Fic: Late Night and Early Morning
Title: Late Night and Early Morning
Genre: Angst, Romance, Shameless Fluff
Rating: T
Spoilers: Set firmly in the SG-1 verse, but minor spoilers for SGA's "Reunion"
Disclaimer: Mine? No? Damn.
Sam made the most of the moonlight as she navigated her living room. Normally she could pick her way through the darkened house with ease, but tonight the boxes scattered and stacked everywhere were hindering her progress.
The cold hardwood chilled her feet, reinforcing Sam’s resentment of whoever had dragged her out of the warmth of her bed. She’d been sorely tempted to stay curled up under her pile of well worn blankets, but the incessant knocking threatened to become extremely irritating extremely quickly, so Sam had reluctantly left her cocoon of warmth.
Mere steps from the front door, the pounding resumed. Sam rearranged her expression into a scowl and threw open the door, greeting her late night visitor with an annoyed, “What?”
Irritation immediately gave way to surprise. A pair of well-muscled arms darted inside and grabbed hold of her. Before she could process what was happening, Sam was pulled outside - still barefoot - and pinned against a man’s chest.
Her fight or flight instincts kicked into gear, sending a rush of adrenaline through her veins, but Sam knew there would be no breaking the hold. Rather than resist, she relaxed, leaning into her late night visitor.
“Daniel?” she asked expectantly. It took some squirming, but eventually Sam managed to free both arms enough to return the hug.
Her surprise at finding Daniel on her doorstep at this time of night - or, depending on your perspective, at this time in the morning - was fading, worry rapidly taking its place. She hadn’t managed to get a proper look at his face yet, but the tension coiled in her friend’s muscles warned that something was wrong.
Daniel didn’t say anything, just held on tighter and pressed his face into her shoulder.
“Daniel? What’s wrong?”
A shaky breath ruffled through her sleep disheveled hair, and then, whisper quiet, his answer followed. “You’re leaving in the morning.”
Sam worked hard to swallow past the lump that lodged in her throat at the reminder. Tonight was her final night on Earth, at least for a while. In the morning, she’d catch a wormhole to the Pegasus galaxy and assume command of Atlantis.
SG-1 past and present had gotten together that evening to celebrate her new posting and wish her well. They’d all said their goodbyes earlier, promising to respect Sam’s wishes and not come to see her off in the morning. She was determined to arrive on Atlantis calm and composed, two things she knew she wouldn’t be after exchanging farewells with her teammates… Former teammates.
Besides, the murmured words she’d shared with each of them weren’t for public consumption. They were better suited to the semi-privacy of her living room, with only others who understood the depth of the connections between the six of them present to bear witness.
It wasn’t until they’d driven out of sight that reality caught up with Sam. The goodbyes hadn’t felt real when she’d been saying the words, but afterwards, once she’d realized there was no telling when she’d next speak with any of her friends, she longed to have them all crowded into her living room once more.
Daniel’s unexpected appearance on her doorstep wasn’t exactly what she’d wished for as she’d laid in bed a few hours ago, swiping at the stubborn tears that wouldn’t stop tracing down her cheeks, but it was a damned close second.
Sam blinked back a fresh wave of tears and tightened her arms, squeezing him hard.
“You’re leaving in the morning,” Daniel repeated quietly. “And I realized… I always meant to tell you, but then things were always coming up, and then I was dying and so far gone that I couldn’t… There was always some reason not to…”
She shuddered at the allusion to his ascension. She’d ached with loneliness during his year long absence. How much worse would it be on Atlantis, cut off from everyone she cared about?
“I was lying in bed tonight,” he continued, unaware of the course her thoughts were taking. “And I couldn’t fall asleep. I couldn’t stop thinking about how different it’s going to be without you, and I realized that I’ve never told you how important you are to me.”
For the second time that night, Sam lost the battle to keep her tears at bay. She turned her face into the side of his neck, hiding the evidence of her tears in the collar of his jacket. “I already know, Daniel. You don’t have to…”
“But I do,” he interrupted. His voice cracked with emotion and he swallowed hard before continuing. “I’m so grateful to have had you in my life for the last ten years. I couldn’t have wished for a better friend, a better part of my family…”
Daniel trailed off in a husky whisper and Sam knew she wasn’t the only one loosing grip on her emotions.
She held him a little tighter, savouring the final few moments of having his solid, warm presence close enough to touch. Too soon there would be millions of light years between them, and what little face-to-face communication they managed would involve computer monitors and an audience of gate techs on either end of an active wormhole.
“I love you,” Daniel murmured against her shoulder. “I don’t know why it took me so long to finally say it…”
“Because you didn’t need to,” Sam said. “I already know…”
“I needed me to,” he retorted. “I’ve already lost too many people I wish I’d said it too more often.”
The lingering pain laced through his words made her eyes water with fresh tears. Sam offered the only comfort she could, rubbing soothing circles over his back.
“I love you, too,” she murmured. “I hope you know that.”
Daniel replied by shifting his hold, cupping the back of her head and pressing a kiss into her hair.
Sam lost track of how long they stood there on her front porch, clinging to one another, but she knew it wasn’t nearly long enough.
Despite the heat of Daniel’s body pressed tight against hers, all too soon the night’s chill was seeping through her thin pyjamas, making her shiver.
“I should let you head back to bed,” Daniel said. His voice was heavy with reluctance as he released her, but he forced a hint of teasing into his tone. “You’ll need a good night’s sleep if you’re going to fend off McKay tomorrow!”
“Unfortunately, you’re probably right,” she agreed with a theatrical grimace. “You’re okay to drive home?”
“I’ll be fine,” he reassured with a half smile. “Get back inside before you freeze.”
She took one obliging step backwards and then caught his arm. Squeezing gently, she requested, “Be careful.”
“You too,” Daniel replied. He laid a hand over hers and squeezed her fingers briefly, then took a few steps backwards, out of reach.
Sam had nothing left to say that wouldn’t sound trite given their history, so she did as requested and stepped back inside the relative warmth of her house.
Daniel offered her a half-hearted wave before turning on his heel and starting down the path to the street. He only made it a few feet before he stopped and turned around again.
“You’ll be great, Sam. If you can just trust yourself half as much as we do, the Wraith and the Pegasus Replicators won’t know what hit them.”
The confidence behind the quiet words helped settle the flutter of anxiety that had taken up residence in the pit of her stomach the moment the IOA offered her command of Atlantis. It would be back soon enough, but at least for a few moments, she felt calm and confident that she was doing the right thing.
Seeing that his words had the intended effect, Daniel turned a final time and walked purposefully to his car.
Even before his brake lights disappeared into the night, a pair of arms snaked around Sam’s waist. She leaned into the broad chest pressed against her back, smiling softly.
“You okay?” a familiar sleep-roughened voice murmured in her ear.
Sam rested her arms on top of the pair locked around her, leaching the warmth from them. “Mmm,” she assured.
“Is he okay?”
“He is now.” Sam turned in the arms holding her tight, bringing her face to face with their owner. “Let’s go back to bed.”
Even in the dark, there was no missing the hopeful grin. “Back to bed, or back to bed?”
Sam paused, making a show of thinking it over. “Well, it is late…”
“Saaaaam…”
“But then again,” she continued, unfazed, “Since I am leaving for another galaxy in the morning… We should probably go back to bed.”
“As in…?”
Sam sighed and rolled her eyes. “Yes, Jack. As in sex.”
“Sweet!”
Even as she shook her head in feigned exasperation, Sam leaned more fully against him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Not for the first time, she wondered if she wasn’t crazy to be leaving the people she loved to take up a war waging further away than even her mind could fathom.
“He’s right, you know,” Jack murmured against the sensitive spot behind her ear.
A shiver raced down her spine at the sensation. “About what?”
“Trusting yourself,” he replied. “You’re as ready for this as anyone ever could be.”
Sam allowed herself one brief moment to soak up his absolute, unshakeable faith in her. Then, knowing their time was limited and precious moments were slipping away, she pulled out of his arms.
She walked backwards, ignoring the put out pout on his face, and inched her way down the hall. “Let’s go back to bed, Jack.”
Jack flashed her a wolfish grin. “Yes, ma’am.”