Evolving Emotions
by SaraC
E-MAIL: silk1023@aol.com
STATUS: Complete
RATING: PG
SEASON: 7
SPOILERS: Post Evolution II
SUMMARY: The scene we didn't see between a newly returned (injured) Daniel
and his overly concerned physician.
DISCLAIMER: No characters belong to me. I'm only borrowing them for a little
bit of fun.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Someone wanted post Evolution fic, so here you go!!
/It's okay, Daniel. I'm here. You're okay./
An intense sensation of pain brought Janet Fraiser straight up in bed, heart
pounding, forehead sweating, a sick sense of fear in her stomach. For a
moment, the pain and fear disoriented her and she could swear she was someplace
else, with someone else.
She could swear she was with Daniel.
Closing her eyes, she sank back against the pillows, trying to figure out
what was going on. The dream had been haunting her every night since word had
come that Daniel had been captured by rebels. The first night, she'd awoken in
tears, her mind crying out to Daniel. It was, she thought on reflection, almost
as if she could feel his pain, responded to it the best she could without
being there. She'd put it down to her worries and fears about the archaeologist,
and her more than just professional feelings for him. But when the dream had
come back the following two nights, each one more painful than the last, she'd
begun to fear for her sanity. Moreover, she was beginning to fear for Daniel,
wherever he was.
She wasn't sure how she knew, but she knew he was being tortured. She'd seen
and heard a lot of strange things in her time with the SGC, so she figured
there was merit to her ideas. She just didn't know why her, why now, or what good
she was doing. All she could do each night was to reassure him in her mind,
to try and send soothing, loving touches and support, letting him know he
wasn't alone. She had no idea if her thoughts were anything more than that, but a
part of her clung to the idea that somehow, someway, Daniel was taking comfort
from her and doing what he had to to survive.
She knew Jack and an old buddy of his were tracking Daniel down, but she
worried that they would be too late. And the thought of never seeing Daniel again,
well, that brought more pain than she wanted to admit. She'd lost him once,
to a higher power. She almost lost him as a "lifeboat" to those damned alien
people. She didn't know if she could handle losing him again.
Turning over, trying to calm her mind and body, she settled back into an
uneasy sleep, her mind trying to focus on all the reasons that Daniel would
survive and fight to return to them. To her. Even if it was only as his doctor and
friend. And once again, she focused her mind on reassuring and soothing
thoughts, trying to let him know that he wasn't alone, that he would survive.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
It took everything she had not to pace as she waited for Daniel to reach the
infirmary.
The Colonel had radioed them they'd found the missing archaeologists and they
were bringing them home. In a personal message for her and the General alone,
however, Jack had told them the extent of Daniel and Dr. Lee's injuries and a
bit of what they'd been forced to endure. The vivid images and feelings from
her dreams had assaulted her again and it had taken everything in her to stop
from collapsing.
Still, she'd been preparing for the returning injured all day, thankful only
that Jack had managed to convey that both Doctors were walking and didn't seem
seriously injured. However, that was surface injury. It was the inner
injuries, the mental ones as well, that had her worried. She and the General had
talked about counseling if needed, having dealt with the after effects of torture.
While they had made plans to have counselors available, she was selfishly
hoping they would not be needed.
She had to fight back tears as she finally saw the doors push open and a
bruised, battered archaeologist hobble his way through. Rushing quickly to his
side, she immediately began snapping out orders, hoping her hard tone masked the
near breakdown she was close to having as she looked him over to judge how
badly he was injured. Fighting her emotions, she forced herself to turn and give
Dr. Lee a once over as well, happy to note the other scientist was walking on
his own. Ordering him to a bed, she turned back to Daniel, glad to feel him
leaning on her as she slipped an arm around his waist, taking some of his weight
as she led him towards his familiar bed.
Once she had him settled, she motioned to Dr. Warner, who quickly moved
towards the bed Dr. Lee was sitting on. It was no secret among the base medical
personnel that Dr. Fraiser was the only doctor SG-1 tended to put up with,
despite their teasing and annoyance with her methods at times.
"He looks worse than he is, Doc." The Colonel's voice was calm, but knowing
him as well as she did, she could hear the relief behind the words. She
wouldn't deny she was breathing easier as well.
"Well, that's for me to determine, if you all don't mind?" Quickly shooing
everyone, including an avid
Jack O'Neill, out of the way, she drew the curtain around the bed. Once
establishing a semblance of privacy, she allowed herself to take a much closer look
at the man staring up at her intently from the bed.
Her breath caught as she noted the bruises and scrapes that seemed to cover
his arms, the black eye and the world-weary look in his beautiful blue orbs.
Using as gentle a touch as she could, she carefully began to remove his shirt,
her hands shaking as she uncovered his chest, also covered with fast blackening
bruises.
"Oh Daniel," she whispered hoarsely as she gently ran her hands over his
chest, feeling him wince as she found a particularly sensitive spot. She couldn't
help the tears that filled her eyes as she tried to be as gentle as possible.
She could only imagine the pain he must have suffered, and from the looks of
the bruises, it had been a lot worse than she'd dreamed.
Anger suddenly filled her at the thought. "Whatever those bastards did to
you, I hope to God Jack made them pay." The brutalness of her words normally
would have surprised her, but in this case, she felt perfectly justified in her
emotions as she took stock of how much pain the bastards had caused this man.
For the first time in what felt like weeks, even though it had only been
days, Daniel Jackson finally felt as if things were going to be okay. The soft,
gentle touch of the woman examining him, the tears in her eyes and the pure
outrage and horror in her voice as she muttered to herself what she'd do to the
'bastards' if they'd still been alive, making him feel better than any
painkiller ever could. Just the fact that Janet was allowing herself to show such
emotion was heartening after all he'd been through. Still, he felt an immediate
need to reassure her, to somehow make her feel better, as she did to him.
"It's not as bad as it looks, Janet. I promise." The words emerged in a
hoarse voice, his eyes softening as he met her watery gaze. Reaching up, he managed
to place one of his hands over hers, stilling it on a part of his chest that
was not bruised. The feel of her soft skin against his rough palm, not to
mention that she seemed to have no objection to the move, was enough to make his
voice deepen even more. "I'm okay, Janet. It takes a lot more than a bunch of
torturous mercenaries to bring me down."
Janet was shaking now, his words serving both to infuriate and soothe her.
Trying to keep a semblance of normality, she attempted to remove her hand from
his, despite the part of her that never wanted him to let go of it. "I'll be
the judge of whether or not you're okay, Doctor Jackson." This time, there was
a distinct tremor to her voice, although she hoped Daniel hadn't picked up on
it.
Daniel's eyes softened as he watched her struggle for control, tightening his
grip on her hand when it looked like she wanted to free herself from his
grip. This beautiful, smart, talented woman who always seemed so in control, was
about to lose it, over him. It gave him a bit of hope that just perhaps, she
might feel something akin to what he felt for her. "Janet, look at me."
The soft words were delivered in a tone that, surprisingly, was more
demanding than she'd ever heard from him. Unable to resist, her gaze was drawn up to
his and their eyes locked with an intensity that somewhat frightened her.
"It wasn't the most pleasant experience of my life, but it was nothing
compared to being shot with a staff weapon or subjecting my brain to a Gou'ald hand
device." His attempt at humor obviously had the wrong effect as her eyes
suddenly flashed and she broke the gaze, her eyes returning to her examination of
his body. "Janet, please, talk to me, what did I say?"
Control was something Janet Fraiser prided herself on, but right about now,
she was finding it harder than she'd ever imagined to keep her raging emotions
under control. The plea in his tone was what finally made her snap. Turning
blazing eyes to his face, she leaned over so he would be the only one to hear
her irate whisper.
"What's wrong? You have the nerve to ask me what's wrong?"
Daniel swallowed hard, a little nervous at her reaction, but he also noted,
once again, how beautiful she was when her eyes flashed with anger. He quickly
brought his mind back on track as her tirade continued.
"Do you know what we went through, for a week, waiting to hear word that you
were alive? Do you know what terrible scenarios went through my head, thinking
you might be lost or hurt or heaven forbid, dead? And you have the gall to
joke about it, what's more, with the other life threatening experiences that
could have left you dead? What in the world is wrong about that?"
Her hands were shaking and her voice was rising, but she really couldn't seem
to get control of her emotions. It didn't help that Daniel was looking up at
her with an expression that normally would have melted every bone in her body.
Her breath caught as she suddenly felt both his hands reach for hers.
"Janet, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I would never want to hurt
you, not in any way." Daniel willed her to see how much he meant the words,
hoping his expression conveyed to her how sorry he was for making light of
something that obviously concerned her.
Janet was struggling to bring herself under control, aware that she might
have revealed too much with her heated outburst. The last thing she wanted was
for Daniel to realize that she cared so much for his health because she cared so
much for him. He only thought of her as his doctor and possibly a good
friend. He'd never done anything to make her think otherwise, despite the fact he
now held both her hands tightly in his grasp.
"I'm sorry, Daniel. It's just, you must have taken a pretty bad beating and I
suppose it's the friend as well as the doctor in me that's reacting to your
injuries. I'm sorry if I sounded overbearing-" Her words were stopped by a
finger as he lifted it to cover her lips.
"Don't be sorry for being concerned about me, Janet. Actually, I'm glad you
care so much." He took a deep breath as he squeezed her hands, hoping he wasn't
stepping over the line. But her words, the expression in her eyes, the way
she still held tightly to his hands, made him hope. And, if anything, his recent
experience had taught him to take nothing for granted. "You know, it was
mainly thoughts of you that got me through, everything," he whispered softly,
seeing her eyes widen as her hand unconsciously tightened on his.
"Really?" She probably could have come up with a more verbal response, but at
the moment, she found herself at a loss for words.
Daniel smiled and decided to go for it. "Really. When they were, torturing
me," he paused a moment, feeling her hands tighten as he shuddered at the
memory. "The only thing I could picture was your face." His voice grew husky as he
tightened his grip, his eyes boring into hers. "The only thing I could hear in
my head was your voice, telling me to hold on, to hang in there, that it would
be all right."
Janet's eyes teared up at his words, not to mention the expression in his
eyes. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, although she wanted to with
every part of her. Still, it gave her the courage to speak of her dreams.
"Every night you were gone, I don't know how to explain it, I mean, I thought
it was just me, but, well, I dreamt of you, Daniel." The words were soft and
hesitant, and she found it more difficult to look into his eyes. The soft
touch of his fingers, tilting her chin up to his, startled her.
"What did you dream about me, Janet?" The words were soft, his eyes dark on
hers as she looked into his.
"I kept dreaming you were in trouble, in pain, and you kept calling out to
me." She reached to stroke his cheek with her free hand before continuing. "I
wanted so badly to go to you, but all I could do was reassure you that it would
be okay, to hang on, to not give up."
Daniel closed his eyes a moment, remembering clearly hearing Janet's voice in
his mind. The thought was mind boggling, but for some reason, it didn't
surprise him. He'd learned, in his years with the SGC, as he suspected she had,
that stranger things could happen.
"I heard you, Janet. Somehow, I heard you. Your voice kept me sane, the
knowledge that you'd be here, waiting for me, it's why I survived every torture
tactic they used on me." He opened his eyes when he felt a drop of water fall
onto his cheek. Looking up, he found Janet wiping away a tear as she looked at
him, his breath stolen by what he saw in her eyes.
"I was so scared, Daniel. The dreams were so real, it was if I could feel
your pain, and I couldn't do anything!" The words were a broken whisper and
without stopping to think, Daniel struggled to an upright position, pulling her
into his arms, sighing in satisfaction as he felt her wrap her arms carefully
around his waist and hold on as if for dear life.
"You don't have to be scared anymore. I'm here and I'm not leaving you
again." He whispered the words and other calming phrases against her ear as he
stroked her back. The feel of her in his arms, he realized, was a better painkiller
than anything medical. He'd wanted her here for so long, he almost couldn't
believe he was finally holding her.
Janet, for her part, tried to feel ashamed at showing her weakness, but
didn't succeed. Perhaps it was the feel of his arms around her, the scent that was
uniquely Daniel in her senses, or the simple fact that he cared, but whatever
it was, she didn't want to lose it. Especially since she'd dreamed about being
in his arms for far too long.
Finally pulling back, she stared into his eyes, heart racing at the emotions
reflected there. Without stopping to think, only realizing how close to
loosing him she'd come, she leaned forward and brushed her lips against his.
Daniel was not one to overlook a golden opportunity. Before she could pull
back, he pulled her closer, his lips covering hers again, only this time with a
desperate passion he couldn't control. He had to hold back a moan as he felt
her eagerly respond, her lips opening to the probe of his tongue, her tongue
reaching to tangle with his.
Janet was lost in a kiss like she'd never believed possible. His lips were so
warm and firm against hers, and it should be illegal what his mouth on hers
could do to her body. She'd dreamed about kissing Daniel for years and now that
it was actually happening, she realized that the dreams paled in comparison
to reality.
When they finally parted for breath, they continued to stare into each
other's eyes, both knowing they needed to speak, but unable to find words. It was the jarring call of the Colonel's voice that broke their reverie.
"Hey, Doc. What's taking so long?"
"Big needles for him next time," she shakily muttered under her breath,
earning a soft laugh from Daniel, who still seemed reluctant to let her go.
"I agree, although, he has a point." His eyes twinkled at her look though his
voice was soft. "The sooner we finish this examination, the sooner you can
release me, meaning we can both get out of here and maybe get dinner?"
Janet's eyes watered again at the hesitant question, the softness in his eyes
and the way he held her in his arms. He was obviously hurting and tired, but
he still wanted to spend time with her. Her smile faded at his wince as he
shifted on the bed.
"You know, I'm thinking that bed rest might be what you need for a few
weeks," she began, stopping his protest with a finger to his lips and a smile. "I
didn't necessarily say whose bed I'm confining you to." With a wink at his look
of delighted shock, she pulled slowly back out of his arms, reaching to pull
the curtain away from them.
"He's almost ready, Colonel. Although I'm going to suggest he spend the next
few days in bed, recovering from his injuries." She winked at him again as she
turned to scribble something on his chart.
"Sounds perfectly logical to me, you think you can stay in bed that long
Spacemonkey?"
Daniel smiled at his best friend's voice, his eyes lingering on the petite
doctor at his side. "Oh, I think I can manage being confined to bed for an
undetermined amount of time. If Janet here thinks it's for the best." He noted his
friend raised his eyebrow at the tone of his voice, not to mention the cough
that Janet gave at his words.
"Well, on that note, can we get him out of here, Doc?"
The impatience in the Colonel's voice brought a small smile to Janet's lips.
Quickly reaching for her medical pad, she scribbled something on it, handing
it to Daniel, who had struggled into a sitting position on the bed.
"Here you go, Daniel. Take one of these every four hours if the pain gets
bad, some additional notes are on the back if you need them." With a quick wink
at him, she headed out of the room, leaving an amused archaeologist and a
suspicious Colonel staring after her.
Looking at the prescription in his hand, Daniel quickly turned it over,
finding a small message in Janet's distinguishable scribble.
"Dinner at 7. I'm bringing. Leave the door unlocked."
His grin nearly split his face as he folded the paper and stuck it in his
pocket. Quickly wiping the grin off his face as Jack looked at him strangely, he
reached for his crutches.
"Come on, you heard Janet. I need to get home and into bed." Leaving his
friend staring after him in bemusement, he hobbled from the infirmary, his mind
already planning what his somewhat injured body could accomplish without earning
the wrath of his very willing doctor.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The End
Back
~ DJA main page ~ Updates ~ Alpha by Author ~ Alpha by Title ~ Alpha by Series ~ GTKY ~ Song Lyrics ~ Challenges ~
~ Quotes ~ Shippy Reviews ~ DJ Galleries ~ Daniel/MS bio ~ Janet/Teryl bio ~ Beta Readers ~ Links/Webrings ~
~ Sam and Jack Archive ~ SG-13 Homepage ~