Samantha Carter, PhD, proofreader, wanted to scream in frustration. She'd been plucked out of her comfortable, albeit, boring life and thrown into a huge state secret involving wormholes, intergalactic travel, and time travel and then when she, and her new, very cute friend Daniel Jackson had served their purpose, they'd been thrown right out again.

Sorry kids, we know that the other versions of yourselves had been keeping the enemy from the gate, literally, for eight years but you don't have the training; even though you figured out in a few days what our experts couldn't. That was the story of her life alright. Always doing the work and getting none of the credit. And then, their last hope, Colonel Jack O'Neill had turned out to be a bust, costing her thousands of frequent flier miles, she added to herself.

The last straw had come when, after finding them selves stranded in Florida until the next day thanks to over-booked flights, they had tried to find a hotel to stay in for the night. After two hours of phone calls, they ended up in the only motel in the city with the only vacancy, thanks to some kind of business convention. They'd both accepted it philosophically; after all, sharing a room was better than sleeping at the airport. Or at least that's what they thought, until they say the room: one bed. One small bed. They looked at each other uncomfortably.

"I'll…I'll take the floor," Daniel finally broke the tense silence.

"N-no, that's not fair," Sam stuttered, then grimaced. Why did she always sound so timid? She didn't sound that way in her thoughts, just when she spoke.

"Hey, I used to be an archeologist, remember?" he said with self deprecating humor. "I've slept on worse, trust me."

Sam gave him a half smile. "You want the shower first, then?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure." He definitely need to be away from her at this moment, he thought as he grabbed his bag and headed for the bathroom. He'd liked her at first, then, seeing the way his counterpart looked at hers on the video, he guessed the other him liked her, too. It seemed like he was destined to moon after this woman. After that question Jack O'Neill had asked about them being a couple, he'd been trying to hide his feelings better. Obviously, he hadn't been hiding them well enough to start with if a clod like O'Neill could see it.

Sam paced in the main room, muttering to herself. "Yeah, Sam, real smooth. That jerk O'Neill could see that you like Daniel. Even asked if you were seeing each other because of it. Couldn't you have been just a bit more subtle in your drooling? That poor guy couldn't wait to get away from you." She flopped down on the bed. The other me liked him, maybe even loved him based on the look in her-my-eyes. I guess I'm meant to chase after him. No way he feels the same. There was something in the other Daniel's eyes though…and it follows that if I share the other me's emotions, then he might share the other Daniel's. Sam shook her head in denial. "Wishful thinking, Sam."

With the two of them unknowingly sharing a resolution, the night time rituals were done with out too much awkwardness. All too soon though, it was time for lights out. Sam lay in the bed and Daniel bedded down on the floor with some extra blankets and pillows they'd found in the closet. Neither expected to get much sleep that night, but jet lag caught up with them and they dozed off listening to one another's breathing.

Later that night, Daniel was awakened by a strange noise. He listened for a few minutes, and hearing nothing more, tried to get back to sleep. Until he heard it again. It sounded like…was that crying? He sat up and looked over to Sam, who sure enough, was lying in bed, weeping softly.

"Sam, what's wrong?" The was no answer and before he opened his mouth to try again, Sam started talking, mumbling more like, and Daniel understood she was crying and talking in her sleep. Having been plagued with nightmares himself, he figured the best course of action was to let her get through the dream. Better than waking up and trying to get over the horrible feelings the nightmare invoked, in his experience. He was just about to lie back down, when Sam suddenly shot up in bed, saying something like, "Mom, no."

"Hey, you okay? Daniel asked.

Sam's head swung in his direction, apparently not remembering he was there, until he spoke. She fumbled with the lamp next to the bed until she finally got it turned on. "Umm, yeah," she answered after a minute, flushing. "Just a…"

"Nightmare?" Daniel finished for her. At her nod, he continued, "Yeah, I get them too. That sounded pretty bad."

"It was about my mom," she glanced his way, seeing him cock his head to the side, "She, uh, she died when I was a kid. And even though I wasn't there to see the car accident, I still dream about it whenever I'm stressed."

Daniel nodded in commissary. "I understand." He winced, "God I hate it when people say that to me, but I do. My parents died when I was little. Sometimes, I still see it in my dreams." Sam nodded. There seemed to be nothing else to say. She reached down and touched his shoulder in comfort. Daniel laid his hand on hers; giving her back the comfort she was giving him. After a minute, Daniel shifted uncomfortably. The floor was very hard and he was in a very awkward position. Not to mention that he wasn't twenty-five anymore, and sleeping on the floor was not doing his back any favors.

Sam gasped, seeing his discomfort. "I knew it was a bad idea for you to sleep on the floor. Get up here now." She ordered, her inhibited nature battling with her concern for her friend and loosing.

Daniel offered a token protest, but Sam would here none of it. Moments later he was settled in bed beside Sam, as far away from her as he could possibly get without falling on the ground. They both fell asleep a few minutes later; the whole ordeal being more than enough to make Sam forget her nightmare and Daniel once again succumbing to exhaustion.

The light was soft and dim, but that didn't matter because sight was not a sense she needed right now. She could feel his body pressing up against hers, his hand on her breast, taste his lips as they shared a never ending kiss, hear the rapid breathing and soft moans. She didn't need sight to know that he wanted her as badly as she wanted him right now and that's all she needed to know. His hand abandoned her chest traveling downward, and when he reached his goal, she gasped and his name escaped her lips on a hitched breath. "Daniel…"

Her own voice woke her. And him apparently. Blue eyes snapped open to meet blue eyes and they stared at each other for a moment letting their minds digest what had just been going on. They had been acting out a dream of each other; with each other.

For a moment neither moved. Then Sam smiled. Just smiled. That was all the encouragement Daniel needed. He returned her smile, then slowly lowered his head to kiss her again.

The next morning Sam was the first to wake up. Her first thought was, Something's not right here. The upper half of her body was pillowed on Daniel's. She was unclothed and so was he. She blushed remembering the slow dreaming love making they'd shared last night, but she cuddled closer happily. Her stirring roused Daniel, who looked at her in confusion, then recollection, then worry. He was happier than he could remember being in years, but how did she feel? He tipped her head up so he could look in her eyes. All the feelings in his heart were reflected in her eyes and he smiled.

"Some dream, huh?" he teased. Sam only nodded and kissed him, wanting to relive it. Daniel was only too happy to comply.

A few days later, she reflected upon those moments in bittersweet reminiscence. She was in the ship with O'Neill and the Jaffa Teal'c who she was trying really hard not to hate. After all, he had a pretty good reason for killing Daniel. He had been taken over by one of those awful Goa'uld things. Sam bit back tears. Her gentle sweet Daniel had managed to shoot a couple men before being killed himself. Now they were on their way to 3000 B.C. Egypt. Daniel would have loved to see this, she thought.

They landed and were led to a tent by a man named He told him that their other selves had tried to stage a rebellion and had been killed. All except one.

A figure ducked into the tent and removed the hood that had blocked his face from their view. "Daniel." Sam whispered, looking at the man in front of her. He was so different. The hair was a lot shorter. The face harder, much less open than her Daniel's, and the body. Sam blushed. He had trained in a military unit for eight years. It really shouldn't have come as a surprise that he was so…built. She remembered her Daniel telling her that he had felt like he was meant for something more. A part of her rejoiced that he had, even in another life, had been more.

Sam marveled over the difference in Daniel's temperament and personality. A part of her was ecstatic to have Daniel back in whatever form, but another part missed the gentle, sweet Daniel she had loved for such a short time.

If Sam had conflicting emotions, they were nothing compared to Daniel's as he explained what had happened five years ago, and the years since. His heart had jumped up in his throat upon seeing Sam again. He hadn't thought he would survive after Sam, Jack, and Teal'c had been executed. The pain when ever he had thought of Sam had been so intense, so devastating that he wanted to die. Added on top of that seeing Jack and Teal'c die, loosing his whole family like that had almost been too much to bear. So he'd focused on organizing the rebellion. He'd put his whole being into not feeling, only doing, and sometimes, when he finally lay down at night, he could actually sleep. Now seeing her again, seeing them all again, brought on such warring emotions of happiness and pain that he felt torn in half. So he did what he'd done for years to deal with his pain. He blocked it out and focused on what had to be done at that moment.

Three months later the rebellion had been won, the stargate buried and what used to be SG-1 settled into their new lives. Daniel was teaching Jack Egyptian, again, Teal'c was getting used to being free, and Sam, well, she was adjusting. She came to conclusion that she was never going to have what she had with Daniel back. For one reason, this Daniel just didn't look at her like that. She'd learned that Daniel and the other Sam had been in a relationship from one of the natives. They'd been in love. But he didn't feel that way about this version of her. She would have laughed if it hadn't been so pathetic. She was competing with her own ghost…and loosing.

She decided to begin a campaign. She would become more like what the other Sam was like. After all they were the same person; it was all a matter of tapping into other parts of her personality. She started, nonchalantly asking Daniel about the other her. He gave her, little by little, what she needed to know. Sam started asking Jack and Teal'c to teach her to fight. She became more forceful, less shy. Daniel noticed the change almost immediately. One day he confronted her.

"Sam, you know, we're trying to blend in here. Sparring with Jack and Teal'c isn't the way to do that." He told her as gently as he could, trying to take the reprimand out.

This was the last straw for Sam. She exploded, "What so you want from me? You don't want me at first because I wasn't enough like her. Then when I try to be more what you want, you still aren't happy! Well, you know what? I quit. I give up." She stormed away, which isn't easy to do in sand, but she gave it her best shot.

Daniel stood dumbfounded for a moment. Finally he ran to catch up with her. "What do you mean I don't want you? Of course I do. I love you. You didn't have to change yourself!" He stopped, realizing, "That's what this has been about? The way you've been acting?"

Sam felt hot tears escape her eyes but ignored them. She couldn't seem to speak, so instead she just nodded.

Daniel shook his head and pulled her close and kissed her. Soon their need took over and he lowered her to the sand. A sense of déjà vu assaulted him, but he blocked it out and instead focused on the moment.

Quite a while later, Daniel looked at her lying beside him and smiled, "You know, we are highly educated, intelligent, sensible people, but we can't seem to see what is in front of our faces."

Sam giggled. "You're right. What's wrong with us?"

"Well I, for one, was scared that you didn't feel the same way."

Sam rubbed her lips over his again, letting him know just how she felt. "It scares me that we have fixed the timeline, and things might go back to the way they were before when you bury that tablet." He had been working on it, half-heartedly. He knew how she felt. The timeline would right its self and they would no longer have what they had. Maybe he should leave another coded message on that tablet.

To be continued…

A/N: sorry this took so long, just started a new job and everything's been pretty hectic.