So. Not normal. Fine. She could deal with that.

This was ... different. Interesting. Adventurous.

Yes! Adventurous. That was the perfect adjective for her situation.

She stretched her legs out in front of her and crossed them at the ankles, a pleased smile pushing up the corners of her mouth.

This was an adventure and she liked adventures. The unexpected. The unknown. The--

"Pain in the ass."

Sam found her butt catching some unexpected air as Daniel plopped down beside her on the bench. A quick glance at Daniel's very annoyed face told her he didn't like adventures. At least not at the moment, or for this particular one.

"No luck?" she asked even though she didn't really have to. She'd been tracking Daniel's progress, or lack thereof, ever since he'd leapt to his feet and declared he was taking matters into his own hands. That had been forty-five minutes ago. The only difference between then and now was that Daniel's hands were fifty percent redder and his pissiness level was a hundred percent higher.

"Door won't open," he mumbled, slowly curling his fingers into his palms and then uncurling them back open. Sam winced in commiseration of how much they must hurt.

"It's probably not really a door," she said without thinking. Then held her breath when she sensed Daniel clenching every muscle in his body. "It was an admirable try, though," she tacked on meekly.

"Yeah, well ..." His thought trailed off unfinished and his body posture soon mirrored hers: legs outstretched, back reclined, head resting against the wall.

"I think we're in purgatory," he announced after several seconds of silence.

Sam rolled her head to the side and stared at Daniel's profile. He still looked sane. This was good. "Literal purgatory?" she asked without feeling the slightest ounce of embarrassment. One could never be too sure when traveling off-world.

"Doesn't it feel like it?"

"Hmm." She pondered this and was ... intrigued. "I've never been in purgatory onboard a space ship before."

Now it was Daniel's turn to roll his head towards her and gauge her level of sanity. Sam wasn't sure if she should laugh or slap him for the concern etched across his face. "You've been in purgatory on Earth?"

"Sure. Lots of times. The 25 items or less line at the supermarket and the person in front of me has 25 items and is paying by check. The post office in December. And April. The doctor's office. God, the wait in doctors' offices is the worst. Not having to wait to be seen almost makes all those post-mission exams worth it."

"I used to play doctor," Daniel said, almost apropos of nothing. "With the girl who lived next door to my third foster family."

"Daniel," Sam tried to interject, but he was on a roll.

"She had really shiny hair and a dimple in her … right cheek. Yeah, the right one. And her older sister was supposed to baby-sit us after school, but she had a boyfriend so she didn't pay a lot of attention to what we would do. And let me tell you--"

"Oh my god, Daniel, please stop!"

Sam hadn't meant to shout at him like that, but there were loud, cacophonous alarms going off in her head and words she really didn't want to hear kept coming out of Daniel's mouth. Which, she was now quite thankful to note, was no longer moving. As a matter fact, Daniel himself was perfectly still as a flush crawled up his neck and face.

"Should I, uh, try and get that door open again?" he asked, already on his feet and scurrying away before she could answer.

Sam shuddered and breathed a sigh of relief, all at the same time. Yes, she and Daniel were stuck in a room behind what probably wasn't a door onboard a space ship being manned by a couple teens from P3H-294 who Cam or Teal'c (or both) would throttle once they were done with this little joyride. But that didn't mean she needed -- or wanted -- to hear about Daniel's youthful escapades. Although …

She couldn't wait to tell the others. Especially Vala. She still owed her a belated birthday gift.

-the end-

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