apologies for the short chapter last time – I was rushing to get it posted so wrote it like a teaser lol.

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Now outside Teal'c's door, Sam suddenly felt guilty at disturbing him at such a late hour. She was about to turn back to go home again, feeling foolish, when the door opened, and Teal'c regarded her with a surprisingly nonchalant expression, a notable grey streak in his otherwise jet black hair. She said, breezily, with a little wave as she balanced on the balls of her feet nervously,

"Hi Teal'c! Um, sorry about…"

Teal'c silently opened the door and stood aside to let her into his quarters, replying as he invited her to sit, closing the door behind her, "There is no need to apologise if you wish to speak to your friend, Samantha."

She smiled, still a little confused at him calling her by her first name ever since he had revealed what had happened with regard to the time dilation field. He sat down on the edge of his bed, opposite her as she sat on a chair and regarded her silently, encouraging her in his own way to say what was on her mind. She sighed softly, glad of Teal'c's strong and mostly silently friendship over the years, and she said,

"Teal'c… I… to be honest, I don't know what I'm doing here. You need to sleep just like the rest of us."

He inclined his head a little and replied, "Something is troubling you – I knew this moment would come. You have appeared troubled since our return from the Odyssey."

Surprised, she raised an eyebrow briefly and asked, "Really? You didn't…"

"I wished to allow you to seek my counsel in your own time."

Their seats already close, she leaned forward and squeezed his hand before getting up and sitting next to him on his bed, saying with a smile, "Teal'c, I'm… I'm glad I have you as a friend."

He smiled again. "As am I, Samantha."

She smiled that odd smile at his use of her first name again before saying with a sigh, still holding his hand, "Teal'c… God, I'm going to sound nuts but…" She looked at him earnestly, "Teal'c, I need to know whether I'm going nuts or whether this is something real."

She paused. "I keep having dreams of things happening aboard the Odyssey." She closed her eyes as she remembered each one, "For the past two months since we came back, I have these vivid dreams… some of them odd, some of them nice… and some of them not very nice at all…" Her voice trembled with emotion. "General Landry died."

She opened her eyes and looked up at him, noticing that he looked troubled, and she continued deprecatingly, "I knew it… after ten years here, I'm a fruitcake." She ran her fingers through her hair in a way she usually did when she was stressed. "They're like little snippets… and they all appear to be aboard the Odyssey. They usually have me working endlessly with a hologram of Thor… you and Cam sparring… Cam trashing his quarters… Vala bugging you… Vala and Daniel sleeping together. All five of us growing old. In each dream, I feel everyone's emotions… especially in one where Daniel is so angry as he tells Vala why they would be so wrong for each other… which doesn't make sense seeing as in other dreams they grow old together in a relationship." She grimaced.

She pleaded with him. "Teal'c, tell me that I'm not going crazy… it's just…"

He replied, cutting her off, "You are not crazy."

She smiled, thinking that he was being polite. "Oh Teal'c… it's just an expression… I…"

"I am aware of the expression. I was truthfully stating that you are not mentally disturbed." He regarded her for a moment. "The events that you described, happened in the alternate timeline."

She blinked slowly, stunned, and she said, waving dismissively, "Come on…" Her face froze briefly on contemplating Daniel and Vala especially, "Wait… no… no, it can't… It's impossible. How could… I didn't live those years, technically. It's impossible."

"There are many things in this Universe that appear impossible, Samantha. It may be necessary to discover the source of your suppressed memories…"

She appeared bemused. "Teal'c… I can't have suppressed memories of that time if I didn't live it. I mean," she shrugged, "Daniel had suppressed memories of his time among the Ascended… he actually spent time with them for that to happen…"

"Tell me then how, in your dreams, do you solve the problem, providing that I did not supply every detail of the solution to you?"

She frowned in thought and then replied, looking up at him, feeling a little overwhelmed, "Cam… after… I don't know how many years…"

"Describe ColonelMitchell's appearance."

"He had white hair and… it was longish… Every day he kept saying…" She smiled as she became lost in thought.

Cam, his hair longish and white, the Colonel bent with age, says, "When I said I wanted the team back together… work with you guys… learn from you…" he sits down in the Mess with the rest of the aged team, "I did not mean every waking moment for the next fifty years…"

Daniel, his hair grey and much longer, snaps from a table, "You said that yesterday…"

Back in the present, she looked up in surprise, shaken out of her thoughts by a concerned Teal'c, who asked, "Samantha?"

She bit her lip and replied softly, looking off into the middle distance, "Fifty years… he… Cam got fed up of seeing us everyday for fifty years."

Noticing how overwhelmed at everything she appeared, he held her close and said as she rested her head on his large chest, "Perhaps there is a reason why you are having these memories."

She sniffed. "I don't understand… it doesn't make sense. How could I possibly remember?"

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A couple of hours later, Cam, coming into work a little early, stopped in surprise in a corridor near Teal'c's quarters on seeing Sam in Teal'c's arms at the door, the two hugging and smiling. He eventually smiled, wondering what Ish'ta would do on witnessing the scene, and he walked away, deciding to give his friends some privacy.

After checking his email in his office, he, still amused at what he had seen, went to Daniel's office, leaning in the doorway as he watched the Archaeologist working through a huge pile of reports and translations. A moment later, Daniel, still focussing on his work, said distractedly,

"What do you want, Mitchell?"

Cam, still smiling, walked in, asking, "When did you come in?" He paused, "Wait, don't answer that… I don't want to know because it means arguing with you and that really gets me pissed 'cos you're so damn stubborn."

Daniel, looking belligerent… and tired, looked up at the Colonel, and Cam continued, smiling again as he straddled a chair, leaning forward on the back of it, "Anyway… guess who I saw booty calling."

Daniel, tiredly rubbing his face with his hands, remarked wearily, his glasses on the desk, "I don't want to know who you saw with Lieutenant Evans again…"

"Oh no, better than that."

Daniel finally looked at him, and Cam continued, "Sam just came out of Teal'c's quarters… and they were hugging."

Daniel, his glasses back on again, blinked and remarked sceptically, "Right…"

"No, honestly! Sam and Teal'c. Who'd've thunk it? She was wearing the same clothes she had on when she left." He grinned, "I can't wait for the spat when Ish'ta finds out… although I think our girl would kick blonde Xena's ass any day."

Daniel looked perturbed on realising that Cam wasn't lying, and he shrugged to cover it, trying not to look affected as he said, "Well… if it works for them…"

Cam cocked his head and remarked with a glare, having surmised Daniel's feelings about their team-mate a long time ago, "Aren't you going to fight for Sam? Holy… I knew you were different from other guys but not like that. You're supposed to put up a fight. I know it's Teal'c but come on…"

Daniel shook his head and replied softly, "It's nothing to do with me." He closed his eyes, fully aware that Cam knew of his feelings, "She's been unhappy for so long… it's nice that she's finally let go of Jack. I'm happy for her."

Cam, concerned, regarded his friend with a troubled expression, "You don't look it."

Daniel, steeling himself, replied, "I will be. I realised a long time ago that there was no point in me hanging onto her. I've just got to pass the practical on that." He grimaced.

"Aw Jackson… this is so gonna be a mess… what if they get hitched and T wants you as best man?"

Daniel grimaced again. "I think you're jumping the gun there, Mitchell… you only saw them together once… and for all you know, she could have gone to talk to him in the middle of the night. I've done that a lot… and so have you. It doesn't mean that we're having a double homosexual relationship with him."

"Jackson, Jackson, Jackson… for once in your life, get the girl."