Thanks to MerryKK for pointing out an element of the canon timeline which I'd screwed up. Thanks!

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Cassie remarked with a little laugh as she opened the front door, her head turned back to look at Simon behind her on the doorstep, "Well, how was I to know that you were taking me somewhere where I'd need my good camera? Honestly. Anyway, I won't be a second..." She entered the house and he followed her. He asked when she went into the lounge,

"Isn't it in your bag?"

She shook her head as she peeked into a cupboard. "I was showing Sam some pictures earlier." She frowned and muttered as she looked around the room, "Where did I put it?" They both suddenly froze and stared at each other in surprise on hearing the sounds of a row from upstairs. "That reminds me... what are those guys doing up there?"

He remarked with a frown as he looked at the staircase hesitantly, "Well, I'm guessing a 'no' on making love while the kids are out."

She wrinkled her nose in thought and then caught sight of her camera. Grabbing it, she was about to leave the room when an upset Sam stormed in as Simon jumped out of her way, into the hall. Cassie opened her mouth to speak when Daniel appeared too, grabbing Sam's shoulder.

Cassie's eyes widened in shock as they proceeded to yell at each other, oblivious to her presence. She made eye contact with Simon, who reached into the room and grabbed her by the hand, pulling her out. She said, sounding scared as they left the house,

"Si, they're..."

Simon said as he quietly closed the door behind them, "Let them get on with it." He looked at her in concern, trying not to listen to the insults and barbs from inside. "Come on, let's get some dinner. My treat. We can talk." He reached for her hand and she nodded, looking worried, glancing back at the house as they walked away.

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"How dare you throw the General in my face?!" Sam turned away from Daniel, her arms folded across her chest as she tried not to physically harm Daniel. She clenched her fists. "Pining?! Pining? Is that what I was doing? PINING?! How dare you!?"

Daniel snapped, frowning, "How dare I?! You're the one who..." He mocked her, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "... cared for him more than you're supposed to. You're the one who broke off your engagement after going to Jack's house. You're the one who..."

An affronted Sam spun around to face him. "What did you just say?"

"Oh come on, now you're going to say that you didn't tell me about that?"

Her eyes widened in shock. "You bastard." She clenched her fists tighter. "You bastard! I told you why I went there... and it wasn't because of him. It was because I was having doubts, and Dad not thinking much of Pete didn't help things. It got me thinking about what I was doing with my life. I had no-one else to talk to. Teal'c was spending more time on Dakara, and you were gone..." She sniffed, feeling tears running down her cheeks as she turned away from him once again. Her voice lowered. "I couldn't go through with it. It wasn't because of the General."

Concerned and feeling sorry, he placed a hand on her shoulder, saying softly, "Sam..."

She shrugged his hand off violently, almost screaming at him, "Don't touch me!"

She spun around again, tears falling faster. "What the hell is your problem!?"

His eyes widened briefly. "What the hell is my problem?"

"I never threw Vala in your face like that! She's all over you most of the day. For fuck's sake, do everyone a favour and get a room. You're making me sick."

"Sam?!" He frowned angrily. "What are you talking about!? You're ranting like a lunatic!"

Her eyes dangerously cold, she remarked sarcastically, "Oh, and saying that I was pining after Jack is completely sane, is it? Maybe MacKenzie was right... you are nuts." She had wanted to hurt him as much as she was hurting, but it felt a hollow victory when she watched him turn away.

His back to her, he sighed, his voice somewhat calmer than it had been. "This is just going to get worse, isn't it?" He shook his head. "Fine. If this is how you want it..." He turned to look at her. "I'm packing my bag and I'm going. When we get back to work, I'm moving to another team." He shook his head, looking hurt as he left the room. "I never thought you could be that callous, Sam."

She watched him go, tears continuing to roll down her cheeks. And then something snapped. She lost control. She yelled before turning to walk into the kitchen, "Well, get used to it. Vala's going to be much worse. I hope you're happy with her. And then you can't pretend that you're not banging her brains out any more."

The next thing she knew, she was being pinned to the front of the fridge by a furious Archaeologist, whose face was only inches from hers. He said, restraining her tighter each time she tried to free herself, "Let's get one thing straight here. I am not in love with Vala. I have never slept with her. If you ever bring that up again..." He blocked a knee that was aimed at his manhood. "... I will move to another team."

Her teeth clenched, she spat, "You threw Jack in my face. How am I not supposed to be pissed? The next time you do it, forget moving teams, I'll kill you... or at least give Carolyn a few hours of work." She closed her eyes and sighed. She rested her head back against the fridge and then looked at him, looking upset, "Daniel, what the hell is happening to us?"

He slowly let her go, keeping a cautious eye out in general. "I don't know... but whatever the hell it is, it's scaring the hell out of me."

She sniffed and walked away from him. "Look... what I said about Vala..."

He watched her sadly. "I know. And you know, the crap about Jack..."

She nodded and he continued with a sigh, "What did you mean earlier about not being Vala?"

She shook her head. "I was just being stupid, Daniel." She dried her eyes with a tissue and blew her nose. "Things are just... lame at the moment. There's just all this work... we actually take even less leave than we used to... which is saying something. We just spend so much time working. There's no time for other things." She sighed. "If I'd married Pete... I probably would've got bored with the whole white picket fence routine within about a year, but I more than likely would have had a kid by now. I would have had someone to come home to, someone to depend on me, and someone other than one of you guys that I could depend on. Now... now I'm living vicariously through a twenty-two year old, who's had more boyfriends in the past five years than I've ever had."

She turned to face him, noticing the sadness in his eyes. He nodded. "I know." He raised his eyebrows depreciatingly as he looked away from her. "I don't think I would have been married by now if I'd never opened the 'gate. I got lucky with Sha're." He sighed as he shook his head, old memories playing in his head as he started to unburden his soul to her. "She taught me that there was more to life than just work. I would love to have that insight now. Sha're changed me... she made me a better person for all the love she gave, the times she laughed at me for doing women's work." He laughed humourlessly as he remembered things. "And I couldn't even save her. She gave me so much and I couldn't even do that for her." As Sam looked upset, knowing the pain that he was in, he said quietly, glancing at her,

"I think I'll go now. We've said a lot of things tonight."

He made to go but she stopped him. "Daniel." He stopped, his back to her as he rolled his head back, his eyes closed. "Just tell me one thing." She hesitated, unsure. "Why did you use Jack as an insult?"

He swallowed and murmured, "Because you had all that... and you didn't do anything about it. Why let rules stand in your way? We've been doing this for so long... you wouldn't have been punished." He looked down, a sadness on his face as he fought with old demons, fighting to do what he felt was right. He eventually turned to her. "And because... I'm jealous."

With a shake of his head, he left the room, going upstairs, leaving a shell-shocked Sam stood in the middle of her kitchen, tears beginning to run down her cheeks once again. When she regained the use of her legs, she rushed out, running upstairs to find him packing his things, and looking thoughtful. When he sensed her presence, he stopped, his back towards her.

"I'm sorry, Sam."

She leaned in the doorway, watching him sadly. "Why should you be? I'm the one who didn't explain things properly." She sighed as she folded her arms across her chest. "I let him go a long time ago. I don't know what he feels for me, and to be honest, I don't care. Well, okay, I do care, but I wouldn't be as open to it as I might have been."

She looked down at the floor, and he turned around. "What changed?"

She swallowed and asked when her eyes met his, "Do you really want to know?"

He nodded, his heart rate inexplicably speeding up. She nodded in reply, saying softly, "You." She sniffed away more tears as she turned away, walking towards the stairs. He stared at where she had been and then went after her. He stopped her on the landing and turned her around. Their gazes met, the frisson of the previous evening returning, and once again he found himself drawn to her lips, and she his. Their hearts pounded in their chests as they stood on the precipice of a moment that had been ten years in the making. He caressed her cheek, their lips moving closer, when the sound of a ringing phone broke the spell.

Embarrassed, Sam reached into her pocket and stepped away from Daniel as he, embarrassed too, walked back to her room. She answered the phone, talking into it for a few minutes as she nervously ran her fingers through her hair, before disconnecting. She then stared at the doorway of her bedroom, seeing Daniel stood over his bag, but not packing. Running her fingers through her hair again, she put her phone away and went into the room.

He asked, glancing back at her, sounding as casual as someone asking for the time, "Who was it?"

She replied with a shrug, "Oh, it was just Cam... just checking in. I told him you were in the shower. He's coming back from Kansas tomorrow and wants to see Cassie."

"Right, okay."

She watched him, looking thoughtful before pushing herself off the door frame and taking his bag off her bed. She sat down and he sat down too after a moment's hesitation. He put an arm around her as she rested her head against his shoulder as she slipped an arm around his waist. His cheek resting against her hair, he whispered suddenly,

"Why didn't you say anything?"

She looked up at him, bemused. "Why didn't you?"

He gazed down at her wistfully. "There was Jack. He was always there... even when you were with Pete. I know you said that you broke your engagement off because of doubts, and your Dad... but I always thought that you felt awkward marrying someone that wasn't Jack."

She couldn't help but smile. "You really are an idiot, aren't you? You always knew me inside-out... damn, I must not have been good at the whole conveyance thing." He smiled slightly at her as she took his glasses off. "The truth is that I didn't want to marry someone who made me turn my back on my best friend. It wasn't Pete's fault... it was just me handling all the emotional crap badly, but I could've done it better, admittedly."

"Hey, come on, you weren't turning your back on me. You were out having a life... which is more than I've ever had."

She shook her head, her smile fading as she looked down at the glasses in her hands. "No, I felt guilty, because I had feelings for you that were way beyond friendship, and I was engaged to someone else. I shouldn't have been feeling like that. I kind of dealt with those feelings when you were on your way to Atlantis and I was in Nevada." She made a face. "It was hard... I really wanted to tell you when I came back, but then Vala came into the picture." She shrugged. "I guess I'm not so bright when it comes to stuff like this."

He rubbed her arm. "Sam... we're geeks. If we knew how to handle stuff like that, we wouldn't be geeks, would we?"

They laughed softly and then she looked up at him again. He smiled slightly as he caressed her cheek. She returned his smile, smiling in anticipation as their lips grew closer once again. She had just slipped an arm around his neck when a ringing sound interrupted them again. However, this time, Sam took the phone from her pocket, and threw it out of the open door, onto the landing, where it hit a wall, and promptly stopped ringing. He whispered, looking amused,

"What about your phone?"

"I can always fix it."

He caressed her cheek once again and she slipped her other arm around his neck as their lips finally met. Their eyes closed, they continued to kiss as they overcame the initial shivers of delight. They moaned softly as the kiss intensified, and eventually Sam straddled his lap as he held onto her, partially to prevent her from falling. Daniel whispered when the kiss ended, their foreheads resting against each other's,

"Oh Sam..." He looked into her eyes, mesmerised as well as aroused. "I..." He couldn't get the words out, his fingers reaching for her hair, the Archaeologist rendered speechless by the kiss and their present position.

She groaned softly, whispering in reply as she held him tighter, "Well, you are sat on my bed... with me in your lap." She giggled when she felt something, and she kissed him, the kiss this time quicker than their first one. "Only if you want to, though. We can probably work this out some other way if it's too soon."

He smiled and then kissed her in reply as she pushed him back onto her bed, continuing to kiss him as she worked on undoing his shirt. Suddenly she stopped, remembering something. He looked up at her with a concerned frown, asking,

"Sam?"

She asked, looking down at him, worried as she lie over him, "You were going to quit the team... just like that?"

He grimaced as he looked away from her, and then at her again. "I was angry... and so were you. I wouldn't have quit... it was just in the heat of the moment like what you said about Vala. We probably would have worked it out once we were able to face each other again." He reached up to touch her cheek. "I really am sorry for what I said. Jack's one of my best friends... I would have been happy if you guys had got together... even if I didn't think it would have worked."

She sighed as she rested her head next to his. "Same here about Vala. I'm jealous... she gets more of your time. I hardly ever see you these days."

He frowned. "Sorry about that. I guess I could have tried harder to be a better friend to you, rather than burying myself in work. Forgive me?"

She smiled as she kissed him. "I never seem to be able to hold things against you for long." She continued to undo the buttons of his shirt as he gazed up at her, smiling in anticipation. He sat up as they began to undress each other, beginning a gentle exploration of each other's bodies and venturing into a new level of sharing.