Sam wasn't present when Daniel died. Since they had lost the control room, she was working in the secondary command room, calculating and trying to find a way to save the planet from the explosion. She was separated from the rest of the team, trying to make the most of her abilities.
When they decided to try to find the algorithm that kept gate open, the most obvious choice for the task was she. But then Teal'c reminded them that the algorithm would probably be in Goa'uld. Daniel would have to go. As much as she hated it, she would be more useful in that room than fighting with them. She was working on the possibility of using the cables charging the gate to hit all Jaffa in the room with a current strong enough to render them unconscious when she saw O'Neill and Teal'c passing by the room.
"Sir?" She asked as she searched for Daniel with her eyes, and when she got no response, she continued. "What happened? What was the result? Where is Daniel?"
O'Neill remained silent, it was Teal'c who provided an answer. "Dr. Daniel Jackson perished in combat."
She couldn't believe what she was hearing, but her colleagues' tension confirmed what she had heard. She wanted to ask if they were sure, but Teal'c wouldn't have said it if there was any hope. Instead, she decided to be professional. "I have a plan to retake the base, but I'll need some equipment from the labs, I'll get a team to try to cross to there."
She went away leaving them behind, trying unsuccessfully not to think about what she had heard. Daniel was dead? She couldn't believe it. She wanted to know more about what had happened, how it had happened. She couldn't help thinking that this wouldn't have happened if she had gone, as was the original plan.
All she could do was keep working, finding a way to stop the invasion and then disengaging the gate.
Except Sam haven't saw Daniel die, then she couldn't help thinking that maybe there was hope. Two years before, they had emptied Daniel's apartment just to find that he was still alive. Even if Teal'c was sure that Daniel was dead, they knew very well that memories couldn't always be trusted.
It was an empty hope, but to which she held. It was easier to work if she thought there was some hope. She didn't know exactly how to verbalize what was in her mind. At some point, she had begun to think of the SG-1 team as her family. The idea that Daniel could be dead hit her harder than the news that her father was terminally ill, perhaps because she had not fully accepted the situation before it was reversed.
She was completing her weapon when one of the soldiers came to call her.
"Colonel O'Neill is calling, the Jaffa soldiers were hit by a laser and are unconscious."
She ran to the gate room. There, O'Neill and Teal'c fought against the remaining Jaffa. Her eyes should be the deceiving her because the soldier with raised hands in the middle of the battlefield looked like Daniel. It was only when the firing ceased they can see that indeed it was Daniel.
He and the colonel were discussing, O'Neill refused to believe it was the same Daniel. However, to Sam it was much easier to believe. She hadn't witnessed the death. Finally, Daniel convinced him by continuing the conversation that began eight hours before. He made a cryptic statement and promised further explanation. It was enough for the moment, all that mattered was that Daniel was alive.
O'Neill helped Daniel to his feet and hugged him. When the Colonel let him go, it was Sam's turn to hug him. In her enthusiasm to pull him to her arms, she carelessly bend his glasses.
"I couldn't believe, I couldn't believe you were dead." She said holding back tears that threatened to come.
Giving into the embrace, Daniel replied. "Well, actually I died. Except not. And in a way yes. I's kind of complicated, you'll be able to understand this better than me. I'll explain everything once we get in the briefing room."
The answer made Sam even more confused, but all that mattered was that Daniel was there. She was surprised to realize that his wellbeing was more important to her than her scientific curiosity of knowing what had happened, at least for that moment. She couldn't say at what time she started to care so much about her team, at what moment they became more than mere colleagues. It didn't matter, all that mattered was that she couldn't bear the thought of losing any of them.
When they separated, Sam had the same smile that had contaminated them all. Maybe just for a moment she could forget what happened. In a few minutes, they would have to meet with General Hammond to find out what had happened, but for this moment they were only one family happy by the miraculous return of one of its members.
Story based on the Stargate audiobook 1.1 from the Big Fish collection. If you don't know the story, I suggest you go listen to it immediately.
Despite working as a stand alone, this is also a companion piece to Jack's (Nobody get's left behind) and Teal'c's (Dr. Daniel Jackson perished in combat) versions.