Thanks for the Memories
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: S/D
Summary: Daniel accompanies Sam when she reunites with
an old girlfriend, but flashbacks from Hathor's visit prevent them from having
a good time
Subjects: Sam/Daniel
friendship, angst, hurt/comfort
Spoilers: Fire and Water, Hathor
Season: One. Takes place about two weeks after the events
of Hathor.
Archive: Anywhere,
just let me know where it's going and keep my name on it.
Disclaimer: I am making no money off of this. The characters do not belong to me, they belong to MGM/Showtime, Double Secret Productions
and Gekko Film Corp. This story is
copyrighted September, 2004 and may not be used or altered without the
expressed permission of the author.
A/N: As always, thanks to BethV for the beta!
************************************************
Chapter 1
"Hey, Carter, we're
about ready to ship out," Jack announced as he entered Sam's office.
"I'll be right there, Sir,
I'm just checking my email," she replied, not bothering to look up from
the computer monitor.
Jack shrugged.
"Okay, but make it
quick. You know how pissed Teal'c gets
when he has to be kept waiting..." he joked.
Sam rolled her eyes and
grinned as Jack left the room. She
logged into her web-based email account, which she used mostly for friends and
family members, apart from the government email account given to her when she
joined the SGC.
She scanned the contents of
her Inbox and shook her head. It was
mostly spam...making money by accepting credit cards, getting rid of debt now,
things like that. She rapidly clicked "Delete"
until she happened upon the last email.
Her brow creased as she tried
to figure out if it was spam or some legitimate email. It certainly didn't look like spam, with the
"Hi!" subject, and the author’s name looked quite familiar. She clicked on the heading to open the
mail....
From: Meredith Greene
<merig@yahoo.com>
To: Sam Carter
<astrogal@hotmail.com>
Date:
Subject: Hi!
Hey Sammie!
FINALLY got
the chance to email you after all this time. It was great
seeing you at the reunion a while back, reminiscing about old times...the
trouble we got into, the boys we knew (well, the ones that I knew,
anyway...unfortunately it looks like they weren't too impressed by that
scientific mind of yours, so they were looking for someone who could have a bit
more fun, lol), all those classes we slogged through, especially in our senior
year... I only wish we could have spent more time together.
So how's life been for
ya? I know you mentioned at the reunion
that you were working for the Pentagon??? Wow, I'm impressed...guess that
astrophyzaks stuff you were into really went a long way! Of course, having a dad in the military must
not hurt either. ;-) As I told you, I'm
the CEO of TechTon, Inc., a company that manufactures
jewel cases for CD-ROMs. Yeah, I know,
not as exciting as working for the Pentagon, but I've always wanted a top-level
position somewhere.
Oh, I failed to mention to
you at the reunion that I'm engaged!
Three years ago I met this wonderful man named Jonathan at a company
party. He turned out to be the manager
of the beautiful restaurant where we held the party, isn't that funny? He's a very smart, funny, and cute guy. I wanted to tell you in person at the
reunion, but I guess we were just having so much fun reminiscing that I didn't
get a chance! We haven't set a definite
date yet, but we're thinking some time in 1998...maybe late summer or early
fall.
Anyway, what I REALLY wanted
to email you about: how would you like
to get together one day this week? It
would be great since we’ve both managed to settle down in
Take care!
xx Meri xx
Sam sighed deeply as she
finished reading the email. Meredith had
been a good friend of hers in high school.
Although she was quite an overachiever and seemed to enjoy putting Sam
down (albeit in as light-hearted a way as she could make it), she was usually
good company and knew how to have fun.
She didn't know what to
do. On one hand, she really did want to
get together with Meredith again, and reminisce about good times. Besides, she needed a good break once in a
while. On the other hand, she'd probably
spend the whole evening bragging about herself which
would make Sam feel like dirt, especially since most of her friends seemed to
be settled down already, or at least involved in a serious relationship. Sam
didn’t need this saddled on her right now, especially since they had just gone
through quite an ordeal involving a goa’uld system
lord, and now they were embarking on a new mission …
"Sam?"
She heard Daniel's voice
faintly in the hallway.
"Sam, are you coming?
We're heading out now."
She turned and saw him
standing outside the door, waiting patiently for her.
A little smile tugged at the
corners of her mouth, and she nodded.
"Yeah ... uh, just give
me a second; I want to send this one email."
"Okay," Daniel
nodded, remaining in the doorway.
Sam typed rapidly on the keyboard...
From: Sam Carter
<astrogal@hotmail.com>
To: Meredith Greene
<merig@yahoo.com>
Date:
Subject: Re: Hi!
Meri,
Nice to
hear from you. Sounds like you're doing well for
yourself. I can't talk much right now
since I'm just heading out the door, but I'd like to get together with you and
your fiancé. I'll get back to you on
which evening would be good for me. My
schedule is a little crazy, but I'll let you know when I can.
Cheers,
Sam
"Carter!!!"
Sam and Daniel both jerked
their heads in surprise upon hearing Jack's impatient call down in the gate
room.
"Oh boy, we'd better ..."
Daniel started nervously.
Sam nodded and quickly shut
the computer down.
"Sorry about that,"
she added, shooting a quick apologetic glance at Daniel as they exited the room.
"It was just a stupid
email..." she continued.
Daniel looked at her expectantly
as they made their way down the hall.
"An email from one of my
old high school friends," she clarified.
"...wanting to get together again..."
Daniel nodded.
“… Nothing really important,”
she continued sheepishly.
As they continued toward the
gate room, Daniel noticed the rather pensive look on Sam’s face.
“Is everything okay?” he
asked curiously.
The heels of Sam’s boots
clicked loudly in a staccato-like fashion as she walked briskly down the
hall. Daniel had to walk nearly twice as
fast as he usually did in order to keep up with her.
“Oh, sure, fine,” she replied
nonchalantly.
Daniel’s brow knitted in
confusion.
“Reeeeeally
…” he answered, his tone informing her that she wasn’t pulling it off.
At long last, they reached
the gate room, and Sam practically launched herself in Daniel’s face and
grabbed hold of his arms…
“I’m FINE, Daniel!!
Everything’s fine!! Is that what you wanted
to hear??” she raised her voice.
Daniel’s eyes became as wide
as saucers. Completely dumbfounded, he
nodded his head slightly.
“Good!” Sam continued, her face now a bright shade of crimson. “Because I’m FINE.”
Panting, she looked past
Daniel and saw Jack and Teal’c standing before the event horizon. They were both staring at the once-rabid
Captain; Jack with two raised eyebrows, Teal’c with one.
“Is there a problem?” Jack
finally asked after an awkward silence.
Sam’s face turned an even
brighter crimson, if such a thing were possible. She shut her eyes tightly.
“No, Sir,” she sighed.
“Sam’s fine,” Daniel added,
still quite dumbfounded.
“Are you sure, Carter?” Jack asked, raising his eyebrows.
Sam nodded, still with her
eyes shut as she was deeply embarrassed.
“I’m sorry, Sir. I acted in a totally unprofessional way,
letting my emotions get in the way of my job.
It won’t happen again.”
Jack looked at her and then
merely shrugged.
“Okay. If you’re sure – “
“I’m sure,” she nodded.
“All righty,
then … P5X-978 it is,” he declared. With
that, he and Teal’c disappeared through the event horizon.
As Sam walked up the ramp
with Daniel, she noticed the look he was giving her. It was a look that could be described as a
mixture of leftover surprise and hurt.
That look was killing her.
Admittedly, Daniel was her best friend, in more ways than one, and she
would never do anything to hurt him.
Before they stepped through
the gate, she turned to him and touched his arm.
“Daniel, I’m sorry for going
ballistic on you like that.”
Daniel averted his eyes and
nodded.
“I really hurt your feelings,
I guess … right?” she said tentatively, looking at him with an intensely
apologetic expression.
Daniel looked her in the eyes
for a moment, and then shrugged slightly.
Sam’s crimson glow returned,
and she felt as if her cheeks were on fire.
“God! I am such an idiot,” she exclaimed, nervously raking
her hand through her hair.
“Hey, don’t worry about it,”
Daniel answered softly as he fixed his boonie hat onto his head. “I’ve had worse.”
Sam shook her head sadly.
“Daniel, you didn’t deserve
this. I’m really sorry. Can you forgive me?” she asked, her eyes
pleading sadly.
A smile slowly grew on
Daniel’s lips and he nodded.
“Okay,” he replied.
She reached out and gave him
a small hug. They shared a little smile,
and finally disappeared through the gate.
********************************************************
“Incoming wormhole,” Sergeant
Walter Davis announced into his microphone as the stargate began dialing out.
General Hammond raced down
the stairs and quickly made his way to
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Receiving transmitter code …
it’s SG-1, Sir.”
“What? They couldn’t have
been gone for more than three hours!”
The General began to get
worried. SG-1 was going to P5X-978 for a
standard recon mission, the type of mission that lasted at least eight or
twelve hours. Whenever something like
this happened, it usually meant that they managed to get in trouble. Just over a month ago, Jack, Sam and Teal’c
had been implanted with false memories that led them to believe that Daniel was
dead. They had been gone for just over
four hours during that mission to the planet Oannes.
“Open the iris,”
About twenty seconds after
the iris was opened, Sam tumbled through the event horizon.
“We need a medical team in
here!” she yelled.
“Captain Carter, what
happened?”
Before Sam could answer, Daniel
and Teal’c appeared, supporting Jack between them. Jack’s BDU’s were covered with dirt, and his
right pant leg was ripped open at the knee, exposing a gaping wound.
“Oh, Daniel, I’m going to
kill you,” he moaned, almost incoherently.
“Teal’c? Doctor Jackson? What
happened to Colonel O’Neill?” the General asked, hoping to get an answer from
someone.
“We were approximately 50
meters from the stargate,” Teal’c began.
“Daniel Jackson located a cave with intricate markings – “
“Sure, they were!” Jack cut
in, his speech slurred a bit. “They were
doodles, for cryin’ out loud!”
“They weren’t ‘doodles’,
Jack, they were series of writings very similar to the old Celtic script
Ogham,” Daniel answered calmly.
“Og-what?” Jack returned,
sounding groggier than ever. Daniel
rolled his eyes.
“Teal’c and I followed Daniel
into the cave, while Colonel O’Neill waited outside to secure the perimeter,”
Sam broke in. “I … uh … “
She looked nervously down at
her feet, then back up at General Hammond, who raised his eyebrows as a sign
for her to continue.
“… I guess he didn’t realize
the rather steep drop on the north side of the cave, Sir,”
“What??” he exclaimed
incredulously.
“General, please don’t yell
at me. You’ll make my ears bleed,” Jack answered
in a drugged tone.
“Colonel O’Neill, do you mean
to tell me that there was a steep drop in front of you, and you failed to
notice it??” the General continued in disbelief.
“Um …” Sam began as she and
Daniel glanced at each other.
“I dunno
how it happened, Sir,” Jack replied.
“All I remember happening was … I was really thirsty, so I had a drink of that stuff Carter had in that
little red thermos she left behind. Then
things started turning mellow, and … down I went,” he finished, waving his
hands in the air.
“Ah … Jack, that red thermos
was mine,” Daniel answered slowly.
Jack turned toward Daniel and
stared at him, his eyelids heavy.
“What?” he uttered.
“It was … um … Nyquil,”
Daniel finished, turning his head away in embarrassment.
“What??”
“See, what did I say? I’m gonna kill him,” Jack slurred.
“Sorry, Sir, but my allergies
have been really bad lately, and, um … wow, I’m in trouble, aren’t I?” Daniel
trailed off, wincing a bit.
“No, Son. It’s not your fault. Colonel O’Neill should have realized he was
drinking cough syrup, and should have known to stop as soon as he realized it.”
He turned and looked hard at Jack.
“Hey! What’re you getting mad
at me for, George? If he didn’t insist
that we look at those doodles in that cave, I wouldn’t be – Ow!!”
Jack suddenly exclaimed as the pain shot from his knee.
Doctor Fraiser rushed into
the room with a nurse and a gurney.
“Sit tight, Colonel, we’ll
have you out of here in no time,” she said soothingly as she and the nurse
gathered Jack up and stuck him on the gurney.
She winced as she checked out the wound.
“Ooh, how did this happen?”
“Long story,” Jack slurred.
“Um … why does he seem
drugged?” she asked, furrowing her brow as she addressed Sam, Daniel and
Teal’c.
“I think a whole thermos full
of Nyquil might have something to do with it?” Daniel asked slowly, blushing as
he held up his now empty red thermos.
Janet raised her eyebrows in
surprise.
“Oh. How did he get a hold of your thermos?”
Daniel shrugged.
“Well, let’s get him into the
infirmary,” she said, directing her attention back to Jack. “The wound doesn’t appear to be bleeding
anymore, but he’ll definitely need stitches.
I’m going to x-ray his knee as well, just to be on the safe side.”
“Thank you, Doctor,”
Janet nodded back as she and
the nurse pushed Jack out of the gate room and down toward the infirmary.
**********************************************
