'Carter!' Sam blinked as she looked up from her laptop. The Colonel stormed into her lab looking rather offended. Sam tilted her head as he sat down in front of her scrubbing a hand through his hair.

'Yes Sir?' She asked closing down the laptop and looking up at the Colonel expectantly.

'Has my hair changed?'

Well.

That was unexpected.

Sam arched at eyebrow at him and turned her head slightly.

'Sorry?'

'Has my hair changed over the years?'

It was official.

The Colonel had lost his mind.

'Why are you asking me this?' She couldn't help but question, completely baffled by this train of thought that was clearly bothering the Colonel.

'The Doc gave Daniel back his glasses and all he says to me is 'has your hair always been that way?'' Sam tried her best to bite down on the grin that was threatening to spread across her face. The Colonel looked completely down trodden Sam was sure that he was thiiiiiis close to pouting.

'It'll take time for him to adjust.'

'You didn't answer my question.' Now he was pouting, she was sure. Sam now had to bite down on her bottom lip to stop herself from smiling.

'Carter! You're not supposed to be laughing at me!' He wailed at her. Sam sighed internally, this had to be among the weirdest conversations she'd ever had. And that included Daniel thinking that they had a 'thing' in the past.

It was all very, very, very odd.

'Your hair has changed slightly, but whose hasn't? And don't mention Teal'c, General Hammond or Dad!'

'Oy!' This time the Colonel leaned back and scrubbed his hands over his face.

'I didn't think getting Daniel back would be so, so-'

'Frustrating?' Sam suggested smiling at him as she sorted out a bundle of reports sitting on her desk.

'Exactly!' He exclaimed gesturing at her.

Sam's eyebrows knotted and she cocked her head in an amused fashion.

'You didn't think you'd find Daniel frustrating?' Sam bit her lip and took a deep breath in the vain attempt of preventing herself from laughing at him.

Laughing at Commanding Officers is bad.

Very, very, very bad.

Pity her brain didn't seem to very concerned about that as an extremely inelegant snort all but erupted out of her.

Sam closed her eyes and her head dropped.

The lab remained silent for a good five minutes.

'So it has changed. Great.' Sam happened to glance up at the Colonel who was sitting in the chair in a petulant manner, practically pouting at her.

'Well, not in a bad way... I guess... I mean... I never really thought about it.' Sam awkwardly tried to appease him, convinced that she was turning red and judging by the heat she could feel, she wasn't wrong.

'Hm'

Now Sam was half wishing that Daniel hadn't come back so she wouldn't have to deal with this conversation.

'It's bad enough he can't even get my name right, now I'm paranoid about my hair!' Sam decided to tune out and the let the Colonel rant for a while.

It was a situation that occurred every so often, something would bother the Colonel and he'd find her and rant to his hearts' content. She was pretty sure that he knew she never listened to him when he was in this state but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that she was there, a sounding board for him.

It hadn't happened recently, given everything that had happened but her door was usually open to him for this. He, in return, would pop in and leave coffee and blue jello for her when she was having a bad time with one of the new scientists or the odd officer who hit on her as well as acting as her scientific sounding board.

All she had to do was nod at the appropriate moments and every so often she'd make the right noises. 'Uh huh' and 'hmm' seemed to be okay for these situations.

Sam actually looked at him as he gestured at her talking nineteen to the dozen about the situation and how Daniel was reeeeeeeeeally bugging him. As she 'hmm'-d at him, Sam took a good hard look at his hair.

She really hadn't considered how it had changed over the years. When she first met him it was a perfectly ordinary and nondescript brown, but it had changed slowly to dark grey and then lightened to the bright silver colour.

Personally speaking, she preferred the silver colour, not that she'd ever say that out loud. The silver colour was striking against his tanned skin and highlighted his dark brown eyes. Not that she had given it much thought.

Yeah right.

Even her own subconscious was laughing at her right now.

Janet would smack her over the head if she was able to read her thoughts while chortling 'liar' at her.

Sam smacked herself mentally as she opened up her laptop again and entered her password.

She nodded at the Colonel as he stared piercingly at her.

'Hello? Major Carter?' Both Sam and the Colonel looked around to see a blank faced Daniel look into her lab.

'Oh hi Jim.' He continued as Sam waved him in. Sam winced sympathetically at the Colonel as he dragged a hand down his face in aggravation.

'Jack' Sam quietly reminded Daniel as he peered around her office, clearly attempting to jog some memories. At her quiet utterance, the Colonel looked at her in surprise and Sam felt her cheeks colour. She couldn't blame him really Sam figured she could count how many times she had used his first name on two hands.

Not counting alternate versions of herself of course.

That was whole other can of worms that Sam was not willing to open.

Worms freaked her out.

Well, it was more what the worms represented that was jarring to her.

'Right, right, sorry, Jack.' Daniel continued, frowning around at the pair sitting at the desk, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Sam sighed it was awful being able to see some of the quirks and mannerisms that made Daniel, Daniel but with no memory behind it.

'So you guys planning the wedding or something?'

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

What?

Which was precisely what the Colonel managed to actually say.

'WHAT?' Or yell, rather.

'I seem to remember you two being engaged right?' It was at this point that both Sam and the Colonel were rendered speechless.

They both looked at each other and blinked; Sam was more than a tad surprised to see the Colonel turning slightly red.

Which was more than a tad endearing.

But engaged?

Where on earth did Daniel get that from?

I mean nothing had ever happened between her and the Colonel... well at least anything that would imply marriage... nothing that significant...

And then it clicked in Sam's head.

'No Daniel, the Colonel and I aren't engaged but you met a version of us that were.' Daniel stopped at looked at Sam with huge baffled blue eyes.

'In the first year of the program you were transported to an alternate reality in which Doctor Carter and General O'Neill were engaged.' Sam explained making sure to emphasize the rank and salutation.

'Oh. Sorry.' Daniel nodded slowly, clearly trying to understand and failing but not wanting to ask in the hopes he could remember himself.

'Not your fault. Any luck remembering anything?' Sam was convinced she could hear the Colonel grumbling under his breath about wrong names and vast injustices of the universe being out to get him. As well as something about grey hair.

Daniel shook his head at her, looking rather downtrodden.

Sam smiled sympathetically at Daniel and closed down her laptop again.

'Lunch?' She asked getting up from the desk and looking at both men in the lab, the Colonel seemed to be lost in thought and Daniel was staring quizzically at a picture that sat up on one of Sam's cabinets.

Sam looked around to see what one he was staring at. It was a group picture taken two years ago, shortly after they had saved the world again, as the Colonel had put it. It had been taken off world, one of the few paradise planets they had come across. Sam had her arms around both Daniel and the Colonels shoulders and Daniel was beaming with his arm casually across Sam's own shoulders. Teal'c was standing to the left of Daniel and the Colonel had his hand on Sam's waist and was smiling widely at the camera.

It had been one of the half dozen completely peaceful and fun missions they had ever been on and Daniel decided it was of vital importance to memorialise the rarity of such a moment. He had each given them a copy a few days later and it was one of Sam's favourite photos or her and 'her boys' as Janet has put it.

The Colonel started in his seat and both Sam and Daniel looked round at him in surprise.

'Lunch. Yes. Good.' He got up and gestured for them to follow. Daniel looked from one officer to the other narrowing his eyes, as though attempting to glean any information from them.

As they left the office Daniel wandered ahead of them mumbling something about needing coffee.

'At least some things haven't changed. Unlike my hair.' The Colonel pouted again at her, Sam laughed at looked up at him.

'Not all change is bad Sir in fact most of it is quite good!'

'Is that supposed to mean something Carter?' The Colonel stopped and looked at her with piercing eyes.

Sam half smiled and arched her eyebrow in a manner that would have made Teal'c proud.

'Maybe, maybe not.'

Just a silly little one shot based on the interaction between Jack and Daniel in Fallen. Jack is only character who I think would agonize over that in such an amusing way!

As always read and review pleeeease! (It distracts from the tedium of study... Please?)

Again nothing you recognize is mine alas...

Thanking you for reading!