Daniel woke up alone and as he groggily sat up, he wondered whether he had dreamt the events of the previous night, until he spotted a set of folded clothes on top of a chest of drawers, clothes that weren't his… or Sarah's. He stretched, smiling slightly and got out of bed. His hand on the doorknob, he was all set to walk out of the room when he looked down and promptly blushed on realising just how naked he was.

What followed was a prolonged hunt for his boxers and pyjama bottoms, prolonged by the fact that the former had eventually turned up behind his wardrobe of all places, and the latter, under his bed.

Now only naked from the waist up and bespectacled, he emerged from his room to see a surprising sight. Sam was stood sipping coffee as she looked out of a window, wearing one of his shirts. She turned to greet him with a smile as he stood there, his eyes transfixed, his mouth not working. She blushed and he finally approached her, saying as he wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling her neck when she had put her mug down,

"'morning… that shirt suits you better than it does me."

Smiling in amusement, her cheeks tinged with a rosy hue, she remarked, running her hands down his haunches, "'morning. You look pretty hot."

He groaned, whispering with a cheeky smile as her hands lowered, "Oh… I'm sorely tempted to forgo breakfast and make love to you right now."

She whispered back with a smile mirroring his, her tongue lightly tracing his earlobe, "And I'm sorely tempted to agree."

"Hmm, I think you're past sore temptation."

"You're right. So are you."

He continued to nuzzle her throat as her head rolled back, and they eventually sank to the floor, making love fast and furiously in the lounge.

Finished, and stark naked, he sat with his back against a wall, and she straddled his lap as they continued to exchange kisses. He remarked with a chuckle, resting his forehead against hers after an intense bout of making out,

"How about some breakfast, Captain-Doctor? I suppose we could order in, in our current states of dishabille… although it would mean having to put something on before the delivery guy comes which would be…"

She silenced him with a kiss, replying as she smiled at his dazed expression, a finger on his lips, "I sorted that out while a certain Psychologist, Archaeologist and Linguist was away with the fairies."

She gestured to the nearby coffee table which they had somehow managed not to hit during their previous bout of passion, and he looked in surprise at the toast and eggs, the steaming coffeepot, the strawberries and cream, and the Chocolate Walnut cookies. He then looked at her, planting a tender kiss on her lips, saying with a grin,

"You cooked?"

She remarked, embarrassed and amused, "If you call scrambling eggs cooking… yah, sure. Come on, Doc, we expended a lot of calories within the past twelve hours."

He kissed her again, whispering his thanks, and as they began to eat, he said, gazing at her, "You know, Isis used to love scrambled eggs. I always had to make a separate plate for her to stop her from jumping onto mine. She's a bit of a caffeine-head too."

"A bit?"

"Ok…a lot. I tried to wean her off it but she kept attacking me whenever I was trying to sneak a mug. I'll bet she's having fun in NY – my parents don't drink coffee."

"Ooh, withdrawal symptoms… that's going to be one pissy cat."

Sipping some of the coffee that she had poured for him, he said, "You know… now that I don't have a girlfriend with cat allergies anymore, I was thinking that maybe I could bring her… uh, Isis back."

Her face lit up as she replied with a grin, "That would be great. I like that photo of the two of you."

"Oh, you'll love her – she's pretty friendly but she's smart too… except when it comes to coffee and scrambled eggs."

She remarked with a chuckle, "What about lasagne?"

"That too. She was a nice… animal to eat with."

She smiled, and he continued, "But you're an even better dining companion."

"Phew… for a moment there, I thought I had some competition."

They kissed again and they both chuckled, realising that they were still naked, and she remarked, "We're naturists."

"Hm, naturists within the confines of our apartment… nice."

She smiled at the words 'our apartment', and said, tracing his lips as he gazed at her, "I like the sound of that. It feels nice."

Realising what she meant, he kissed her neck and replied with a warm smile, "I know."

They gazed at each other for a moment and then she remarked with a sultry smile, "So… strawberries and cream?"

--------------------

Lying in bed once again for an afternoon nap in Daniel's arms, Sam eventually remembered her mobile phone, realising that Cam or her friends may be worried about her. She reached for her phone and her eyes widened briefly on seeing that she had forty-five text messages, and thirty missed calls, all of them from Cam and her friends, except for one text message which was from Mark.

Daniel raised his head to look over her shoulder, whispering as he kissed her shoulder, "You can use my… I mean, our phone."

She turned to meet his lips, replying with a smile, "Thanks."

They gazed at each other tenderly for a long moment and then they, giggling, eventually swapped sides so that she could use the phone after a lot of reciprocal tickling. He calmed down when she reached for the phone, gently kissing her shoulder and running a hand down her waist and then across her stomach.

The phone on the other end barely rang once when it was answered by a worried sounding Cam. Sam said with a tense smile,

"Hey Cam."

"Sam! How are you doing? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. I'm at Daniel's."

He released a breath that he had obviously been holding in for a long time, and he said, his voice low with relief, "I was so worried. I called the guys… The Colonel said that he trusted Jackson but he was still worried. God, you could have called!"

She was about to reply, embarrassed, when he said, now laughing a little, "Actually, no… I think we were a bit OTT. There would have been some embarrassment. Are you sure you're ok? Do you need anything?"

"Thanks Cam… I'm ok. I'll see you later."

"Ok… tell Jackson I said 'hi'. You could have called though – just a little one to say you're fine. I'll let you get back to whatever it is you're doing… Anyway… bye Sam."

She blushed slightly, replying, "Bye Cam."

She put the phone down, chuckling softly, and Daniel said, stroking her shoulder, "At least your friends care about you."

She turned to lie on her back and she gazed up at him, saying with a smile, "Cam said 'hi'."

"I heard."

He wrapped his arms around her again, humming with contentment as she turned into his embrace, resuming their nap as they savoured the comfort of each other's bodies at such close proximities.

--------------------

Later, after a shower and a light dinner, Daniel reluctantly offered to drive Sam home. On the ride back to her apartment, she said, looking a little troubled,

"Daniel... Cam and I have been living together for what seems like a lifetime. If… if for whatever reason, I can't move out, will you move in with us?"

He smiled, much to her relief, and replied, gazing across at her briefly, trying to keep his mind on the road, "Providing that Mitchell's happy with it, within a second."

For the rest of the drive, she rested her hand on his thigh, and when he parked up near her block, he leaned over and kissed her. She said with a grin, holding his hand,

"Come on up."

"Ok."

They got out, walking into the apartment building as they held hands, laughing and talking all the way. Reaching her apartment, she had just put her key in the lock when it flew open and Cam pulled her into his arms. Daniel, smiling slightly, followed as Cam swept the Captain off her feet, saying as he buried his face in her shoulder,

"At the risk of sounding like an overprotective brother, I didn't sleep a wink. I only just managed to get the Colonel to go home after I told him about the phone call."

She hugged him around his neck, replying, "Sorry Cam… I guess I forgot to call."

He smiled, glancing at Daniel behind her as he said, "No problem… it's just after all this crap with your burns and me not being there when I should have…"

"Cam, no, you were in Iraq."

"I know. It sucked."

He gestured for Daniel to step forward and he hugged him with one arm, saying, "Thanks for taking care of her."

Daniel nodded, unable to speak, not sure of what to say, and Sam said, now smiling again, "Cam, relax, I'm here now."

Cam released her and she said to Daniel, kissing him gently, "Make yourself at home – I've just got to get a change of clothes and whatnot, and we've got to break the news to Cam."

Cam stared from one to the other and asked, "News? What news? Are you getting hitched? It's a bit soon seeing as you haven't even been dating for…"

As Daniel reddened, Sam said, brushing the Major's arm lightly, "Cam… shut up and wait."

She kissed Daniel again and then went into her bedroom to get a change of clothes before going to the bathroom. Cam then went about making some coffee, and asked the Psychologist who leaned in the doorless entrance to the kitchen area,

"So… you guys doing anything nice later?"

Daniel replied with a shrug, "Maybe a movie."

Cam said with a slight smile, "Sam's favourite movie is Singing in the Rain, and her second favourite is Breakfast at Tiffany's."

Daniel nodded in acknowledgement, and said, "You guys are pretty close."

"Oh yeah. Sam mentored me at the Academy…"

When Daniel looked a little confused, Cam continued, "The Air Force Academy. Anyway, I was having problems in my freshman year and she was a senior and at UCLA doing one of many Masters. We kept in touch after she became a Lieutenant and then she invited me to move in with her when I moved here."

Daniel smiled a little and said, "You're good to her. She told me about the time you hit Jonas."

"Oh, evil-Jonas. Sam's a sister to me – there's no difference between her and my own sisters back home in my eyes. The same way no-one messes with them, no-one messes with Sam unless they want some serious facial rearranging."

He looked straight at Daniel and said with all seriousness, "That applies to you too, Jackson. You better treat her right otherwise your own Momma ain't gonna recognise you."

Daniel replied sincerely as Cam handed him a mug of coffee, "I wouldn't dream of it. Thanks."

"I know you wouldn't. It's just my version of the 'you break her heart, I'll break your legs' talk seeing as I'm her 'brother'… and I just beat Mark on something."

Cam patted the Psychologist's shoulder and walked into the lounge area, silently indicating for him to follow him as Sam emerged from the bathroom dressed casually. Cam handed her a mug and Daniel gently kissed her, saying as he stroked her cheek,

"You look great."

Bemused, she replied, tugging at her sweater as her cheeks reddened, "It's nothing."

Cam asked a little impatiently, "Ok, news-time. What's going on?"

Sam and Daniel exchanged a look and she sat down next to him, a hand on his thigh as he interlaced his fingers with hers. They looked at a now perplexed Cam, and Sam said,

"Cam... I've agreed to move in with Daniel."

Cam just stared at them in surprise and shock, and Sam, glancing nervously at Daniel who squeezed her hand, continued, "But I'll only go if you're cool with it."

Cam still said nothing. He slowly placed his mug down on the coffee table, as the two of them looked worried at what could come, perhaps that he would storm out, Cam stood in front of them and then knelt, pulling them both in a big hug, saying with a grin,

"Oh you guys, of course I'm cool with it. I'm just stunned… we've lived together for so long."

When he had let them go, Sam touched his cheek, saying sympathetically, "I know… don't feel pressurised or anything."

"Come on, you guys are going steady! You seriously cannot be considering living together here… you've got an annoying little bro for starters, who delights in embarrassing you."

He hugged Sam and said, rubbing her shoulder gently, "I'll miss you."

"I'll only be twenty minutes away."

"It won't be the same, and you know it."

"Are you sure?"

He smiled at her, kissing her cheek as he said, ruffling her hair, "Go for it, Sam."