Chapter 8
Sam looked around the room
and felt as if time had stopped.
Everyone was staring at her, almost as if she was to blame for Daniel’s
odd outburst and resultant fleeing from the club. She turned to her left and saw Meri and Jon
staring at her, wide-eyed but not moving a muscle.
She quickly began to review
what had happened only minutes ago. She
and Daniel were dancing intimately to a romantic song. Daniel had enveloped her in one of the most
wonderful kisses she’d ever experienced, when suddenly he withdrew his lips
from her and looked at her strangely, as if something was bothering him. He began uttering phrases that instantly
brought back memories of the ordeal they’d experienced when Hathor made her
untimely visit to the SGC a few short weeks ago. Sam hoped she would be able to keep him calm,
but he became louder and more agitated.
No! I won’t help you make more goa’ulds! Oh, boy. How was she going to explain that one? There was no doubt everyone in the club had
heard it. She hoped that everyone would
think Daniel was having some mental problems at best, and that he had not set
the two of them up to be compromised.
Finally she decided that the
best thing she could do is not say anything, and just leave. So what if Meri and Jon had a thousand
questions for her, or if they were concerned?
Yeah, right, Sam laughed inwardly.
She’d known Meri for many years and she didn’t think she had it in her
to be concerned about Sam. If she did,
it would be awfully hard to tell since it was rare that she was ever sincere.
Sam grabbed her purse, flung
it over her shoulder and was about to make her way out of the club when she
heard someone clear his throat. She
turned around and saw a large, muscular man wearing a gray tank top and a pair
of shorts.
“Hey, Missy, he’s your guy,
ain’t he?” he exclaimed derisively.
Sam rolled her eyes and
sighed. This night just keeps getting better and better.
She ignored the guy and
turned back around, ready to walk out of the club.
“Hey!” he yelled as he
advanced toward her. “You answer me when
I talk to you!” He pointed an accusing
finger in Sam’s face.
“I don’t have to answer
anyone,” she spat at him, narrowing her eyes.
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to find my friend.”
The crass man’s eyes narrowed
as he stuck his face into hers. Sam
could smell alcohol on his breath and realized he was more than a little intoxicated.
“Your friend, huh?” he asked, lips curling up into a sneer. “What are you doing with a geek like
that? He’s not good enough for you,
baby. You’d do much better with a guy
like me.” He reached out and began
caressing her bare shoulder.
“Oh, please,” Sam
scoffed. She flinched and pulled her
shoulder back.
“I mean it, honey. Look at you, all spunky and gorgeous and …
curvy,” he drawled as his eyes surveyed every inch of her body. “Why are you hangin’ out with a pencil-neck
geek like that? Why don’t you join me back at my place and we’ll –“
“Look,” Sam hissed, narrowing
her eyes further. “I’m a Captain in the
United States Air Force. I’ve had
hand-to-hand training. If you ever try to touch me again, or even so
much as proposition me, I will make you wish that you hadn’t.”
A sober look passed over the
man’s face and he looked at her coldly.
“Why, you little bitch, are
you threatening me??” he growled.
“Gee, nothing gets past you,
does it?” she said dryly as she tried to walk past him.
He moved quickly and blocked
her path.
“You got that right, little
lady,” he replied, giving her a deadly look.
What happened next was almost
like a blur in Sam’s mind. He had raised
his fist to strike her, when she grabbed his arm with her left hand, and punched
him in the face with her right. He
staggered back a few steps, only stopping to wipe his nose. He then lunged for her, stopped again as she
grabbed his right arm and managed to kick him square in the groin. He doubled over in pain as she’d gotten him
with the narrow, nearly spiked heel of her shoe. As he raised his head, Sam used the
opportunity to punch him in the face again, getting his nose bloodied. The man fell back on the floor, too
incapacitated and too stunned to get up.
Sam took a deep breath and
wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Never underestimate someone
who’s had level three advanced hand-to-hand combat,” she smirked. With that, she brushed her hair away from her
neck, fixed the strap of her purse upon her shoulder, and headed toward the
door.
Meri stared at Sam’s
retreating form with wide eyes and her mouth gaping open. She turned her glance to the man on the
floor, who was still writhing in pain.
“Wow, didn’t think she had it
in her,” she grinned.
“What happened here?” the
manager of the club asked as he made his way through the crowd.
“This guy got on my friend’s
case,” Meri explained, still dumbfounded.
The manager raised his
eyebrows, signaling her to elaborate.
“Uh … he was making snide
remarks about her date and then he started harassing her. He tried to start a fight, looked like he was
going to hit her.”
The manager looked
incredulously at Sam’s bully.
“That’s not true!” the man
protested, still tending to his bloody nose.
“She started the whole thing! I was only trying to help her.”
Meri looked at him
incredulously, and the manager looked at both of them, trying to decide whom to
believe.
“So, what are you going to
do, pal?” he snidely asked the manager.
“It’s only my word against hers.”
“And mine,” Jon broke
in. “He was harassing my fiancé’s
friend. I saw it happen.”
“So did I,” piped up a girl
in her early twenties.
“Me, too,” her date agreed.
As more and more people came
forward and admitted they’d seen it happen, the man became frustrated.
“Okay, okay!” he
shouted. “So, I did harass her. But, can you blame me? You all saw that
fruitcake she was with, didn’t you?”
“That is no excuse for
harassing a woman,” the girl in her early twenties said angrily with narrowed
eyes.
“And her date was not a
fruitcake,” Meri joined in. “He was a
sweet guy, and my friend is lucky to have someone like him. I can’t imagine who would want to be stuck
with you,” she sneered.
“All right, everyone break it
up,” the manager jumped in. “Pal, get
off my floor, get out of my club and hit the road,” he said to the man. “Or better yet, find someone to take you
home. You sound too drunk to be able to
make it there yourself.”
“He’s with me.”
Another man, dressed much
like Sam’s offender, stepped away from the bar and made his way up to his
friend. He didn’t seem drunk at all and
he looked at the manager apologetically.
“He’s my brother,” he
continued. “I’m sorry for all the
trouble he’s caused, I really am.”
The manager looked him over
and nodded. “Okay, just get him out of
here,” he said quietly.
The man nodded and bent down
to attend to his brother before taking him out of the club.
“Come on, hon,” Meri said to
Jon as she touched his arm.
They made their way out of
the club and stumbled upon Sam, leaning back against the building next door and
crying softly. Meri felt pangs of
sadness as they hurried over to Sam.
“Sam? Oh my God, are you
okay, hon?”
Sam lifted her head and
looked at Meri with tear-filled, bloodshot eyes.
“Okay? Am I okay? Do I look
okay?” she sobbed.
Meri leaned over and began
rubbing her back in soft, circular motions.
“I know I haven’t been acting
like such a good friend and all, and I’m really sorry. You’ve really been through a lot tonight,
hon,” she said softly as she pulled Sam into a hug.
“That crazy guy … I couldn’t
believe what he was doing. He had no
right to harass you like that, and that was terrible what he said about … um…”
“Daniel,” Sam said, her voice
wavering.
“Daniel. I was really worried when it looked like he
was going to hit you,” Meredith continued, her voice thick with regret.
“You were?” Sam suddenly
asked, looking up at Meri and sniffling.
“Is that a silly question or
what?” Meri returned. “Of course I
was. But, you surprised me again. You really showed him,” she smiled faintly.
“It was nothing,” Sam
shrugged.
Meri giggled softly. “Good old Sammie,” she smiled affectionately.
For once, Sam managed to
crack a smile, although it seemed as if it was forced.
“I know you’re really upset,
now, Sam, and I don’t mean to pry, but …what happened with Daniel back there?”
Meri asked, concerned.
Oh, boy, Sam
thought. She felt a slight blush creep
across her cheeks as she quickly fabricated a cover story.
“Uh … well, this is kind of
difficult to talk about, but …” she trailed off.
Meri’s eyes begged her to
continue.
“Lately Daniel has been
suffering from post-traumatic stress.
Uh, about two months ago, he was working on an archaeological dig with
some graduate students in
“Oh, hon, I had no idea,”
Meri said sadly.
Sam looked up at her and
nodded. “He’s seeing a therapist for it,
and I’ve been offering him as much comfort as possible. There have been times when he’d cry in my
arms, and I would just sit with him and make him feel better.”
Meri smiled sadly. “He’s really lucky to have someone like you.”
“Thanks, Meri,” Sam smiled back.
“Uh, I hate to end this real
pretty conversation – no offense – but we really gotta get going,” Jon broke
in, gesturing to his watch.
Sam looked from him to Meri
and nodded.
“Do you need anything,
Sammie?” Meri asked, still concerned.
“No, I’m okay,” Sam replied,
shaking her head. “I have to see if I
can find Daniel.”
Meri looked her over and
nodded. “Okay. Listen, if you ever feel like talking, just
call or email me anytime.”
“Thanks, Meri. I’ll do that,” Sam nodded.
Meredith smiled and gave her
a small hug. Jon reached forward and
shook Sam’s hand.
“It was nice meeting you,” he
smiled awkwardly. “I’m sorry about what
happened before.”
Sam smiled and waved goodbye
as they made their way around the corner to the parking lot.
*******************************************************************
Once they were gone from
sight, Sam’s mind began to reel with worry over Daniel. Where had he gone, and where should she start
looking? Downtown
She sighed deeply and decided
to head for the parking lot, thinking that Daniel might be in the car. After all, she had given him her keys. She hurriedly made her way to the parking
lot, only to see Jon and Meri driving away in Jon’s Lexus. As they passed Sam, Meri rolled down her
window and gave her a small wave.
Sam forced a smile and waved
back. She made her way over to her car
and a sick feeling welled up inside her when she noticed that the car was
empty. She hadn’t found Daniel, and he
had her keys. She decided she would
start walking for a few blocks to look for him, but in the end, how was she
going to get home?
She breathed a quick sigh of
relief when she remembered she had a spare set of keys in her purse. She kept that thought in the back of her mind
as she began walking away from the car and around the block again.
****************************************************************
Sam collapsed into a small,
plastic chair just outside of what appeared to be a restaurant. She had been scouring the streets for close
to an hour and it was nearly
Her search had proved
fruitless thus far, and Sam was beginning to feel sick. Where on Earth had he gone? He couldn’t have
gotten too far, could he? She thought she had exhausted all her possibilities
and was about to head back to her car when she turned around and took notice of
the sign on the building in back of her.
Sid’s Coffee House.
At that moment, a little bit
of hope took over the incredible feeling of worry that had threatened to eat
away at her insides. Why hadn’t she seen
this place before? She picked herself up off the chair and hurriedly made her
way inside.
As she entered the coffee
shop, her eyes furiously scanned the room and the feeling of impending dread
returned. Save for a middle-aged man
hunched over a table reading a magazine and a lone employee at the counter, the
place was virtually empty.
Sam felt that her heart was
now guiding her as she hurriedly walked up to the counter, where a tall young
man with short, black hair, a goatee and an earring was standing. He appeared to be in his late teens.
“Excuse me,” she began. “I’m looking for someone. Have you seen a man about six feet tall,
wearing a light gray blazer, dark gray shirt and black pants? He has brown
eyeglasses with wire frames, and long brown hair down to …” she trailed off as
she gestured with her hands the approximate length of Daniel’s hair.
“… And he has kind of long
bangs that come down to … here, on both sides of his face … kind of like this.”
The young man took in her
description and smirked.
“Sounds like a real geek,” he
chuckled.
Sam bristled. “I don’t give a shit what you think he sounds
like. I don’t need commentary. What I want to know is if you’ve seen him.”
He looked at her and raised
his eyebrows in surprise.
“Whoa, take it easy, ma’am,”
he said as he held up his hands. “I’m
sorry. Uh … no, I haven’t seen anyone
like that.”
Sam tried to bite back the
worry that threatened to surface.
“That’s all I wanted to know.
Thanks,” she nodded. She spun
around on her heel and dejectedly made her way out the door.
She decided she would head
back to her car before it got any later.
As she walked down the street, her eyes filled with tears and she
reached into her purse for a tissue. She
dabbed at her eyes, but the tears were falling fast and furious.
“Hey, are you okay?”
She stopped and straightened
as she heard the soft, male voice. Could
it be…?
She turned and saw a man just
a few inches taller than her, wearing what looked like a jacket, dress shirt
and dress pants. He wore glasses and had
long hair that almost covered his eyes.
To Sam, that description was enough.
An overwhelming sense of relief filled her heart.
“Daniel,” she nearly
gasped. “Oh my God … where the hell did
you go?! I’ve been looking all over for
you!”
“What?” he asked, clearly
confused. She then noticed that his
voice sounded a bit different. Her
vision had been clouded a bit by her tears, and she wiped them away with the tissue.
She looked back at him and a
startled frown appeared on her face. The
man had been wearing a tweed blazer, along with a plaid shirt and khaki
pants. Moreover, he was wearing gold-framed
glasses and had long, dark blonde hair worn in a style almost like Daniel’s.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, did you
say ‘Daniel’?” he asked, looking at her curiously.
Sam felt her cheeks grow hot
and she couldn’t answer him. She nodded
slightly.
“I’m not Daniel, I’m James,”
he smiled.
“Oh, I … I’m sorry,” she
shook her head as she was finally able to find her words. “My friend’s name is Daniel, and I’ve been
looking all over for him,” she continued.
“At first glance you looked just like him.”
James shrugged. “Oh.
Well, I’m sorry,” he said sheepishly.
“Thanks,” Sam nodded. “And I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions
like that.”
“No need,” he insisted. “I
didn’t mean to startle you, or anything.
I was just heading back home on my way from the Starbucks down there,
and I was concerned when I saw you crying.”
Sam smiled faintly as she heard
this newfound acquaintance tell her that he was concerned about her. Suddenly her eyes widened in realization.
“Did you say ‘Starbucks’?”
she asked.
“Yeah, just two blocks up
this way,” he nodded, pointing west.
Sam allowed a small ray of
hope inside as she realized she hadn’t been down that way and managed to
overlook one of Daniel’s favorite hangouts.
“Oh, I think I know where to
look next,” she blurted out. “Thank you
so much.”
“Uh, I really didn’t do
anything,” he chuckled sheepishly.
“Oh, yes you did … and I’m
grateful for it,” she replied as she suddenly grabbed him and gave him a kiss
on the cheek.
With that, she hurriedly made
her way in the direction of the Starbucks, only glancing back at him once and
waving. Still stunned, he waved back,
and then blushed deeply as he continued back to his car.
*************************************************************
Sam sighed deeply as she
exited the Starbucks on
She began to think again
about where Daniel might have gone.
Wherever he had gone, he had either taken a cab or walked. Perhaps he had taken a cab back to his
apartment? Sam began to feel pangs of hurt, as that would have sounded like he
stood her up. No, what are you thinking? He didn’t stand you up, he wasn’t acting in
his right mind, Sam, she berated herself.
Nevertheless, she thought it would be a good idea to drive by his
apartment and see if he had somehow made it back there.
As she reached his apartment
complex, she saw a taxicab sitting at the curb.
She sighed as she witnessed a young twenty-something girl exit the cab
and make her way inside the building. Maybe he walked home, she then
thought. She realized how absurd that
sounded, but with the state Daniel was in when he left, anything could be
possible.
She entered the building and
made her way up to the fourth floor.
Once she reached Daniel’s apartment, she timidly walked up to the door
and knocked. Every moment that she
waited seemed like an eternity. After
five minutes, she knocked again. She
wondered if maybe he was taking a shower, or maybe he was asleep. She dug a key out of her purse and inserted
it into the lock. Daniel had given her
and Jack a spare key to his apartment shortly after the incident on Oannes took
place.
She entered Daniel’s
apartment and the eerie quiet made her nervous.
She flipped on the light switch and looked around. Everything was spotless, and there was no
sign of Daniel anywhere. She headed
toward the bathroom and was almost overwhelmed by a fairly strong smell of Old
Spice. She looked down and found a small
bottle of the offending fragrance, with the cap off the top. She furrowed her brow in confusion, wondering
what Daniel would be doing with stuff like this. She then noticed a small hairbrush and a
thin, threaded, red elastic band sitting on the sink.
“What the …?” she muttered
out loud. She instantly began to wonder
if Daniel had a girl over and she felt a tinge of jealousy.
No, what am I doing? I should concentrate on finding
Daniel, not wondering if he’s seeing a girl or anything! Who cares about that?
All I want to know right now is that he’s safe, she thought to herself. Before her tears could resurface, she
switched the light off, exited the bathroom and made her way to his
bedroom.
After a complete search of
the bedroom, Sam realized that Daniel was definitely not home. She decided she would finally head back to
her house and see what she could do from there.
She sighed deeply as she turned out the lights, shut the door behind her
and locked it.
*****************************************************************
Sam shuddered slightly as a
cool breeze swept across her face and tickled her bare shoulders. She was surprised that the weather had begun
to change so much. Just minutes earlier
it was quite warm and a bit humid. She
groaned as she made her way up her front walk.
She had been walking for quite a while in high heels, and she felt like
she was getting calluses on the soles of her feet. For a moment, worried thoughts of Daniel
subsided and she wanted nothing more but to crawl into her bath and soak her
sore feet.
She entered the house and
made a beeline for her bedroom where she kicked off her shoes. She had begun to feel chilly, so she changed
out of her dress and into a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. She made her way back to the living room and
sat near the phone, at odds over what she should do next. She had combed almost the entire area of
downtown
The SGC. Should she call someone at the SGC? Sam didn’t ponder the question for a moment
as she frantically dialed the phone.
“This is Captain Samantha
Carter. Can I please have the
infirmary?” she pleaded.
“Of course, Captain.”
“Infirmary, Fraiser
speaking.”
Sam breathed a sigh of relief
upon hearing a familiar voice.
“Janet, it’s Sam,” she began.
“Hey, Sam, what’s going on?
Why are you calling so late?” Janet asked, concerned.
“I … um …” Sam hesitated. She
wasn’t sure what she should tell Janet.
The doctor had been quite concerned about what had happened to Daniel
during Hathor’s brief reign of terror on base.
She had said that if his bad dreams continued, she would make Daniel
consult Doctor McKenzie. Daniel had
never been too pleased with McKenzie, and Sam didn’t want him to be subjected
to whatever the doctor had planned for him.
However, Sam cared deeply for Daniel and was concerned about his
well-being.
“Daniel hasn’t reported to
the infirmary nor anywhere else on base, has he?” Sam finally asked.
“Uh … no, not to my
knowledge,” Janet said curiously. “Why?”
Sam took a deep breath as she
was dreading that question.
“He went with me to meet an
old friend tonight. We went to a club …
danced, did karaoke, all that crazy stuff.”
“Doctor Jackson doing
karaoke? That’s something I can’t picture,” Janet giggled softly.
“No, just me,” Sam
replied. “But as we were dancing, Daniel
started acting strangely. I think he was
having hallucinations and thought that I was Hathor.”
“What?” Janet said
seriously. “Are you sure, Sam?”
“Yeah,” Sam replied, her
voice starting to waver. “He mentioned
something about the ‘code of life’ and not helping me make more goa’ulds.”
“Oh, boy,” Janet sighed. “Did anyone at the club hear it?”
“Oh yeah,” Sam replied. “He made a little scene, actually, and then
he bolted from the club. I spent over an
hour combing the streets looking for him.
I checked everywhere and I even stopped at his apartment, but he was
nowhere to be found. I was just hoping
that if anything had happened to him, he would have made it back here.”
“Well, he’s not here in the
infirmary, and I’m pretty sure he’s not anywhere else on base. Sam, if Doctor Jackson is still traumatized
by what Hathor did to him, I’m going to have to get Doctor McKenzie in on
this,” Janet said, knowing what the reply would be.
“Janet, please. Don’t tell anyone about this,” Sam pleaded.
“Sam, you know I have to,”
Janet insisted. “I’m as concerned about
Doctor Jackson’s well-being as you are.
If Doctor McKenzie has a procedure that will help him, I think it’s worth
a try.”
“Oh, sure, what is he going
to do, saw off the top of Daniel’s skull and remove the part of his brain where
the Hathor memories are stored? Or maybe give him some intense electroshock
therapy that will make him forget about not only Hathor, but everyone else as
well?” Sam fumed.
“Sam!! Please, get a hold of
yourself!” Janet exclaimed.
Sam broke down into tears,
almost embarrassed by her angry tirade.
“I’m sorry I said that. It’s just
that … I’m so worried about Daniel. I
feel like this is all my fault. If I
hadn’t practically begged him to go with me tonight, none of this would have
happened.”
Janet’s stern tone
softened. “It’s okay, Sam. Don’t blame yourself. Doctor Jackson told me that he was no longer
having nightmares, and he seemed fine. I
cleared him for active duty myself. You
couldn’t have known that this would happen.”
“I guess you’re right,” Sam
sniffled. “But I still feel responsible
for what happened. This has just turned
into an awful night, Janet. I don’t know
what else to do.”
“Have you called the police?”
Janet asked.
“Oh my God, I am so stupid,”
Sam said quietly. She suddenly jumped a
bit as she heard a loud clap of thunder nearby.
“That’s okay. Why don’t you call them, Sam,” Janet said
soothingly.
“I will. Before I go, though, would you please promise
me you won’t tell anyone about this? If
I do find Daniel, I want to try to help him myself,” Sam said solemnly.
“Are you sure about this?”
Janet asked after a beat.
“Yeah. Not only am I worried what Doctor McKenzie
would do, but I’ll bet Daniel wouldn’t be happy if Colonel O’Neill found out
and teased him endlessly,” she said, a slight smirk dancing upon her face.
“I don’t think he’d be that
mean,” Janet giggled slightly. “But just
to be safe, I won’t say a word. Unless
your methods don’t work and Daniel’s condition worsens, my lips are sealed,”
Janet said resignedly.
“Great. Thanks so much, Janet. You have no idea how much this means to me,”
Sam said gratefully.
“Okay,” Janet replied. “I’ll give you a call if he happens to show
up. In the meantime, try not to worry
yourself into an ulcer and make sure you get some sleep.”
“Okay, thanks. ‘Night, Janet.”
“Goodnight, Sam.”
Sam hung up the phone and
winced as she heard what sounded like rain pelting the sides of her house. She began to worry even more about the
whereabouts of Daniel. She checked her
watched and realized it was after
She was about to pick up the
phone and call the police when she heard what sounded like faint knocking on
her door. Her brow knitted in confusion
and she first thought it was a tree branch hitting up against the side of the
house, but she decided to investigate anyway.
She picked herself up off the
couch, crossed the living room and made her way to the front door and unlocked
it. She opened the door and the sight
that greeted her made her heart leap up into her throat . . .
. . . A drenched Daniel, hair
soaking wet and stuck to his face, glasses spotty with raindrops, and clothes
soaked through, looking at her with big, blue puppy dog eyes.
“Sam?” he said meekly.
