About eight years after the end of Educating Daniel Jackson… so, that would make it… season 19… timeline wise (when they got Daniel back home, it was roughly season 11). Sam and Daniel are about fifty-one…

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Daniel Jackson, short hair greying at the temples but still oh-so Daniel, sat on the couch with his twin daughters on his knees. He was telling them the story of Alexander the Great, and got to the part about Stateira, wife of Darius, reputed to be the most beautiful woman in Asia. His eyes clouded over briefly as he trailed off, and the girls both looked up at him with eyes the same colour as their father's. One of them asked,

"Daddy?"

He wordlessly albeit gently lifted them to sit on the couch before he quickly left the room. One of the girls made to go after him but the other one said,

"Claire – Mommy said to leave Daddy alone when he gets upset."

"But Grace, he just went out and Uncle Jack said that we had to look after him."

"Mommy will be cross."

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Daniel leant in the back doorway staring out into the yard as he remembered his Stateira… who just so happened to have the same name as the more famous one. He closed his eyes as he rested his head on the frame, smiling slightly as he remembered the great Cheval races across wasteland and arable land on Perseia. He could see her dark hair tumbling around her shoulders, and almost hear her carefree laugh.

Sam, her hair greying too and reaching down to her shoulders, found him this way. She put a hand on his shoulder and asked,

"Sha're?"

He looked over his shoulder, surprised to see her before replying,

"Stateira."

"Ah."

He turned around completely and kissed her, asking with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes,

"How was your day, General?"

She smiled back at him, knowing that he was hiding his pain but decided to play along for a bit. She replied,

"I can see why Jack got pissed at being promoted… all that paperwork and those bickering diplomats… I wish I had his gall though – he used to lock them in VIP rooms."

He smiled a little more, saying, "Yeah…"

She looked at him in concern for a moment as she said,

"You scared the twins – you know what walking out like that does to them."

He looked down at his feet, mumbling,

"Sorry."

She hugged him, saying, "The only thing you have to apologise for is trying to hide everything… Cam and Vala are dropping by in a few minutes to take the twins ice skating with the triplets, so there'll just be you and me… and hopefully no new enemies on the block for a full two hours."

He hugged her back, replying, "Ok."