Work Text:
That’s What Friends Are For
Samantha Carter has just sat down with her oatmeal in the commissary when a frazzled looking Vala runs into the room.
“Sam! I’m so glad I found you!”
Sam looks over at her alien friend. She looks disheveled, her raven hair in a messy ponytail and clothes mismatched. Sam is immediately concerned. Vala takes great pride in her appearance, so for her to come into the commissary looking so unlike herself, there must be something seriously wrong.
“Vala, what’s wrong? Are you feeling sick?”
Vala slumps onto the chair across from Sam and lies her head down on the table with her arms crossed in front of her face. “No.”
Sam reaches over and pats her friend’s hand, concerned. “What is it then?”
The other woman mumbles something one of the words sounding suspiciously like ‘Daniel.’
Sam closes her eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath. She suddenly remembers that last night was supposed to be a team night, but they all bailed except for Daniel and Vala. Oh God, what has he done now?
She opens her eyes and gently pulls Vala’s hands away from her face. “I can’t understand what you are saying. Can you repeat that?”
Vala looks her friend in the eye and says something that Sam will never forget. “I said, Daniel kissed me.”
Shock rushes through her at the words that have just come out of the other woman’s mouth. Did she just say that Daniel kissed her? Has he finally come out of his denial?
Sam holds up a hand. “Whoa, whoa, what? Daniel kissed you? When did this happen?”
Vala sighs. “Well yesterday evening after you all bailed on us, Daniel and I went to the bar by ourselves. We got a few drinks and shot some pool. Nothing unusual or anything, but we had fun. Some random guy tried to hit on me, but Daniel put his arm around me and pretended to be my boyfriend so that guy would leave me alone.”
Sam stifles a laugh. Daniel was clearly jealous. “Okay, then what?”
“Then we came back to the base and instead of dropping me off at the front door of my quarters, Daniel followed me inside. He…he told me I looked really pretty and then he leaned down and kissed me. Unfortunately it was over before I could even properly respond, I’m not even sure he meant to do it. He looked at me shocked and then mumbled a goodnight and ran out the door.”
Sam takes a second to let what Vala told her to sink in. It didn’t sound like Daniel at all. He was always so adamant that him and Vala are ‘just friends’ even though she knows him better than that. He’s always been so good at lying to himself.
“Were the two of you drunk?”
Vala shakes her head. “No. Like I said, we had a few drinks, but nothing more than a pleasant buzz. Sam, I just don’t know what to do! I was up tossing and turning all night thinking about it. Please help.”
Sam comes over to sit next to her friend and places a caring arm around her. “I think you and Daniel need to have a serious conversation about this.”
“But…but you know how he gets. He will probably just say it was a mistake or that the kiss was friendly or something.”
Sam sighs audibly. “You’re right. Let me talk to him first.”
Vala sits up straighter and flashes Sam a smile. “Really? You’ll do that for me?”
Sam smiles back. “What are friends for?”
XXXXXXXXXX
After breakfast, Sam makes it her mission to hunt down Daniel and have a talk with him. She finds him easily, in his office, writing something in a notebook.
She knocks lightly on the door frame. “Are you busy?”
Daniel looks up at her and smiles, though it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “No, not really. What’s up?”
She enters the room and stands closer to him. She really doesn’t want to have this conversation with him, because she knows he will deny his feelings and be stubborn, but it needs to be done. “We have to talk.”
Daniel laughs lightly. “Are you breaking up with me?”
Sam does not return his laughter and sighs. “Daniel, I’m being serious.”
He drops his pen and scoots his chair back, looking up at his friend. “Okay, I’m sorry. What’s going on?”
“I talked to Vala this morning…”
“And? Doesn’t she talk to you like almost every morning?”
Sam shakes her head. “Yes, but our conversations usually don’t involve her telling me that you kissed her. “
Daniel slumps back into his chair and rubs his forehead. “Oh.”
“Oh? That’s all you have to say to that?”
The man sighs, refusing to meet Sam’s eyes. “I mean, yes, I did kiss her, but it didn’t mean anything. We were drinking, I wasn’t thinking right.”
Sam scoffs at him. “She said you weren’t drunk.”
“Okay! I wasn’t drunk, but it was a mistake. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Daniel, we’re friends. Good friends. We’ve been close for years, and honestly, I’m a little sick of you denying your feelings.”
Daniel takes of his glasses and rubs his temples. “Sam, I don’t know why you’ve taken such an interest in my love life, but I don’t have those kinds of feelings for Vala. It was a moment of weakness.”
Sam feels her blood boiling at how stubborn her friend is being. “Anyone with eyes can see how much you care for Vala. Yes, you guys bicker and she teases you, but I’ve seen the way you look at her. It is definitely not just a friendly look either. I think you care about her more than you would like to admit.”
“But…”
“Stop. I don’t want to hear your excuses anymore. You know how Vala feels about you, and I know how you feel about her. And you want to know something funny? If you switch the letters A and E in your name it spells denial, which you are clearly still in. You need to talk to her. “
Daniel’s mouth hangs open, shocked at his friend’s tirade.
“Today Daniel!” Sam says as she leaves them room, still frustrated at her friend.
XXXXXXXXXXX
A few hours later, Sam has yet to hear from either Vala or Daniel. She assumes that means they haven’t spoken yet, and Daniel is about to get an earful from her. She marches over to his office and barges in unannounced.
And then she stops cold.
Sam watches in shock as she takes in the scene before her. Daniel has Vala pushed up against the wall, kissing her passionately. Their eyes are closed and they are too lost in each other to even notice that she has entered the room.
Sam feels like she is stuck, unable to stop watching her friends kiss so thoroughly. Vala’s hand is tangled in Daniel’s hair and his is cupping her cheek and pulling her closer. Their lips continue to crash violently together as she sees Daniel move his hand from Vala’s cheek to squeeze her ass. His hand then moves to the front of her shirt and slips underneath, sliding upwards.
Sam shakes out of her trance. “Holy Hannah!”
The pair breaks apart, their lips swollen and faces flushed. Daniel’s glasses are askew on his face and Vala reaches to fix her hair.
“Sam!” They both exclaim, still straightening themselves out.
The blonde woman laughs at her friends. “I guess you two have sorted things out. Next time, I suggest you take this to a more private location. Can you imagine if Cam had found you?”
Sam smiles to herself as she exits the room, leaving the two lovebirds to themselves once again