Disclaimer: Stargate doesn't belong to me … and never will.

A/N: The story starts at the end of season 5s episode 2001 and moves from that point on. So there'll definitely be spoilers involved… It's only my second story so please R&R as it's the best way to improve my writing. But now on with the story …

xoxoxoxoxo

The Power of Love

Chapter 1:

Note to myself: falling through the Stargate from about 15 feet above is another way to painfully dislocate your shoulder. Not that I didn't dislocate my shoulder before but that doesn't make it hurt less. Bless Janet for her happy pills! I sure know why she turned out to be one of my best friends ever. Not that I had lots of them. Really good friends I mean. Not after mom died anyway as I was too busy studying to make the pain of loosing her and him as well go away. Uh oh, think happy thoughts. I'm so not wanting to go there! Okay, he's back in my life now and I don't know if I'd made it to where I'm now without his support. But still ...

"Hey Carter, you decent? Doc said you're free to go. But she wants me to remind you to stay off-base for 3 days once the debriefing is over!" her CO Jack O'Neill cheerfully called from outside the curtains around her bed.

"Come in," she answers relieved. She didn't want to swell on those dark thoughts and to be honest, she could use some help with her boots.

"So Carter, watcha gonna do once the big boss dismisses us?" Jack O'Neill asked while bending down to help with her boots. "You know, I thought about some fishing and relaxing and … fishing," he continued waggling his eye-brows suggestively at her.

Sam couldn't help but smile at her CO. Telling off Kinsey was obviously very good for his mood and she wasn't able to stay unaffected by his cheerfulness. "Thanks for the offer, sir. But I think I'm going to do something more fun."

"Carter, how can there possibly be something more fun than fishing? I'm truly hurt!" To emphasise his pain he put a hand over his heart. Yep, there is nothing better than telling off some annoying idiot like Kinsey. Apart from some major Goa'uld ass kicking that is.

"Sorry sir. But I have other things in mind when thinking of doing something fun!" Not that I would tell you what I'm really going to do, Sam added in her mind.

"You know that work isn't meant to be fun. It's supposed to be … well … work."

Sam only raised her eyebrows at that and got of the bed heading for the exit. Jack just shook his head wondering how she managed to give a whole answer with this one gesture. He had to admit they did have fun at work after all. Well sometimes that is. Like today with Kinsey. And Sam just told him this. With her eyebrows. Hey wait! That was just one eyebrow! All the practicing while being trapped in the infirmary must have finally paid off. Chuckling to himself remembering when he caught her practicing at night the last time they were the guests of honour around here, he called after Carter.

"Oh come on Carter! You know what I mean! Work can be fun but it's not meant to be the fun when you are supposed to be not working. Well, that sounded strange even to myself but you know what I mean! You're supposed to be a genius after all!"

Catching up with her he waggled his eyebrows at her again. And got a real smile as reward. That was exactly what he was hoping for. He preferred her smile to the distressed way she looked when he came to get her from the infirmary. Mission accomplished he thought just before they entered the briefing room.

xoxoxoxoxo

"Dismissed. And Major Carter, I don't want to see you on base until Monday. Understood?" General Hammond finished the briefing, his eyes sparkling with good humour.

"Yes sir."

"Good, I've put SG1 on downtime till then and you're free to go as long as you've finished all your paperwork!" After explicitly looking at Colonel O'Neill he turned and went into his office.

"So Carter, watcha really gonna do?" Jack asked as soon as they left the briefing room.

"Well, I'm going to catch some things from my lab and probably head home afterwards."

"Oh for crying out loud! You're supposed to have fun! Not work on some of your projects! Do I really have to make it an order?"

Turning to face Daniel she rolled her eyes and said "No, it won't be necessary, sir. No work this weekend. I promise."

"Yeah sure. As if I'd believe that," Jack muttered under his breath before sighing theatrically. "Well kids, looks like I've got to do a bit of paperwork before going home. Daniel, stop snickering or you're going to do lots of MY paperwork tonight!"

"I wasn't snickering" Daniel answered pointedly.

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Too."

"Not!"

Choosing that moment Teal'c turned to Sam, "Major Carter, do you need assistance in getting home? I believe it would be very unwise to try driving with the injury you have sustained today."

Daniel and Jack looked at each other and simultaneously said "I'll drive you!"

Looking incredulously at each other they both continued "No, you don't."

"Yes I do."

"No you don't."

"I do!"

At this point Sam couldn't contain her laughter any longer. It was just too funny to watch their little game. Additional to their usual banter this time both said exactly the same thing at the same time. Though it was probably unwise to basically laugh at her CO she couldn't help herself. Hell, even Teal'c was smiling! So how was she supposed to stay serious? Well, she could always blame it on the painkillers anyway. Oh look, they stopped arguing and started looking at her like she was going mad. Yep, right now would be about the perfect time to stop laughing.

"Uh, sorry sir. Must be the pain medication or something," Sam said sheepishly.

"Ah, pain medication," he said nodding his head smiling slightly. "So when are you ready to go?"

"O'Neill, have you not to finish your paperwork yet? I believe it would be very unwise to leave the base without doing so."

"Oh Teal'c, come on. Carter needs a lift home, so she gets a lift home."

"Indeed. I believe Daniel Jackson is ready to go as well. Therefore it would be most wise to let him take Major Carter home."

"See, Jack. I told you so!" Daniel added grinning.

"Oh fine! Go knock yourself out. I'm in my office if anybody should care." Jack reluctantly gave in.

"Sorry sir. Have a nice weekend. You too, Teal'c," Sam said smiling at both of them before turning to get her things from her lab.

"Yeah, bye Jack, Teal'c," Daniel waved, before following Sam.

"Hey T, looks like we're left behind. So watcha going to do?" Jack asked Teal'c hoping to avoid the dreaded paperwork somewhat longer.

"I am going to kel'nor'eem. I wish you good luck with your duties," Teal'c said tilting his head lightly. Jack could have sworn Teal'c was smiling at him. Oh come on, paperwork is really really boring! So at least one has to try to avoid it as long as possible. Looks like the 'as long as possible' is over now. Sighing, Jack waved Teal'c goodbye before leaving for his office.

xoxoxoxoxo

"So Sam, what are you going to do the next 3 days?" Daniel asked curiously. He actually was in a pretty good mood himself so he couldn't help adding a "Fishing?" for good measure.

As Sam was currently watching out the window Daniel didn't see her rolling her eyes at his question. He also missed the mischievous grin on her face just before she turned to face him, her face showing no emotions once again. Well, two can play this game!

"Actually, don't tell anyone but the Colonel asked me to do just that and I agreed. He is going to pick me up after he finished his paperwork and we'll be on our way to Minnesota." Sam replied with a straight face. "I hope you don't mind. Do you?" she added sheepishly.

"Wha … bu … how … ?"

It was actually a good thing they had to stop at a traffic light as Daniel still made a very good fish impression. Even in his mind he couldn't build a coherent sentence and that meant quite a lot! However, seeing Daniel so completely dumbfounded Sam couldn't contain her laughter any longer. That of course earned her quite a pout from him.

"Sorry Daniel but you have to admit you started the whole thing. To be honest, the Colonel did ask me if I wanted to go fishing though." Sam said once she managed to stop laughing.

As Daniel still seemed to be pouting Sam sighed and chose to tell him her plans. Kind of anyway.

"Well, believe it or not but I decided to put the free time to good use and go and visit some friends in Denver. It's not that I could sneak back into the SGC to get some work done so I might as well do something I meant to do for quite some time," realising she started babbling Sam stopped herself before Daniel got suspicious one way or another.

"Denver? You never told me of some friends in Denver?" Daniel answered questioningly. He wasn't sure if she was joking once again so asking wouldn't hurt. Right?

"Really? I though I mentioned them. Anyway, they are a really nice couple and we met during my time at the pentagon. We met occasionally ever since they moved to Denver about 2 years ago."

"Okay, what are they like? How are you going to get there? Names, jobs, phone numbers?" Daniel asked seriously. Hm, maybe she is serious this time.

If he hadn't actually sounded that serious Sam would have laughed again. Instead she only rolled her eyes, this time clearly visibly for Daniel. This was one of those times she wished he wasn't like her brother. For one he wouldn't be so overprotective and two, well, she didn't have a date for quite some time … Not that she ever considered this a real possibility but sometimes it was fun to think 'what if'.

"Daniel I can watch after myself, you know?" Sam said completely hiding her actual thoughts.

This time Daniel didn't say anything but looked pointedly at her shoulder making Sam scowl. Hey, that was not fair! After all it wasn't her idea to fall through that wormhole! It was Daniel who suggested foul play by the Ashen and she was the one caught in the middle! Not to mention the Ambassador who had to pay the ultimate price. Sighing she had to admit that saving the planet – again – and therefore the people she loved was worth it. Even Daniel's bickering. But that didn't mean she had to tell him everything and especially not that particular detail of her life.

The rest of the drive to Sam's house was done in silence as both were deep in their thoughts. Daniel still wondered why the hell Sam wouldn't tell him more about her 'friends' and he decided to give Janet a call later tonight. She was Sam's best friend after all and might be willing to share something. Janet loved to gossip after all. Yes, that's what he was going to do. This particular problem solved he got out of the car helping Sam bringing her things inside.

"Okay, do you need anything else? Groceries? Or is there food in your fridge for once?" Daniel asked lightly having overcome the darker mood he found himself after their talk in the car.

"Daniel, why would I need groceries when I'm going away anyway?" Sam answered amused.

"You really meant it? I thought you were kinda… " One look at Sam's face told him to better stop. Sam definitely wasn't amused anymore.

"Never mind. So you're all set?"

"Actually, why don't you let me pack a few things and then you can drive me to the bus station. It isn't too far off your way home anyway. I'd really appreciate this." Sam finally answered deciding when Daniel really wanted to help than she could as well use his offer. Maybe then he'd believe she was serious about her little trip!

It took her almost 30 Minutes to make a couple of phone calls and pack the things she'd need for the weekend. Apparently dislocating your shoulder isn't the best way if you want to pack fast. When she was finally finished she felt somewhat bad that Daniel had to wait that long for her when she was pretty sure he was looking forward to the weekend too. Even if he just wanted to get to work on the translations he brought with him.

Ready to apologise for the long wait Sam entered her living room only to see Daniel already engrossed in one of her books. And one of the romantic novels too! Though she'd never admit to reading one of those she found them quite good to give her mostly overactive mind a couple of hours of rest as she could read them without having to think about it. And – as weird as it may sound – it helped her solving the complex problems her work brought with it. Hey wait, Daniel reading a romantic novel and not even hearing her enter the room? This sounded pretty much like good black mail material! She could always say Cassie forget the book when she was last visiting Sam but Daniel had no excuse for reading it.

"Sorry to disturb you but we have to get going if I want to catch the next bus!" Sam said grinning evilly.

Turning as red as probably possible Daniel turned to Sam trying to say something but he just opened and closed his mouth as he didn't know what to say.

"Cassie forgot the book last time she was here and what is your excuse?" Sam continued still grinning. It wasn't even a lie as this one was Cassie's. And as long as Daniel didn't find her own stock of romantic novels she was fine.

"I … uhm … well," Daniel tried to save at least some of his dignity but failed miserable. Clearing his throat he put the novel away coming over to Sam and relieving her of her bag. "We better get going then before you actually do miss the bus."

Leading the way to the door he added, "By the way, this one might belong to Cassie but what about the ones behind those books on wormhole theory?"

Busted! Now it was Sam's turn to turn red. Oh well, here goes the black mail opportunity. At least Daniel won't comment on this cause he'd be in for much more teasing then her.

But as embarrassing as these little revelations might have been it brought the light banter back they lost somewhere on the drive to Sam's house. This time the drive wasn't silent and they talked about the newest gossip going around the SGC. Just because they were both scientist didn't mean they'd only talk about science. Nevertheless, they'd never admit to anyone they also enjoyed these sort of conversations. Once they arrived at the bus station Sam bought the ticket while Daniel was carrying her bag. She was quite grateful for that because her shoulder was definitely throbbing now as the pain meds Janet gave her started to wear off and she still had to wait a while till she could take some more.

"So, you sure you're going to be okay?" Daniel asked concerned once he put her bag in the bus.

"Yes, I'm fine." Sam answered seriously. "Don't worry. I'll use the weekend to rest and do anything but work. Considering the work you smuggled out of the mountain you won't even realise I'm gone!" she added on a lighter note.

Daniel had at least the decency to blush before he gave her a quick hug. "Take care, okay?"

"I will," Sam answered kissing his cheek before she entered the bus. This might get interesting once she comes back she thought. But brushing those thoughts aside for now she watched Daniel leaving the bus station while the bus started too.

xoxoxoxoxo

Just as it started to get really uncomfortable for Sam the bus finally arrived in Denver. She took some more pain killers, grabbed her bag and left the bus looking for someone to meet her.

She didn't have to wait long when a well loved voice called out "Sammy!" Shaking her head at this nickname she turned around to the only person who could call her that without having to fear any sort of retribution. Looking around she saw the tall handsome figure merely a couple of steps away. Before she could say anything he hugged her enthusiastic but still careful due to her shoulder.

"Hey stranger," Sam said happily before giving him a quick kiss.