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Suggested
Rating: for teen and older
readers
Setting:
Season 7, just prior to the events of Grace
Synopsis:
Daniel is off-world and Janet is pondering.
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters and
places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret
Productions. This piece of fan
fiction was created for entertainment only and no infringement on copyrights
or trademarks was intended.
Part 7: REFLECTIONS
- by
Michelle Lunsford
Janet
pulled her robe a little tighter around her and took a sip from her mug. The pleasant aroma and flavor of the
new brew she tasted brought a smile to her face.
‘Oh,
you picked a fine one,
Daniel,’ she thought, reaching for the bag of loose leaf green
tea. The detailed markings of
Japanese script on the label were undecipherable to her, but Daniel had
assured her that he’d discussed, at length, with the merchant in the
little tea shop until he was satisfied it was a selection she would like.
She
placed the bag back on the counter and took another sip. It was delicious. She’d have to remember to brew
some for the both of them the next time Daniel was over. With a quick glance toward the stove,
making certain she’d turned off the burner, Janet flicked off the kitchen
light and headed for her bedroom.
She had
come to appreciate this time of night and the new routine that was being
established in her life. It had
started not long after Daniel returned from Honduras, when he’d sat on
her sofa and told her everything that had happened during his
kidnapping. And, as expected,
she’d had a good cry while he lovingly held her in his arms, whispering
soothing affirmations until her tears subsided. Later that same night Daniel had
called her. That was not out of
the ordinary – he often called to let her know he’d made it home
safely. But something about that
particular incident – her sitting in bed, a warm cup of tea in hand,
and listening to Daniel earnestly tell her he loved her – had resonated
with her. Now, every night Janet
would get ready for bed, fix a nice cup of tea, and then wait for Daniel to
call. It never mattered what they
talked about, or for how long.
Some nights it would be so late, or one of them would be so exhausted
that they’d have barely enough energy for a quick hello – I love you – good night. All that did matter, however, was that
as long as Daniel was on earth, his voice was the last thing she heard before
drifting off to sleep.
Janet
slipped out of her robe and draped it across the divan. Careful not to spill any tea, she
reclined into the mound of pillows on her bed and pulled the covers up around
her. Her gaze drifted towards the
window as her mind began to wander.
Daniel
was currently off-world. It was a
standard mission, she recalled, but when they finished Sam would be going off
to eventually meet up with the repaired Prometheus,
which would then make the slow trek back to earth. Janet tried to remember what planet
SG-1 had gated to, but the number designation wouldn’t come.
‘Oh
well,’ she sighed.
‘Doesn’t make a difference, as I don’t know whether
it’s night or day there.’
Still, she preferred to imagine they were on a similar time frame as
earth, and that perhaps Daniel was settling in for the night on that distant
world, and thinking of her.
She had
to admit, the past few weeks had been amazing and wonderful. Although she’d never confessed
it, Janet had always harbored the inexplicable worry that once feelings of
love were actually declared between
two people, somehow the relationship lost a touch of its secret spark. But it seemed if just the opposite had
happened after she’d told Daniel that she loved him. ‘In fact,’ she noted,
‘it’s as if everything about my relationship with Daniel is
different than anything I’ve ever experienced, or even expected.’
Of
course, their careers meant they didn’t exactly have time for a normal relationship anyway. She lived a medic’s
schedule. Daniel – although
she admired him for it – was something of a workaholic. Compound that with the fact that he
wasn’t even on the same planet as her half the time and it certainly
made things like regularly scheduled
dates out of the question.
‘But
credit where credit is due,’ she reminded herself, sipping her
tea. ‘Daniel does a
wonderful job of doing everything he can to make me feel special.’
She
pulled the covers a little closer around her, snuggling into them. Daniel had abided by her wishes and
maintained his usual friendly manner towards her at work. Yes, they did chat from time to time
while on base, and met for meals in the cafeteria on occasion, but
they’d done those things before becoming involved. In her opinion, their working
relationship hadn’t really changed. But outside of work – that was a
different story.
They
hadn’t actually had an official date
since their first one, when they’d gone to the play. But there had been plenty of sweet and
intimate shared moments over the past several weeks – walks in the park
or around her neighborhood, eating leftovers together with Cassie or watching
a DVD at home, or stopping for a quick bite at O’Malleys on the way
home from work. A soft chuckle
escaped her lips as Janet recalled he’d even gone grocery shopping with
her last week. The point was,
Daniel made time to be with her.
That was worth far more than any fancy night out on the town.
Janet
swallowed the last of her tea and stared into her empty mug. ‘And it doesn’t hurt that
he’s excellent in the doing
little surprises for no reason department,’ she reflected. Sure, any man could send flowers or
candy – and Daniel had certainly done that on occasion. But it took forethought and effort for
someone to help your daughter clean the house for you when you got
unexpectedly called in to work an extra shift, or pick up your dry cleaning
without being asked.
‘Or
visit exotic little Japanese shops in the quest for the perfect blend of
oriental green tea,’ she mused, running a finger over the rim of her
mug.
She set
the mug aside, flipped off the bedside lamp, and slid underneath her
bedcovers. ‘But, without a
doubt, the notes are my absolute favorite,’ she concluded.
The first
one had arrived on the same day SG-1 had gone to P3X-955, where they’d
encountered Mala and later became involved with Ishta and her band of female Jaffa. To her surprise, Janet had found the
note in her mailbox, stamped and with her address written in his familiar
script. When she’d
questioned him about it later he’d responded that anyone could send
notes via email, but he liked it better the old fashioned way. It was a nondescript card, blank
except for the simple note he had written.
“To sit alone in the
lamplight with a book spread out before you, and hold intimate converse with
men of unseen generations – such is a pleasure beyond
compare.” - Kenko Yoshida,
essayist (1283-1352). Obviously,
Yoshida never met you. I’ll
be thinking of you, Daniel.
After
that, letters and cards continued to appear in her mailbox, at random
intervals, but often arriving on the same day SG-1 had gated off-world. Sometimes there would even be two at a
time. They were handwritten, and
contained everything from short, silly notes, to extremely romantic
quotations of poetry, to his personally written sentimental rhymes. Over time, the messages began to
reflect the growth of their relationship. The most recent ones always contained,
in one way or another, an ardent declaration of his love for her. She was learning that Daniel Jackson
could be passionate about more than moral issues, and his correspondences
repeatedly left her marveling at his undeniable mastery of human language.
‘Oh
yes, that man definitely has a way with words,’ she mused happily,
burrowing further under the blankets, ‘English or otherwise.’
That had
been the most surprising detail Janet had discovered during her evolving
relationship with Daniel.
Apparently she had a thing
for the use of different languages.
She’d
happened upon this revelation quite by accident. Not long after Daniel admitted he
loved her, Janet came to the conclusion that he also loved to tell her that he loved her. Naturally, she didn’t mind this
a bit, and was all too happy to return the favor. One evening when Daniel had come over
for dinner – during a week when he’d been concentrating on some
translation work – he snuck up behind her in the kitchen, wrapped his
arms around her waist, and rambled off some incomprehensible phrase before
plopping a big kiss on her cheek.
As it turned out, he’d just said I love you, my dearest, in ancient Egyptian, without even
realizing it until afterwards.
She’d made some comment about thinking it was endearing, and
that was all the encouragement he needed as an excuse to tell her he loved
her, in as many languages as possible, at every available opportunity.
The
unexpected aspect of this development, Janet had discovered, was that her
reaction to it had gone from thinking it was endearing to thinking it was
down right sexy – not information she had any intention of
volunteering, but she suspected he would figure it out eventually, if he hadn’t
already.
Janet
felt a yawn coming on and relented to the sensation. A glance at the clock told her it was
after eleven. ‘Guess I best
be getting some sleep,’ she thought, rolling over to face the
window. She caught sight of the
stars, peeking down at her through the slits between her bedroom curtains,
and she wondered again what Daniel might be doing right now. A brief flash of worry crossed her
mind – the nagging sense of hoping he was safe and unharmed had stayed
with her ever since he’d returned from that nightmare in Honduras
– but she quickly pushed such thoughts away. Most likely he was busy with the
mission, chatting with Sam or Teal’c, or carrying on in that odd yet
friendly banter that he and O’Neill had perfected over the years. ‘Or maybe he’s looking up
at the stars in his own night sky,’ she thought drowsily, ‘and is
wishing me a good night.’
She
yawned again as her eyes drifted closed.
“Good night, Daniel,” she whispered aloud. “I love you.” Then nuzzling against her pillow,
Janet drifted off to sleep.
~ END ~
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