Chapter Text
They found a place together, somewhere Daniel was honestly excited about.
His apartments had always just been a place, a place he had liked, a place he could feel safe, and keep his possessions where someone couldn't get rid of them or destroy them. But other than traditionally needing office space—something that hadn't been as relevant in his role in the SGC—he didn't care all that much about where he lived. Now, he found he did care, he and Samantha were both looking for somewhere that they could both love, that would likely be long term. Daniel had never really cared about decorations, or paint colors before as long as they weren't hideous, but now he cared.
It was a unique experience. He felt almost giddy about it.
They stopped spending so much time in the mountain, getting ready to move and planning logistics.
They moved in together quickly, not seeing a reason to wait, and Jack and Teal'c even came to help. They would have to have a house warming once the paperwork (house and marriage) were completely finalized, but they ordered pizza and had the unofficial house warming with their team after moving boxes and furniture, the only ones who knew the truth.
Once Jack and Teal'c had gone, Daniel grabbed his bag and fished around in it.
"Hey Sam, I, I have something for you." He triumphantly presented her with the little ring box that had fallen to the very bottom of his bad, and she looked at him in question. "If you don't like it, it's fine I just thought, we should do this right, as much as we can." He was oddly nervous but he was excited to give it to her too.
Sam opened the box and looked at the bronze ring with subtle designs carved around the band. No gemstones, but that also meant nothing that would get caught on her work. She lifted it out of the cushion gently, turning the band to study the etchings. They were stylized gate symbols. It was their address, Earth. Something no one else would understand, but she would, and based on her face, she did.
"I did some research, apparently bronze doesn't spark, so it should be safe to wear in your lab, if you want. There's silver on the inside though, so it doesn't turn your skin green." Sam tore her gaze up and moved to hug him.
"Thank you, Daniel. It's beautiful." She pulled back so she could slide it on her ring finger, and it was such a relief it fit well. "Do you have one?"
"Yeah, mine's just normal gold, it looks the same though. I hope that's okay."
"It's perfect."
—
Daniel was working on a personal, and hopefully publishable project in his office when he heard the door open and the scent of Chinese food made it to him. He left his work mid-sentence to go greet Sam, turns out he was starving. "Ooh that smells amazing."
"Got your favorites."
"Beef and broccoli? And egg rolls?"
"Uh huh."
"Oh thanks." Daniel still forgot sometimes, how well Sam knew him. They had only been married for a few weeks though, and living together for a month, he was probably allowed to still be adjusting.
"I'm kind of in the mood for a movie, what do you think?" Sam asked as she spread their food on the coffee table.
"I could be persuaded, what are my options?"
"Would you hate me if I said Indiana Jones?"
"Promise not to tell Jack?"
"That I'm making you watch Indiana Jones?"
"No…that I actually really like Indiana Jones."
"Really?"
"I mean it's not actually accurate and I got tired pretty quick of the hat and whip jokes, but it's always been fun, and he's not stuck on one culture like most academics are forced to do."
"Pretty sure keeping secrets is implied in the marriage vows. Your secret is safe with me."
"Till divorce do us part." Daniel said dryly and Sam laughed.
"I think you'll be stuck with me forever, in some form or another."
Daniel didn't know how to respond with the warm feeling crawling up his chest and choking his throat, so he just smiled and let Sam put in the DVD.
—
Missions weren't any different really, except sometimes they could use the fact that they were married to their advantage. Keep from being separated, or get access to better information as 'respectable married adults'. Jack hadn't tried playing that card often, partially because he wouldn't have thought of it, partially because putting Sam in that position without warning would have been unprofessional at best.
Sam and Daniel were more than happy to play the card though. They were pragmatic. And the matching rings helped.
Teal's didn't treat them any differently, and neither did Jack, after he got used to the idea.
—
"Hey, Danny?"
"Yeah, Sam?" Daniel kept taking notes on the artifact he was studying, it wasn't really supposed to be out of the mountain but what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them and he hadn't wanted to stop working but Sam had a thing after work so she had dragged him home on time so he wouldn't call a taxi or more likely stay in the mountain all night. Daniel was willing to admit he was terrible to be around on no sleep, if at least to himself. And staying overnight in the mountain was a recipe for pulling an all-nighter.
"Danny."
"Hmm?" It took him another second but Daniel finally surfaced, looking up at her. "Sorry, what?"
"So, you know how I married you to be your legal proxy and asked for nothing in return?" She gave him that look she sometimes gave potential enemies, the 'I'm just a pretty girl and not dangerous at all' look. Daniel was pretty sure she was doing it as a joke.
"Yeah…"
"Well I have a big event in DC next week, plus ones are encouraged and I'm desperate to not go alone."
"Doesn't Jack normally go to these things?"
"Yes, but he got out of it. I can't. If I go alone I'll be stuck talking to the worst people and stupid guys flirting and saying I'm married won't help because then they'll start asking why you aren't there in that disappointed voice and it'll feel like I just made you up."
"You're saying a room full of military men will assume you made up a fake relationship to avoid them." Daniel said skeptically.
"That's what they thought last time when I had a boyfriend who couldn't make it. It's almost better to not be attached but then there's the flirting problem. I wouldn't care but they don't stop and every time I've tried to date a military guy he expected me to stay home and have babies."
"Ah. I'm again thrilled with my decision to not join the military."
Sam scoffed, "Even if you did no one would be asking when you're going to retire to have a family."
"Fair enough. Sorry. But yes, of course I can come with you. Dress code?"
"Formal. And if you can help me avoid the worst of them, I'll go with you to one of the museums out there."
"Ooh, now that's a good deal. No one likes going with me but Teal'c, apparently I talk too much." Daniel made a rueful face, he knew exactly how much he talked but he couldn't not talk when certain things crossed his path.
"Danny, I'd rather listen to you through the entire Smithsonian than some of these wind bags."
"The whole Smithsonian?" He looked at her hopefully and Sam hurriedly shut that down.
"But we don't have time for that this trip. One."
"I'll pick carefully then, something we'll both like."
Sam smiled at him, and Daniel smiled back.
—
Sam was clearly dreading the first real family dinner they had after their marriage, obsessively cleaning the house even though they were going to be flying to San Diego. She had rechecked her luggage at least three times and Daniel was ready to let her check his just so she'd have something to do before they left for the airport. They hadn't even seen Jacob since their marriage, he had been off world for over a year and she hadn't wanted to risk a message for it. She hadn't had time to go visit her brother in that time either.
They couldn't even tell them the truth about their marriage, her brother wouldn't understand need-to-know (the kids definitely wouldn't) and her dad was still uptight about most things involving the military, even though he was a Tok'ra now.
So they had to pretend to be the happy, ordinary couple with mostly normal top secret jobs. Daniel was more worried about pretending to be well adjusted and normal around family. Sam was more worried about not being able to bring up aliens. If it got too awkward, Daniel was prepared to jump on the grenade and talk about ancient Egypt until everyone's eyes glazed over and they could escape.
And it did end up being a little awkward, the Carters all still running up against hurts and old grievances, but they were trying. Really, really trying to build something again, and that was good to see.
Jacob was surprised when he saw Daniel there, and during their explanation of their quiet, private wedding, but he accepted it far easier than Daniel was expecting. In fact, he seemed thrilled, once he got over his surprise.
Mark and his wife Allison were beyond welcoming, and while Sam and Daniel weren't traditional newlyweds, it turned out they could find plenty of things to talk about, like the small mishaps that happened while moving in together, the shenanigans that the team got into on Earth, or on planets similar to earth.
Mark and Allison were happy to share similar stories, and even Jacob shared a few lighthearted stories about their mother. So dinner proceeded carefully but it turned out well. And if the mood ever got too solemn or hurt, the kids were always ready to interject with the sort of random comments kids made. Daniel didn't really know how to deal with the kids, but they were cute and started calling him Uncle Daniel immediately which was an interesting novelty.
They made plans to meet up again soon, with or without Jacob who's schedule was even more chaotic than theirs. Daniel realized that maybe he could do the whole family thing on Earth, it wasn't just a fluke of Abydos and living in a culture more similar to ancient Egypt than modern America.
—
They were married and happy and family, and whatever was happening in the wide galaxy was so much more important than a piece of paper and the fact that they shared a car to and from work most days. But the security of it definitely helped both of them, even if they didn't need to talk about it much. So years passed, and they stayed married.
—
It became such a part of life, they didn't need to think about it much, until suddenly, it was more relevant than it had ever been.
Daniel was dead, not just left on a planet with no chance of recovery, or in a coma, or left dead in the hands of the Goa'uld with a chance of revival. He was ascended, and Sam didn't think he could come back, or that he would. Every answer in the universe was surely at his hands now. Sam could hope for that anyway, some kind of perfect afterlife for him.
She got his bank accounts and his life insurance through the Air Force she hadn't even known he had signed up for, all his artifacts and journals and everything. She didn't want any of it. She wanted her best friend back.
Jack couldn't even think about it, but Teal'c offered to help pack up his stuff, like they all had the first time, but she turned him down. She left the artifacts and decorations in the living areas alone, and just closed his bedroom and office door. There was no reason to rush through it, the mountain was forcing plenty of timely moving on, trying to find a fit for the team and letting someone else use his office, she could leave his rooms alone.
She moved on, but she didn't. As a widow, something she had never wanted to be, she got more grace in her grief, grace she knew Jack envied. He was a Colonel, leader of SG1, and a military man, he wasn't allowed to show his grief for long, couldn't let it affect his decisions.
Teal'c started staying in her guest room more, sometimes dragging Jack along to sleep on the couch so they could talk and grieve in their own way and the ways of the Jaffa, together.
And it got easier, even when she missed him so much it ached.
—
Then, suddenly, he was back.
Different, amnesiac, but still Danny. Smart, kind, selfless, and reckless. She let him stay in the mountain, didn't bring up their marriage. She didn't think anyone else did either. They probably thought it would be too painful for her, and they were right for the wrong reasons. She didn't want to drag him back into their ruse without him having enough memories for it to make sense, she didn't want to push him so hard he ran away. He had done that as a kid, even as an adult before finding the SGC. Easier to run away when things got too much, to find somewhere else to be, another dig, another city, another planet for a while.
So she didn't say anything, until one day he showed up at her, their, house.
"Major, can we talk?"
"Of course, Danny. Daniel. Please, come in." She opened the door wide and he easily found his old favorite seat on the couch. He looked around, eyes catching on the things he had contributed to the space.
She was worried, but seeing him home was also a balm, so she sat on the other side of the couch from him, with enough space to turn so they could talk.
"What's up, Daniel?"
"You hadn't really called me Daniel in a while, before."
"You remember?"
Daniel nodded, "It's still a little scattered, but I think I remember most of the important things. Like that we're married."
"Yeah, we haven't fixed all the death paperwork things but if you're ready we can finish it all up."
He looked around again, "You haven't mentioned anyone else since I've been back. But you also didn't mention that I was your husband."
Sam was suddenly embarrassed, wondering how much of her decision was cowardice, a desire to keep their marriage in tact without having to ask. "No, I didn't want to overwhelm you."
Danny nodded, "Funny how marriage is more overwhelming to us than the fact that we can travel through wormholes."
Sam smiled ruefully, "We've never been exactly normal people, even before the Stargate."
"No, I guess we haven't." He was clearly collecting his thoughts. "The marriage worked, I hope you did something cool with the life insurance policy. And I see you kept some of my stuff."
"Actually, I kept all of it. Your room is still here. I washed the sheets and aired it out when you got back, just in case. And I haven't touched the life insurance yet."
"Really? It's been a year."
"Well…I was considering a new bike."
Danny laughed, "Another death trap?"
"Better than the actual death traps we've had to get out of." She shot back with good humor, the familiar banter soothing her soul.
"Sam, we could get the marriage dissolved, or push through a divorce, something. I've been gone for long enough, we were married for long enough, I can keep you as my next of kin and everything would be fine. You could actually move on, find your next chapter."
Sam found herself shaking her head, "Danny you said a long time ago, when I found someone I actually love that we could divorce, but I actually love you. Really. Maybe not how everyone thinks, but I really do love you. You're my family, and that's never gonna change. If you found some new wife on that other planet that's fine, we can divorce. But I love being married to you. I loved our life, and I'd be happy to start it again. If it's only as teammates that's fine, but…don't divorce me for my sake. I've got things to do before I can worry about my love life."
Danny was clearly blinking back tears but he gave her a look anyway, "Still waiting for Jack, huh?"
"Shut up." Sam pushed his shoulder lightly before scooting next to him so she could pull him into a hug. "I'm so glad you're back, Danny."
"Me too, Sam. Me too." And if they were crying, well, keeping secrets was part of marriage, wasn't it?
Wasn't that the definition of home? Not where you are from, but where you are wanted.
-Abraham Verghese