Missed It

Daniel had a feeling that, though no one had expressed it, they all knew why they were here. Oh, sure, they had their excuses – Janet wanted to spend some quality time with people who weren't either a hormonal, angry teenager or a sick patient from the infirmary; Teal'c wanted to get out of the base to see some colors; and Daniel... well, Daniel was here because everyone else was here.

Besides, it was 'movie night'.

Even though Daniel was still regaining some of the less important memories from his past, he was pretty sure that at no time SG-1 had ever had something called 'movie night'. In fact, it had been rare for them to gather at Jack's house like this. Sure, Daniel had dropped by. Teal'c had even stayed. Sam, though... she'd come around if everyone else was there but she wouldn't, say, pop over for a drink or a chat. But then she was military and she and Jack had spent the better part of five years before his (ohgodohgodhisdeath) ascension ramming home the differences between civilian and military.

Daniel had never really quite *got* it.

So, anyway, movie night had to be a pretty new thing, he decided as he shifted on Jack's second, more uncomfortable couch. For the past hour and a half, they'd been watching 'The Matrix: Reloaded'. Something of an experience for Daniel who hadn't seen the first film that this one was apparently a sequel to. Or maybe he had. Maybe on one of these 'movie nights' that he couldn't remember, they'd all watched the original.

Or 'movie night' could just be another excuse.

Yeah. While he'd like to blame it on his loss of memory – something that was becoming *really* handy when it came to, say, birthdays ('Oh, Sam, I'm really sorry. It's just, you know... I can't *remember*. It's okay? Really? I'll make it up to you.') – he had a distinct feeling this wasn't the case this time.

Janet slanted Daniel another look.

Now, Janet had always been difficult to read. He didn't spend much time with her – though he had spent a significant portion of the last few years in her infirmary, it wasn't as if she was always around and when she was she was always in 'doctor mode' – and so he couldn't quite translate all the looks she gave but this one... this one was loud and clear.

Janet was not amused.

What she was 'not amused' about, Daniel had no idea – he was just pleased that he'd recognized the sign for what it was. Women mostly confused him.

He turned back to watching the TV screen. Jack had the biggest TV Daniel had ever seen – a purchase that Jack had, in fact, dragged Daniel to help with even though Daniel knew nothing about television sets. Or... Dolby Surround Sound. Something that Daniel had brought up several times during the trip – he had even suggested that Jack should have called up Sam for her advice.

Which had gained Daniel a very similar 'not amused' look from Jack.

That had been.... how long? Four... yeah, four years ago. Definitely. It had been the first sign Jack had given that things between him and their only female teammate weren't quite as they should be.

Of course, Jack had always put it down to 'frat regs'. He'd casually cast that phrase into any conversation that he might have with Daniel about Sam. You know, just before he would say something like 'this is the military, Daniel. We don't *do* things like that'.

Daniel had thought it was funny.

In fact, Daniel had thought it would only get more amusing the more serious it became because, seriously, there was only so much sexual tension two people could take before they cracked. Of course, Daniel hadn't taken into account the stubbornness of both Sam and Jack – two people who could, quite possibly, outrival each other in levels of stubbornness.

And now he was being forced to watch the cracking begin.

In very, very slow motion.

For instance, it had been nearly an hour and forty minutes since they had sat down to watch this movie, and Jack's arm had only *just* gone around Sam's shoulders.

No wonder Janet wasn't looking amused.

*

Damn, could this *be* any more frustrating?

Janet tilted her head down and looked at the thin silver watch on her arm. It was too loose for her and the face had slid under her wrist to where her pulse beat so she slid the face up to check out the time. She didn't trust the Colonel's mantelpiece clock – it was old and creaky looking.

Just as she'd thought. Nearly two hours.

She wondered if Sam was about as frustrated as Janet was. Then she decided – who was she kidding? Sam had been in a constant state of frustration since day one. And judging from the expression on Sam's face – 'goofy', Janet believed the clinical term would be – the current situation was in no way a bad one.

Janet sighed, mentally, and turned back to the film. This was the fifth time she had seen this film. The previous year, she'd had a really good run on first dates and three of the guys she'd seen within a two month period had been really into sci-fi so she's seen the film in the theater three times. Then, of course, Cass had wanted to see it - only she'd been cancelled on by a friend at the last minute and had pleaded with her mother to come with her ('Going with my mother is marginally less tragic than going by myself – puh-lease, Mom?').

It was odd – in her professional life, she was about as tough as they came. But personal life? Biggest pushover on the planet.

Damn. It was almost embarrassing.

At least tonight she'd thought she'd be getting alternate entertainment out of the evening. After all, Colonel O'Neill's transfer to be joint CO of the off-world training base, along with Colonel Griff, had been something of a major breakthrough for Sam's love life. Not that Sam had said a single word about it, but Janet was pretty good at reading her best friend.

Sam was all ready to jump her freshly exed CO.

And Janet could understand that. She cast her eye over Colonel O'Neill admiringly. She had, in fact, seen more of Colonel O'Neill than Sam had, but that was to be expected; she was his doctor.

He was in good shape for a man only a couple of years shy of fifty and undeniably attractive – had that little boy charm in addition to a somewhat cloudy past. Hell, half her nurses had a thing for him – though that wasn't really saying much. All of the nurses had 'a thing' for someone. Captain Myers had a real passion for Siler, for instance, while the now somewhat depressed Lieutenant Rush had a thing for Jonas.

Janet guessed she could understand the attraction to Colonel O'Neill. She'd even nursed (hah!) something of a crush on him in the first few weeks. Before she began to realize what a pain in the ass he was. The man would *not* sit still. Lie still. Stand still. Wave a needle in his face and he got positively skittish. And, if Sam was anywhere in the vicinity, his damn jokes and quips and sarcastic comments would increase tenfold in the vague chance that he might amuse her or gain her attention.

They were perfect for each other.

For God's sake just *kiss* already! she thought, rolling her head back against the couch and giving Daniel a look.

Daniel returned the look. Or, at least, she thought he did. He might just have been confused. Smiling comfortingly, she patted his arm and went back to watching the movie.

*

Daniel gave them ten minutes.

He set his timer, glanced up at them again, and pressed the start button.

On the way back from the bathroom, Jack had turned the lights down slightly, edging the room further into darkness. Going back to his place he'd 'accidentally' sat a little closer to Sam, sliding his arm back around her shoulders.

Daniel knew Jack was going to make his move soon. Jack was looking decisive. He'd lost that slightly pale, panicked looked now and Daniel figured he'd been mentally giving himself a pep talk.

Plus, while he'd been out, Sam had undone a couple of buttons on her shirt and judging from the way Jack was *not* looking at the screen in any way whatsoever (they'd moved on to the last in the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, much to Teal'c's delight) the view was definitely better from where he was sitting.

So if Jack didn't make a move, then Sam would.

God, Daniel hoped it was soon, he *really* needed the bathroom and was afraid if he left he'd destroy the tentative atmosphere of anticipation that had built up. He and Janet and Teal'c had just about managed to make it seem that they weren't really there – all the while giving both of the two idi... friends the idea that they weren't alone and that this was still a 'friend' activity.

Or worse, he'd go off to the bathroom and come back to find that Sam and Jack had jumped each other and he'd *missed* it. After all these years!

There was just no way in hell.

Beside him, Janet took a gulp of beer, the liquid sloshing softly inside the bottle. Slosh, slosh, slosh.

Daniel shifted uncomfortably and hoped to God she wanted the bathroom – because if she went, then he could go and he wouldn't feel guilty for interrupting 'the mood'.

He tried a little mental telepathy – glancing at Janet out of the corner of his eye: *You want to pee. You need to pee. You have to pee*.

Unsurprisingly, that didn't work.

He couldn't help but wonder if it would have been easier when he was an Ancient.

Shit. He couldn't believe he'd been an Ancient and he'd just... screwed it up like that. Shit. Shit shit shit shit. How could he have been such an idiot? Who the hell did he think he was? This... this *gift* had been handed to him and he'd completely messed it up.

"Daniel?"

He jerked out of his mental cursing and noticed that everyone was looking at him. "What?"

"Um, you were swearing," Sam said in concern, glancing at Jack and then at Daniel again. "You okay?"

He cleared his throat and said the first thing that came to mind, "I gotta pee."

"Oooh, me too," Janet announced, jumping up. "Be right back."

Daniel glared at her. Dammit, why couldn't she have broken the mood first? Now he'd been the one to do it and he was kinda feeling guilty about that.

"Shall I pause the film?" Teal'c asked.

"No!" Daniel and Janet shouted.

*

As if they were still at school, Janet waited for Daniel outside the bathroom, Sam and Jack forgotten for a moment as she thought about Daniel's little verbal outburst earlier. She'd read his psych reports and they stated that he was as stable as he could be – he was mentally fit for an active team – but that didn't mean he was okay.

The door opened and Daniel jumped a little when Janet came into view. He smiled genially to cover his surprise. "Hey."

"Hey." She put her hand on his wrist lightly. "You okay?"

It had to be irritating hearing that same question over and over again but Daniel took it well, shrugging his shoulders and leaning against the pale cream of the Colonel's hallway wall. "Had a little moment back there. Sorry."

"Don't be sorry."

"Kind of ruined the mood."

"So what? They'll get over it." She took his hand in hers and squeezed. Sometimes she wished she knew Daniel better. As a rule, she didn't really socialize with SG-1 that much. Sam, yes, but that was based on a bond they had formed through Cassie. That was almost allowed as far as the military went – special circumstances and all.

"I'm fine, really. Just got a little... self-absorbed. Thanks, though. For... you know."

Janet nodded, understanding that this wasn't something he was willing to talk about, at least not at the moment. "Guess we'd better go back to... the film."

"The only person who's watching that film is Teal'c. And that's only because he's sitting on the floor about five feet away from the screen."

That was true and at least now he had voiced the reason why they were there at all. "We should have put money on it," she whispered as they walked down the stairs.

"On them?" He chuckled quietly. "Major Fraiser, isn't that against regulations?"

"What isn't?" she quipped, dancing down the steps ahead of him and walking back into the living room. She slid down onto the couch, slanting a look at Jack and Sam who were now cuddled up together, Sam's head resting on his shoulder.

God those two were useless.

Sighing lightly, Janet settled back into the cushions and fixed her eyes on the screen – noting that Teal'c hadn't moved an inch from his position. The guy was movie obsessed. He could quote entire chunks of a whole host of late night B-movies after he'd had a few glasses of ginger ale – much to everyone's amusement.

She was contemplating throwing some of the plain popcorn at Teal'c's head when Daniel suddenly grabbed her thigh.

Flinching, she glared at his hand and then glared at him. 'What?' she mouthed, wondering whether this was some kind of a scary come on.

But Daniel jerked his head towards Sam and Jack, his eyes intense, his mouth a firm line. She frowned and looked over to them, seeing nothing that could piss Daniel off so much – unless he was really annoyed by the length of time it was taking for their friends to make a move. She looked back at Daniel who rolled his eyes and tapped his neck.

What? A pulse? A beat? What? She'd never been very good at charades.

Janet made a confused face, eyebrows lowered and hands upturned on her lap.

Daniel indicated Sam and Jack again and this time pinched his neck, leaving a red mark on his skin.

Janet's head swung around, her mouth dropping open.

Sam had a hickey on her neck.

"Dammit!" Janet exclaimed in frustration. She couldn’t believe it! They couldn’t have been out of the room for five minutes! Five. Damn. Minutes.

"Jan? Something up?" Sam asked, lifting her head from Jack's shoulder and looking at Janet strangely.

Sighing heavily, she made a disgruntled noise under her breath and firmly dragged her eyes away from the dark mark on Sam's neck. Now that she had noticed that little piece of evidence, Sam's hair was looking a little mussed, as was the Colonel's. Plus, they were looking a little *too* comfortable together on that couch. "Nothing, nothing. Really. It's fine."

She couldn't believe she'd missed it. Eight years and she'd *missed it*. Shit.

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