Discharged from the Infirmary, Sam was escorted from the Infirmary by an overwhelmingly happy Daniel, who gave her the lowdown of every piece of Atlantis gossip that he had heard or encountered. Amused at several points, one especially, she remarked,

"Well, Carson is a woman. The Asgard made sure of that."

He smiled and said, his smile fading by half way through, "Well, it was still odd. It's sad that Carson's mother can't come to the wedding though."

She nodded with a little sigh, saying, "There's too much at stake... plus you don't know what her reaction would be to the news that her son, who was killed in action, is now a woman and is getting married. That would take a ridiculously open mind and then I'm not sure."

He hummed in agreement and then asked as he gazed at her, "How are you?"

Bemused, she replied, "I'm fine, Daniel... I really am."

"How are you really?"

She stopped walking as she asked, confused, "What is it? What's going on?"

He replied quietly, "I'm worried about you, Sam. After everything we've been through, there's still more, and... you really scared me during that time travel stint. I thought I'd lost you."

She watched him in worry and said softly, "I'm still here."

"And I'm thankful for each minute I have with you."

Smiling slightly, she grabbed his arm and pulled him into an alcove as he frowned in confusion. She checked that the corridor was empty before turning around and wrapping her arms around his neck to kiss him, whispering as they rested their foreheads together, "Me too."

They kissed again, and he said, gazing at her lovingly as they held hands, "Come on, let's get to the gateroom before they send out search parties."

They smiled at each other and quickly emerged from the alcove, much to the amusement of a few passing SFs and SG-team members, and they jogged to the gateroom, Sam shrieking with laughter at the prospect of them being caught.

The laughter quickly died down as she remembered her status on base, and she cleared her throat, smirking slightly at Daniel, who was barely hiding his amusement, and she looked around at the gathered personnel who were there to see the Doctor off, gathered around the TARDIS that stood in the centre of the gateroom.

As Daniel moved to stand with Cassie and the rest of SG-1, Sam approached the Doctor as he turned from telling a joke to Sheppard, and he gazed at her, now dressed in a brown suit with a medium brown trench coat. She said with a slight smile as she straightened the lapels of his coat, a hint of sadness in her eyes,

"I guess this is goodbye again… well, for me anyway. For you, it's just goodbye."

He gazed at her softly, remarking quietly, "Again or otherwise, it's hard leaving you. It's been really great getting to know you."

She closed her eyes and leaned her head on his shoulder as his arms came around her, and she whispered, sniffing back oncoming tears, "I'm going to miss you, Doctor."

"I'm going to miss you too, but I guess I'm still in your future if what you told me about Grace is correct. I get a little Carter-Jackson with her mother's fighting spirit coming along for the ride. You know… if you want, you could come with me."

She shook her head and replied as she looked up at him, "I'm sorry, Doctor. Maybe one day… but right now, Daniel needs me and so do our babies."

He hugged her again and said, "Well, you're more than welcome, whenever you want to. I get the feeling that it would be interesting to travel with you. Take care of yourself, ok? You've found the answers to so many questions, many questions you didn't know how to ask…"

"Thanks Doctor… you too. I wish you could stay longer."

"I'd really like that. Maybe one day."

She touched his jaw affectionately and looked past him at the TARDIS through her tears as she remarked with a smile, "Well, Doctor, the TARDIS awaits."

She raised a hand and the door opened, much to the Doctor's surprise, who said, "I'm the only person who can open it… usually."

"I'm not your usual girl, Doc."

"That's true."

He smiled and she kissed him on the cheek before he slowly moved away from her, walking back into the TARDIS as everyone watched, his eyes on the Colonel the whole time. He said from the doorway with a grin,

"Have a great life, Colonel Jackson."

Sam smiled through her tears as the door closed and she turned, only to find herself in Daniel's embrace, and the Jacksons watched, along with everyone else, as the TARDIS faded noisily out of sight. Daniel gently kissed her temple, finally coming to some sort of sensible understanding of her relationship with the Doctor, and he whispered as she held onto him,

"Come on, Colonel, let's go home."