Totally unbeta'ed, so any mistakes are more my own than usual. LOL. I don't own anything, etc. Apparently I was feeling angsty in class this morning.

Sam knew that she had to move on. Daniel was gone...dead, or ascended, or whatever. She tossed her pen down hard onto her desk and dropped her face into her palms.

"Why did you give up, Daniel?" she whispered to the empty room. "We could have saved you" Scrubbing furiously at her damp eyes, she turned back to her notes. Shivering slightly in her thin, long-sleeved black shirt she reached back to grab and pull on the grey zipped sweater she kept in the lab for nights she worked late. Turning slightly to wiggle an arm into a twisted sleeve, she caught sight of a small framed photo of her and Daniel sitting on the corner of her desk. Sam reached over to pick it up. She held it loosely in her hands, staring at the photo and remembering the day it was taken. With tears in her eyes, she stood and walked to a bookshelf, where she angrily shoved the small rectangle in between some paperbacks. Shutting her computer down, she grabbed her purse and left the lab, shutting the door noisily behind her.

She decided against going all the way home, realising that she was too worked up to drive, and headed to her quarters on base. She managed to retain her self-control until she shut the door behind her. Dropping her bag to the ground and kicking off her boots, she walked over to her bed, sank down, and began to cry.

Sam woke up slowly, still dressed in her uniform and laying on top of her blanket where she'd fallen asleep still in tears the night before. Rubbing her eyes hard to get rid of the sleep stuck in them, she rolled over to find out what time it was

She nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Daniel!" She sat bolt upright and scooted backwards to the other side of her bed. He smiled at her gently, turning to face her fully from his seat at the far side of her bed.

"Hi, Sam." his voice was soft

"Daniel, I...what are you...how?" Her thoughts were incoherent even to herself. "You...you're..."

"Ascended. Yeah. But I saw you, Sam, and I couldn't stand it. I had to..I can't do much. I'm not allowed. But I had to come to you, Sam." Sam's eyes welled up with tears again and she reached for Daniel's hand. Her sob choked out when her hand passed directly through his.

"Sam. Don't cry. Please." Daniel's voice was pleading.

"I miss you. Everything is wrong without you. SG-1 is wrong without you."

"I miss you too. But this is what I need right now, Sam. This is what I need...and SG-1 needs you." Sam let out a shaky breath as she attempted to stem the flow of tears.

"Why, Daniel? Just tell me that. Why did you give up? On..." Us. she thought. "On trying?"

"I never gave up, Sam. I just moved on." Sam felt her heart shatter.

Daniel glanced at her clock. "You need to shower. The team needs you today. I'm not gone, Sam. I promise you that." Sam wiped at her eyes again.

"Don't go."

"I have to. But I'll wait until you are in the shower so that you don't have to see me go again."

Sam wiped a last tear from the corner of her eye

"You were my best friend. I'm not going to stop missing you."

"I know." Daniel said sadly. "I'm sorry that I've hurt you like this." Sam nodded slightly.

"Love you, Daniel." She said softly.

"Love you, Sam." She turned away and entered her bathroom. When she emerged ten minutes later, hair wet, her room was empty.

Sam ran her hand once over the spot Daniel had sat, then turned towards her closet to pull out a clean uniform.