‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

By Kaz

A story for my Birthday-buddy, Carrie. Thank you for beta'ing my recent fics (though not this one of course <g>), for being a great and inspirational writing partner and a good friend.

And many thanks to hubby Rob… a) for being generally wonderful b) for putting up with my SG-1 obsession c) for giving me the idea for the story's end

WARNINGS : Shameless indulgence ahead. Oh, and Daniel might be a bit overly cheeky – IN YOUR DREAMS, CARRIE!

`Twas the night before Christmas and all round the infirmary not a creature was stirring, not even a… well, that wasn't entirely true. Nurse Carrie Rohlik roughly shoved the last box of assorted Band-aids onto the already packed shelf until the side crumpled enough to allow her to wedge it between the others. She huffed grumpily. What a way to spend Christmas Eve. Everyone else was down in the `gateroom enjoying themselves at the party and here she was checking and restocking the store-cupboard. Trust her luck to draw this shift!

It wasn't as if there were any patients left to look after… at least there shouldn't be. A pained curse drifted in through the open doorway and she realized she wasn't quite as alone as she'd thought. Poking her head out to see what was going on, she saw Daniel Jackson pulling on his over-shirt with difficulty, which was hardly surprising given the mass of dark bruises his torso had been sporting the last time she'd changed his scrubs. Was he *still* here? Doctor Fraiser had discharged him ages ago. Carrie couldn't help but think it served him right for being so stubborn. He'd emphatically refused any assistance to get ready, so they'd left him to it. Janet had gone to the party, leaving Carrie to put the delivery of medical supplies away.

Watching him struggle to his feet, trying to co-ordinate good leg, bad leg and crutch, she felt a pang of guilt and maybe… something else... Sure, he was stubborn… completely. But oh, *so* cute…

The nurse looked at the rest of the boxes stacked by the door to the stockroom and screwed her nose up at them. They could wait.

She surveyed her remaining patient with amusement. Daniel was leaning heavily on the crutch occupying one arm, while one-handedly stuffing the few belongings scattered on the bed into his backpack.

"You look different with your clothes on," she playfully teased as she came up behind precariously balanced figure.

Daniel twisted blatantly sore muscles to face his tormentor. The long-suffering expression he flashed at her told Carrie just how many times he'd heard that line before and she hurriedly composed herself.

"Are you sure you don't need a hand?"

"I'm fine," the archaeologist assured her, though the gasp he gave as he gingerly moved his stiff frame to go back to his task betrayed the confidence in his voice. He picked the bag up and swung it to his side but failed to compensate for its weight in time and he stumbled.

Okay, Mister Independent, you just go ahead and break your other leg trying to get ready to leave… and don't come running to me when you do, she silently berated him. She was pretty used to the I-can-cope- with-anything-they-throw-at-me crap from the military types, but a doctor of archaeology? Give her strength!

She turned to go back to the cupboard and heard the hobbling gait following behind.

"Argh," Daniel cried, but the less than effective warning came too late and Carrie found herself pinned against the cupboard door by the young man. His crutch had caught on the boxes and he'd grabbed the nearest thing to steady himself as he fell... Lucky her!

"Sorry," he said, battling with his limbs to get upright.

Tangled together, his face only inches from hers, a sudden whim overcame the nurse and she took advantage of the situation. Stretching a little, she planted her lips delicately over his.

He pulled away quickly, nearly toppling backward in his haste. "Whoa… what was that?" he asked.

"Christmas kiss?" she answered cheekily.

Daniel flashed her a bemused expression. Carefully, he stooped to pick his bag up and when he rose again, he was smiling. "You forgot the mistletoe," he said as he started to limp away.

"Are you going to the party?" Carrie called after him hopefully.

He stopped and shook his head. "I'm not really in the mood. I thought I'd just head home and get some sleep," he explained wearily, moving off once more.

"Shame." Disappointed, Carrie sighed.

Daniel stopped again, looking at her quizzically.

Encouraged that he hadn't simply ignored her comment and carried on his way, the nurse added, "I get off in half an hour. I just thought we could have a drink or two, you know… talk, maybe…"

"And?"

"No `and'. Not if you don't want there to be…"

God, what was she doing? She'd only been at the SGC for a few months. She liked it there. Strange things happened. Secret things happened. Crap happened. But she still liked it, and here she was, about to blow the best drafting she'd ever had because she had the hots for some lanky geek in glasses. From what little she had been told about the archaeologist, he probably wasn't going to take too kindly to being propositioned and when he told whoever it was he would tell about her misdemeanor, she'd be shipped out to Alaska without so much as a `by your leave'.

Shakily repositioning his feet so that he was facing her, Daniel appeared troubled. "Carrie…"

"You know my name?" she asked, astonished.

"Uh, yeah. It's on your…" he waggled a finger over his own chest and then did the same while pointing at hers…

She looked down wondering what he was staring at… her badge, of course!

Daniel ducked his head, then frowned thoughtfully. "It's not a good time, right now. A lot of things have happened this year…"

"It's okay. Forget I mentioned it. It was a dumb idea," she said, waving him off before he could reject her offer.

"No… it w-wasn't," he stammered uncertainly, and caught hold of her hand. "I have some things I need to sort out, but…"

Carrie stared at him, stunned. Was he seriously considering what she had suggested?

"You're going home for Christmas, aren't you?" Daniel asked, apparently changing the subject.

"Yeah, first thing in the morning," the nurse answered automatically. She vaguely remembered talking about her holiday plans with him yesterday while she had been checking his IV, but all thoughts of family and festivities were lost amid the excitement currently wrapping itself around her soul.

"Perhaps we could do dinner, or something, when you get back, then," he suggested. He seemed to have won over some internal wranglings and was more relaxed. His previous hesitancy had vanished.

"Yeah, sure," she agreed coolly, though how she managed to keep from jumping up and down for joy was beyond her.

There was a moment's silence. Expectation hung heavy in the air and before Carrie knew what was happening, Daniel had leant down and kissed her softly.

Sharp clickety footsteps echoed down the hall, abruptly curtailing the growing passion between the young couple.

"Someone's coming," Carrie whispered, alarmed. "In here, quick," she urged, pushing him inside the stockroom. She grinned ecstatically at her prized catch and closed the door just as Janet Fraiser entered the infirmary.

"Nurse Rohlik! You should have finished that ages ago," she barked.

Carrie whipped round wiping the inanely happy look from her face as her gaze fell on the boxes left stacked outside the cupboard. She couldn't think of an excuse, so she went for pathetically apologetic and prepared herself for the lambasting sure to come. "Yes, ma'am, sorry. I… had some things on my mind. It won't happen again."

"Well, even with *things* on your mind, I'm not sure why it's taken you more than an hour to put a few supplies away, Lieutenant. It's a good job it's Christmas and I'm feeling generous. I know you still have half an hour before you're off duty, but why don't you go down there now, while there's still some food left. I'll stay here until the next shift comes in."

"Thank you, Doctor," Carrie said, half-heartedly. What was she going to do? She would have to come back later and distract Janet somehow while she got Daniel out of the infirmary. Her eyes subconsciously flitted to the cupboard.

"And I'll finish up in the stockroom for you," Janet announced proudly.

The nurse cringed as the doctor took two steps to the door and yanked it open. There was a moment's shocked silence before Janet finally squeaked, "Daniel!" She looked from the archaeologist to the nurse and back again, obviously putting two and two together and calculating a rather unexpected permutation. "Care to let me know what's going on here?" she asked, continuing to pivot her head from one to the other in bemusement.

"I don't suppose you'd believe I was helping Ca… Nurse Rohlik sort out the supplies?" Daniel asked hopefully.

"Not particularly," Janet chided with a fiery gleam in her eyes.

"No. Didn't think so…" he said, biting his bottom lip and raising his eyebrows timidly.

Carrie doubted `the look' was going to cut much ice with the doctor this time and even if Daniel *could* win her over, she fully expected to be hauled over the coals for fraternization.

Suddenly, a tenor voice broke through the uncomfortable silence, singing, "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas," as it approached.

"Oh no, that's Jack," Daniel sighed. He looked pleadingly at the doctor, who took one look at him, another at the smitten nurse and promptly shoved the young woman into the cupboard and shut them in together.

Daniel and Carrie exchanged anxious expressions, as they listened to what was going on outside.

"Why, Colonel O'Neill, have you come to escort a lady to the party?" Janet could be heard putting on her most seductive Southern-belle act.

"Uh… no…" Jack muttered. His singing abruptly ceased as he was clearly put off his stride by the doctor's overt advances. "I… er… came to see if Daniel needed a hand getting to the party. I mean, well, you are going to let him go, aren't you?"

"Oh," Janet disappointedly replied.

"Where is he anyway?"

"Gone… shopping… last minute… I'm sure he mentioned something about getting his favorite doctor the BIGGEST, MOST EXPENSIVE bottle of perfume he could find," she said loudly, ensuring there would be no excuse for those she was concealing not to hear.

The archaeologist winced and looked with horror at his watch.

Jack's questions came thick and fast, laced with concern. "He's gone where? At this time? But what about his leg?"

"Oh, I think you'll find he can manage pretty well. In fact you'd probably be surprised at just how far he can go…" she retorted mysteriously.

"A-are you feeling alright, doc?" Jack asked, perplexed. "Had a bit too much eggnog, have we?"

Janet became indignant. "I'm fine, Colonel, and I could never have enough eggnog. I was reared on it."

"Yeah, figured there had to be a reason…"

"I'll ignore that for now, Colonel, but I should remind you it's only two weeks until your next physical and I have a *very* good memory," Janet proclaimed.

"Ah…" Jack drawled. "Would more eggnog affect it at all?"

"Certainly."

"Well, come on. I know where there's a whole bowl full with your name on it…"

The stowaways breathed out huge sighs of relief as the voices faded.

"So, any idea what kind of perfume Janet likes?" Daniel asked, looking to Carrie. "More to the point… where the hell am I going to get anything now?" he rapped his watch in exasperation.

"I expect I can help you find something," she replied. "I guess I owe Janet too."

"God. This is *so* embarrassing. She'll never let me hear the last of this, you know…"

"Perhaps I'd better make it worth the bother then," the nurse said, reaching up to run her fingers through his hair. "Don't you know girls won't make passes at guys who wear glasses?" she added, plucking the spectacles from his face and placing them carefully on a nearby shelf, making sure she brushed against him as she did so.

He gasped, apparently shaken at the sensual connotations of her closeness. "Not in my experience…" he mused, the hint of a few undisclosed nightmares momentarily dulled his eyes and Carrie wondered what horrors could possibly litter his past to instigate such a look. It was probably why she'd always had the impression he was strictly `off limits'. Everyone else seemed to regard him as `look, don't touch' material, caring for him but already over being besotted. She wasn't quite there yet… and why shouldn't she feel something for him? He wasn't involved with anyone… now. Didn't he deserve a little happiness too?

When she had first spoken to Daniel only a day or so after she'd come to the SGC, his whole demeanor had screamed `hurt' at her. There was no first prize for guessing emotional scars were etched deeply onto his psyche and the nurse realized right away she would have to play it cool if she was ever going to get to know him better.

Braggers and bleaters, she'd had both. Daniel was neither. He quietly went about saving the world and never uttered a word about how it was achieved, or what it had cost him. Carrie guessed he'd be as reticent about personal relationships and there was no way she was going to let him slip out of her grasp just because she couldn't keep things strictly between the two of them for a while. But there wasn't anyone else around right at this moment and she took the opportunity to close in on him.

Daniel glanced around his surroundings, perturbed. "Um, this may not be such a good idea. What if…"

But the petite nurse interrupted his misgivings. "Oh, don't be such a spoil-sport. I thought you were the kind of guy who likes to live dangerously," she said huskily, reaching up to trail her index finger down the side of his face, narrowly avoiding the row of neat stitches running across his temple and disappearing into his sideburn.

He flinched at her touch, but whether it was simply because she had inadvertently ignited pain, or whether his reaction was born from unease, she couldn't tell. Sighing, she quickly turned her attention moving something on the floor.

"Somehow, I don't think even a whole Ha'tak full of Goa'uld would be a match for you," he replied, joking, but deadly serious. "Look, Carrie, I…"

But she extinguished any remaining words by pressing her lips firmly to his, hoping the big box of crepe bandages she had maneuvered and climbed onto wouldn't buckle beneath her and destroy the moment. Closing her eyes, she felt her heart skip and race as strong arms enveloped her body. Drawn to his chest, she melted into warmth of his hold. Heady with emotion, breath stolen, Carrie reluctantly eased back from the embrace. It was either that or she'd pass out from lack of oxygen. "Wow…" she whispered.

He suddenly yelped.

"Sorry," he apologized, his face contorted with distress. "My leg's in an awkward position, I have to…" He grunted, shuffling the limb in its heavy cast until he was comfortable and resting lightly on the edge of one of the shelves.

"Better?" she asked.

"Um… not… exactly." Daniel grimaced.

Carrie lightly tapped his shoulder. "Come on. You can have some of those painkillers Janet gave you before we leave. You'll never make it round the mall if you don't take something."

"Okay, but if you're going to help me shop, perhaps I could buy you dinner now… Unless, you've got other plans…"

"No," she said excitedly. Unmerited, an image of the empty suitcase sitting by her bed confronted her. Packing be damned! "No plans. You sure?"

Daniel shrugged. "Doesn't seem much point in waiting until after the holidays now. Think of it as a late Birthday treat… it was the twenty-second, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but how did you know?"

"Janet's wall planner. It's right next to the eye-chart, so I couldn't help but notice. She marks all the birthdays in green. I even have a card, but it's at home."

"You do?" Carrie squeaked, touched.

"Yeah," he admitted shyly. "Sorry I missed it."

"It wasn't like you had much of a choice. I'm sure you didn't ask to be knocked senseless and get your leg broken," she declared. "But, next time… try not to come back looking like road-kill. You scared the life out of me… all of us."

He winced and put a hand to his forehead as she reminded him of his recent injuries.

"Headache?" Carrie peered at him, concerned.

"A bit," he said quietly, picking his glasses back up and putting them on.

"Let's get you those pills."

Carrie opened the door and the two of them cautiously exited the stockroom. She got the pills and collected her coat and bag while Daniel waited by the door. As she came over from the lockers, she spotted the archaeologist hobbling as quickly as his leg and crutch would let him back to the cupboard.

Curious, she started to follow when more cheery singing reached her ears, female this time. "On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me…"

Sam Carter breezed into the infirmary, a long piece of tinsel wrapped around her neck and a little garland of fake holly stuck haphazardly in her hair.

"Hey," she stopped singing and called over to Carrie.

"Major Carter," the nurse greeted her, quickly hiding the pills clenched in her hand behind her back.

"I came to see if Daniel was still about, but I guess he's already downstairs."

"Uh, no, actually he went home… shopping… last minute present hunting, I think," Carrie used the doctor's excuses for his absence, she didn't want conflicting stories running around the party.

Sam sounded surprised. "That's odd. Daniel usually gets all his presents way in advance, but I suppose he has been rather tied up recently."

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Well, I'm going back to the party. Are you coming? I can recommend the punch," she said cheerfully. "But stay clear of the chicken bites… Sergeant Siler made them and I'm sure he when he read the instructions and it said grease the baking tin he took it literally. They taste like they've been cooked in axle-lube." Sam made a face as if she could still discern the vile flavor in her mouth.

Carrie laughed. "Actually, I was going home. It's been a rather eventful shift one way or another. I just want to get straight to bed."

Sam smiled pleasantly. "Oh, okay then. Have a nice Christmas, Lieutenant."

"And you, ma'am."

Humming the tune she'd previously been singing, the major marched jauntily from the infirmary. As soon as she'd gone, Carrie rushed back to the stockroom and opened the door. Daniel was leaning against the shelves, resting his head on his arms.

"That was close," she said.

"Tell me about it," Daniel ground out between clenched teeth.

"Are you okay?" Carrie looked carefully at his pale features.

"Yeah, but I must remember not to try running again just yet." Daniel winced as he straightened painfully.

She handed him the pills and he swallowed them quickly, not bothering with anything to wash them down.

"Sure you're up to shopping?"

"Sure… but I thought you wanted to go straight to bed." He winked impishly.

"Doctor Jackson, I am *not* that kind of girl," the nurse chastised him indignantly.

"Just checking."

"Tease. Come on let's go before… oh, no."

A gruff baritone rendition of "We wish you a merry Christmas" began to drift along the corridor. Daniel rolled his eyes. Carrie blew him a kiss and pushed the door shut again.

She spun round to find the portly general coming through the doorway. "Merry Christmas, General Hammond."

"And to you, Lieutenant. At ease." He took in the coat and bag still in her hand. "Looks like you're just off, weren't you going to stop by the party? I can recommend the sherry trifle," he said temptingly.

Carrie grinned at the man who reminded her of an affable old uncle, every bit as excited about the holidays as the kids. "I'm rather tired, sir. I was just heading home. Besides, I've got to pack ready to go see my folks."

"Ah. I'll leave this here then." The general put a large tin of candy on the desk nearest to him. He always distributed several tins around the facility for the staff unfortunate enough to be on duty over the holiday period to help themselves. "You never know, there might be some left for when you come back," he said, jovially. "Let's hope it stays this quiet, eh?"

"Yes, sir. We managed to get both Captain Lloyd and Doctor Jackson discharged today."

"Good work. I saw the captain at the party, but…"

"Doctor Jackson went home, sir," Carrie answered before the question was asked.

The general nodded knowingly. "I hope his leg won't cause him to much trouble."

"Me too," she added quietly.

Hammond seemed to miss her comment. He took a deep breath and patted his rotund stomach. "Well, I'm going to have some more of that trifle. Have a good holiday."

Unable to help herself, she straightened to attention as he went to leave. "Thank you, sir."

When the general's footsteps had receded, Carrie opened the storeroom door once more.

"Do you get the feeling someone doesn't want us to leave?" the archaeologist asked, squinting as brighter light flooded the small space.

"Come on, Cinderella," she said, hauling Daniel from the cupboard.

"Excuse me?" he asked, pulling her to a halt and wavering unsteadily.

"Well, everyone wants you to go to the ball…"

He glared at her exasperatedly. "Can we just go before anyone else decides to drop by?"

As if to spite him, a bass voice boomed through the halls, echoing loudly. "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh, what fun it is to ride on a one-horse open sleigh… hey!"

"Geez, it's worse than Times Square in here tonight," Daniel grumbled with not altogether mock misery.

Carrie started to open the stockroom door again, but the archaeologist stopped her. "I'm not going back in there," he determined. "Why do we keep hiding? No one has any reason to suspect anything."

Teal'c strode in. "Daniel Jackson, it is good to see you mobile." He bowed in Carrie's direction, "Merry Christmas."

She fought the strange urge to curtsey back to him, plumping instead for returning the compliments of the season.

Facing Daniel again, the Jaffa regarded him a moment before he spoke. "I came to see if you required any assistance in getting to the party."

The archaeologist reached down and picked up the backpack he had dropped when he had first fallen against Carrie. "Thanks Teal'c, but I'm not going. I have some shopping to do."

"Very well. I shall see you at O'Neill's tomorrow," Teal'c replied stoically and started to leave.

"Yeah. Uh, Teal'c?"

The Jaffa turned, raising his eyebrows quizzically.

"Jack and Sam think I've already gone, so…"

"You do not wish me to say I have seen you," Teal'c preempted.

Daniel sighed. "Yeah. That's about it. Thanks."

Without warning, the big man clamped a hand on Daniel's shoulder and looked him in the eye. He quietly rumbled something in a language Carrie had no knowledge of, smiling so warmly it made her feel she was intruding on something very intimate between the two men. Teal'c nodded his customary goodbye at each of them and then left without another word.

Daniel immediately hobbled over to one of the mirrored cupboards and peered at his reflection. He dropped his head. "Teal'c knows…"

"How? What did he say to you?"

Knitting his eyebrows, Daniel turned to her and replied self- consciously, "He said, this particular shade of pink is very fetching on you, but does absolutely nothing for me."

"Oh," Carrie absently replied before what he'd said had fully sunk in. When it did she began giggling and seeing Daniel's seriously embarrassed face turn almost as pink as the lipstick smeared across his lips made her laugh all the more. She hadn't had chance to notice it before. The lighting in the cupboard had been dim and she hadn't really had a good look at him in the few moments he'd been out. But now it was glaringly obvious.

"I don't know what's so funny," the archaeologist muttered, grabbing a Kleenex from the workbench and rubbing it furiously to remove the bright smudges from his mouth. But he couldn't keep up the disgruntled act long with the nurse still giggling uncontrollably, and little by little he started to laugh too.

When, eventually, the two of them had brought their chuckling under control. Daniel noticed the clock on the wall. "Look at the time! Everywhere will be shut soon."

Carrie quickly put on her coat. "Don't worry, there are always a few places left open late, even on Christmas Eve. You don't get to cope with the shifts nursing brings without knowing all the best late service places."

"I… don't go out much," Daniel confessed.

"I noticed. That might change…" she said, already committed to making sure it did. No way was she going to let him fritter away all his spare time amongst dusty books and old bits of rock. There *was* life outside the mountain and she determined it was up to her to show him.

"It is?" he asked, giving her an intrigued expression.

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yep. Starting right now in fact. Let me see… shopping, dinner, your place."

The archaeologist reeled. "M-my… place?"

"You've still got my Birthday card, remember?" Carrie wasn't going to let that pass by. He'd actually gotten her a card before she made any sort of move on him. Surely a good sign.

"Right. And after?" he asked, his face quizzical.

"I've got a plane to catch and you're spending the holidays with the colonel, Major Carter, Teal'c, Janet and Cassie. As to what happens after that, well… let's see, shall we?" She began walking. Slowly of course, not wanting to let the young man fall too far behind.

"Sounds good," Daniel concurred as he managed to catch up with her.

"Yeah," Carrie agreed with herself. She would have hooked an arm around his, but with his movements already hampered by the cast, the crutch and the backpack slung over his other shoulder, she decided against it. Besides, it probably wouldn't do to walk the halls arm in arm just yet. Who knew how this was going to pan out?

So, Carrie and Daniel strolled through the infirmary doors side by side. Which, the nurse conceded, was fine for now. Perfect, in fact…

The End (or the beginning? <g>)

Happy Birthday, Carrie !

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