to the fake green plastic residing in the corner of her living room by the window to the backyard.
In truth she wasn't sure why she bothered putting it up. The boxes of ornaments were on the floor beneath it, but she just hadn't been in the mood to put them up. She had been blaming her lack of holiday spirit on the weather, it had been unseasonably warm, and it just didn't feel like the holidays to her.
Tonight had been more of the proper weather for the season. Having no snow was still a little disheartening. It had actually been cold tonight, and it almost felt good to have her heater kicking on and the fireplace's warming glow casting a dancing light.
"Sam?" Daniel's voice startled her as she was cutting the vegetables. She didn't realize that he had come to stand right next to her. She could almost feel the heat radiating from his body. And how had she not noticed how he got so close? And why was it that the faint traces of dust lingering on him still smelled great?
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to know if it was okay for me to use your shower." He looked apologetic but hints of a smile were tugging at the corners of his mouth.
She noticed the traces of dirt still marking his face even after he had washed it at the SGC and nodded her head. "You know where everything is. Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes."
With a quick thanks he went to her bathroom where she heard him turn the water on, and concentrated on cutting the salad. She didn't know why, but she was feeling more then friendly emotions toward him lately. Ever since they had found him on Vis Uban and he had asked her that question, she had wanted to know why. Truly, she had been too much of a coward to ask. Afraid of the repercussions of the answer, she chose to ignore the feelings that were brought to her mind by six simple words.
Finished with the salad she tossed the pasta into the boiling water and got the pesto sauce out. She had to wait for the pasta to finish so she stood against the counter and thought about her recent feelings. She had always found him attractive, and they had seemed to have an immediate bond. It seemed nothing like the one he had with Jack, but strong enough in its own way.
The water was running in the shower, and she could only force down the thoughts of him in her shower. Temptation felt like a shot from a zat. Biting her lip as she heard the water stop she busied herself with setting the table. Looking up as he walked in she couldn't help but notice the still damp hair and bruise that seemed to accentuate his eye color.
"You know, Sam…" Daniel said. "We should put up your decorations tonight."
She turned back to the pasta and drained it then put it into a bowl and mixed it with the pesto sauce, contemplating the idea. As she turned to the table she noticed that Daniel had moved the dishes into the living room and placed them on the coffee table and was checking the TV guide listings.
Placing the bowl on the coffee table she retrieved the salad bowl, set it on the table, sat on the couch and looked at him for a moment. A voice in the back of her head reminded her that getting out of the mountain had been her idea. It would be fun to have someone to help decorate the tree with, the nagging little voice in the back of her head said.
He finally turned to look at her, "Are you okay?" His eyes conveyed the sincerity of the question.
"Yeah, yeah I am." She said with happiness fluttering though her as she watched the firelight reflect off his glasses. "I think we should, decorate the tree that is."
The bruise on his face didn't stop him from cracking a large smile as he looked to the TV and said, "Look, A Christmas Story is on!"
The groan started in her stomach and reverberated all the way out of her mouth. She flopped backward on the couch. Please, anything but that!"
"I thought that was supposed to be a classic!" Daniel teased as he started eating.
"After being forced to watch that movie over and over again for five Christmas's in a row, I just can't watch it anymore!" Sam supplied as she righted herself and began to eat as well.
"Just five times?" Daniel's voice held a taunting note.
"For almost 20 hours, five times!" Sam exclaimed around a mouthful of pasta.
"Wow. I don't think that some of the torture devices on other planets are that advanced."
"It was my brother when we were younger. Dad would put it on and leave it playing when the one station did a marathon of the movie. I've been in less dire situations when I was under fire." Sam supplied as she scooped the food onto the plates.
They ate for a few moments longer seated comfortably on her couch watching the evening news. She felt comfortable sitting next to him and enjoying their meal. They ate in silence for a while, watching the stories on the new unfold before Daniel finally spoke again.
"So how do you usually decorate your tree?"
"Oh, this and that. I usually use white colored lights, but I have a string of colored ones too if you would rather use them."
"It's your tree, Sam. I just thought it would be nice, and something fun we could do. Did you have any other ideas aside from dragging me away from the mountain and feeding me?" He teased and bumped her shoulder with his.
Was it her or had he gotten closer since they started eating? Why did she suddenly seem to be able to smell him more then the food? Deciding to ignore these thoughts she contemplated his question while munching on a fork-full of salad.
"I honestly didn't have any real plans at all, but this is your first Christmas back since you ascended. I wasn't going to let you sit at home or at work feeling lonely." The answer came out more honest then she had planned.
Daniel looked at her for a moment, almost studying her, before remarking, "It's better to be lonely together then alone." He stated it as more of a fact then a question, but she couldn't help being drawn to the look in his eyes. The quizzical expression changed, rapidly replaced with a more loving one, switching to something hotter in a matter of seconds.
The heat from his eyes made her lose her voice as she felt the air become slightly charged. Blinking once she returned her vision to her plate and considered his words. Was it that she was lonely? That couldn't be the only reason for her abrupt actions, could it? No, her mind firmly stated. It was because she wanted Daniel to have a good Christmas, and she was going to be damned if they let themselves get miserable tonight.
Standing up she grabbed her plate and began to walk to the kitchen with Daniel looking after her, confused. "Sam?"
"Well, come on Daniel! We have some tree decorating to do!" Forcing down all of the feelings of the past few weeks she started putting the dishes in the dishwasher. As the perplexed archaeologist approached her she took the dishes and smiled at him. She couldn't help but notice his shiner turning a magnificent shade of blue and purple. They would have to come up with a better story to tell everyone. That thought caused a real smile that she felt she didn't have to force, and had to wonder what was going on with her emotions today.
As he placed the leftovers in her Tupperware she finished cleaning up and turned to him while drying her hands. "I decided something." She rushed before he could cut her off, "your right, I have been so wrapped up in the bad that I've forgotten the good. From here on in, we are going to set up the tree listen to Christmas music and drink some of my egg nog." The face he made was too funny and she felt the laughter bubble out of her. "What is it with you and that stuff?"
He blushed slightly, "It's kind of embarrassing."
"Daniel, I've been with you through too much for you to use that excuse." Sam countered as she put the egg nog in a sauce pan and added rum and cinnamon.
He blushed a little harder, "Okay, well when I was younger, I guess about 13, and still living at the one foster home, we had egg nog for Christmas one year. Well they had adult and kid egg nog, and well me being far more mature for my age, decided that I should have the adult's egg nog. I didn't realize that it was spiked at the time so I walked over and sat with the one girl that I liked, Sandy I think her name was." He smiled faintly at the memory.
"Wait, so no one realized that you had gotten into the adults stuff?" Sam said with some amazement as she stirred.
"No, they probably had a little too much of it themselves by that time. But anyway, I sat across from her and took a drink. It tasted horrible, and I swallowed it, trying to not let it bother me so I didn't embarrass myself. Unfortunately, Sandy wanted some too. What was I going to say? So I handed her the cup and watched as she drank a big mouthful and then swallowed it without a second thought."
Imagining the look on his face, Sam had to stifle a giggle.
"Well," Daniel said avoiding her looks as she noticed the tips of his ears turning a vivid shade of red. "She held it for a few minutes and then it came back up… and all over me."
"Holy Hannah! Daniel that is horrible!" Sam stated trying to keep the horror that was mingling with the laughter out of her voice.
"That's not the worst part." Daniel groaned, and took off his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I wound up reciprocating."
His head was now hung in shame and Sam had to turn off the burner on the stove before she pulled him into a hug. The laughter still bubbling from within her; she was pleased to feel him start to laugh along with her at the memory, and eventually they were just laughing because it felt so good. He held her tight and placed his forehead on her shoulder as she felt the mirth overtake them. They stayed like that for a long time, even after the laughter died down, and Sam couldn't help but feel comfortable in his arms.
Pulling away, she chanced a look into his eyes, without his glasses she had a clear view into his eyes and could see something change in the blue depths. Feeling the change too, he quickly released her and turned away; she did the same and poured her drink, then got him a glass for his. When she turned around, she felt slightly more composed and found him leaning against the counter behind her. She handed him his drink then grabbed his hand, and half marched, half drug him over to the tree and the boxes.
Together they began to decorate her tree. Sam had turned on some Christmas music to listen to as they worked and chatted amicably about everything and anything. They went with the colored lights and almost all of the ornaments that she had. It was amazing because the tree was transformed; it went from being a plain piece of green plastic resembling a tree to a stunning if not slightly gaudy Christmas tree.
The look on Daniel's face had made it worth while though. Usually she went for the white lights and a more traditional look, but Daniel's expression at using all of the colors quickly changed her mind. If the expression on her best friend's face was anything to go by, she could care less what the tree looked like.
After they were done they sat on the floor in front of the tree watching all of the lights blink in patterns. Sam couldn't help but notice that something was missing. She refrained from smacking herself upside the head when she realized that she was missing the star.
Scrambling to her feet she tore through the boxes.
"Sam?" He asked.
"Where is it?" She said more to herself then him. "I know it's in here somewhere!" She continued to dig around the boxes until she found a dark green one in the back. "Ah Ha!" She called triumphantly, holding it up for Daniel to see.
He laughed looking from her to the box. "You could have just asked. I put it back there earlier and forgot about it."
Mock-scowling at him she grabbed his hand and pulled him to a standing position. He stood in front of her and looked curiously at her.
"You get to put the star on the tree this year." Sam said pushing the star into his hand.
His eyes shone and he blinked a few times rapidly. His voice came out slightly broken, "Sam, no it's your tree."
She held her hand over his with the star between them. "It's ours this year."
Grasping her hand under his around the base of the star, he pulled her arm up and they both placed the star around the tree. His free arm snaked around her waist as they raised the star up and she felt herself lean into him. It felt better then she could have imagined. As they placed the star on the top she looked past the tree and out the window to see large flakes of snow falling down.
"It's snowing," her voice was almost a whisper as spoke.
Their hands were still joined around the star and as she released it and felt his hand remain with hers. As they pulled their hands down, he wrapped his arm around her again.
Resting her head on his shoulder she said softly, "let's go outside and look at it fall."
Feeling his nod of agreement on her head and a soft kiss to her hair, she was almost pained to let him go. Detaching herself from him she looked up and smiled silently thrilled to see his smile in return. With childlike glee, she grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the back door.
"But Sam, we don't even have our coats!" He exclaimed as she pulled open the door and tugged his arm.
"We won't be long; I just want to see it coming down." She said looking up to the sky and feeling the happiness that accompanied the falling cold flakes.
Daniel stood behind her and looked up too. He pulled his glasses from his face and looked up to the sky with her. Their hands still joined.
"I love it when it snows." She said her voice still soft. "Even after all that time in Antarctica I just love to watch it."
Arms enveloped her from behind, and she leaned back into Daniel's embrace. "I remember how I felt when that happened." Daniel's voice was equally as soft. "We were going out of our minds trying to find you both. All I kept thinking is that if you were with me, we would have been able to figure it out so much quicker."
"That's not for sure." She said and turned in his arms, looking up into his eyes.
Serious feelings over took the moment and before she could stop herself she voiced the thought that had been bugging her all these months. "Daniel what did you mean when you asked me that question on Vis Uban?" Her voice came out soft, almost hesitant.
There was no question there in his eyes, but almost reluctant look. "I just needed to know." He said finally, his breath puffing softly across her face. She could smell the apples from the cider and her soap wafting from his skin.
Blue eyes swam deep within each other and a myriad of emotions were brewing under the surface of his. She was sure he could see them in hers as well. Softly, tentatively, he lowered his lips to hers for a moment before pulling away and trying to step back.
Ready for him to move, she held on tightly but didn't force his face back to hers.
"I-I'm sorry, S-Sam." He stammered, and she was thrown back to the over-eager man that she had first met. "I-I shouldn't h-have done t-that."
Bringing her hand forward she placed two fingers over his lips. "I didn't mind," trying to let the certainty of the moment ring true in her voice.
Gazing deeply into his eyes again, she removed her fingers and brought their lips together again in a longer, slower kiss that was both lazy and breathtaking all at once.
When they finally parted, Sam felt herself panting and saw the soft white puffs coming from both of their mouths, meeting, almost kissing each other, in mid-air.
"Thank you." She whispered as she pulled him tightly against her.
Turning his head slightly he whispered into her ear, "For what?"
"Bringing me a good Christmas memory when I thought I would have none." She responded before drawling him in for another kiss. Feeling the flakes of snow land on her face, she savored both sensations of hot and cold running riot on her skin and on her insides.
"Then I need to thank you too." He said kissing her lips once again.
Enraptured, she wasn't quite sure how she was able to speak, "For what?"
He pulled away and looked at her simply, "For giving me the best present that I've gotten in a long time."
"But I didn't get you-" Sam started before being cut off by his lips descending upon hers once more. Their fingers quested through each other's hair and over bodies, enjoying the soft moans and noises they were eliciting.
When they pulled apart again, his face was only a mere hairsbreadth away, she heard him say, "For this Sam, tonight and everything that you give to me."
She pulled him in for a deeper kiss before letting her lips leave his and trail down his face and throat whispering, "Merry Christmas Daniel, and I would like to have more like it."
Parting again he looked at her and said, "Merry Christmas, Sam. I promise that you will."
Then he proceeded to lift her up so she had to wrap her legs around his waist before heading for the door. Carrying her back inside they continued their new explorations under the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree and the soft flakes of snow that began to cover the window.
So what did you think?