Sam wandered down the infirmary corridor, not quite certain where her feet were taking her. She spied the office, light shining through the small internal window. Janet. She hesitated for a long moment. Could she talk about Daniel's surprise revelations with Janet? She had her suspicions that Janet liked Daniel. Sam sighed inwardly; Janet was going to find out eventually and Sam preferred that Janet heard it straight from her than the grapevine. God only knew how she was going to tell the Colonel. Time may have moved on from their declarations when they had been mistaken for za'tarcs but there was still something between them…hope for some day when the war was over…she shook her head, pushing the thought away as she tapped lightly on the open office door.

Janet looked up and Sam caught the flash of guilt in her brown eyes before the doctor donned her usual mask of calm control.

Sam's own eyes fell to the glasses Janet held in her hands. 'Are those…?'

'Daniel's.' Janet confirmed. She gently placed them down on the desk in front of her as Sam stepped inside. 'He was wearing them when he came into the infirmary the day he…' her voice trailed away.

Sam placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a light squeeze.

Janet attempted a small smile. Her brow creased a little in confusion. 'I thought you were staying with…' she couldn't quite bring herself to call him Daniel, 'with…him.'

'He's asleep.' Sam said. 'Do you have a minute?' She asked tentatively.

Janet scanned Sam's pale, drawn face in a second and nodded. She gestured for Sam to close the door before the Air Force Major sat on the desk that graced the opposite wall. Janet crossed to the small coffee machine she kept in the office and poured them both a mug. 'Here.'

Sam took the drink gratefully.

'So what's going on?'

Sam's lips quirked appreciatively. Trust Janet to get straight to the point. She took another sip of caffeine; Dutch courage. 'Apparently, I married Daniel.'

Janet choked on her coffee. She sputtered and coughed as she reached for a handkerchief to wipe her mouth. 'What?' She managed eventually.

'I married Daniel.' Sam repeated, keeping her eyes glued to the mug. 'In the other universe.'

'But what about…?' Janet stopped herself abruptly.

'The Colonel.' Sam's lips twisted. 'We weren't together there.'

'Because you and Daniel married.' Janet shook her head. 'Wow.'

Sam nodded despondently.

'I take it you weren't particularly happy with the news?' Janet said dryly.

Sam's head bobbed up, a flush racing across her pale skin and she stared at Janet for a long time before she answered. 'It's just…weird.' Her fingers traced the lip of the mug she held. 'I mean, Daniel and I, we've never…I've never…'

'Never?' Janet pressed lightly.

Sam was helpless to prevent the tell-tale blush.

'Ah.' Janet hid her own face in her mug, taking a long gulp of the bitter liquid.

'It's not what you think.' Sam said hastily. 'It's just…' she sighed and straightened. 'Daniel and I just clicked straight away when we met and,' she gestured at the doctor, 'well, you remember what it was like those early days. I mean, the Colonel rarely spoke to either of us if it wasn't mission related and Teal'c was…' she searched for a description, 'Teal'c.' She and Janet smiled at each other. 'There were a couple of moments when I kinda thought, you know, that it was a shame Daniel was married or that he was on the same team as me.'

'But nothing more?' Janet probed.

'Nothing.' Sam stated clearly. 'I mean, he was so in love with Sha're that after the first few missions I didn't think about Daniel that way at all, Janet.'

Janet nodded in agreement. 'Yes. He was.'

'And by the time she died…'

'You were in love with someone else.' Janet noted gently.

Sam looked away, unable to disagree with Janet's proclamation and uncomfortable despite the deep friendship that had built between them. It was always understood that Jack, and Sam's feelings for him, were always off limits. 'It feels weird.' She admitted.

'That it's not you and the Colonel this time?' Janet said wryly.

'I guess I'd built up this idea that it would always be the two of us in any universe.' Sam waved her mug at her friend. 'Silly, I know.'

'I think we've all got used to that idea.' Janet murmured.

Sam kept quiet knowing Janet was referring to Jack.

'So, how did you and Daniel get together in the other universe?' Janet asked, curious.

'He said I…well, the other me helped him through Sha're's death,' Sam murmured, 'that we eventually became closer and when the Colonel pulled the scam on the rogues and we thought he'd gone back to Edora…'

'You two got together.' Janet completed. She looked at Sam. 'That was a rough time for you.'

Sam's head whipped up and she stared aghast at Janet. 'Nothing happened here.'

'It would be completely understandable if it had.' Janet tried and failed to keep the note of accusation out of her voice as she twisted her mug around in her hands. 'You were both hurting.'

'But nothing happened.' Sam stressed, her voice rising.

Janet looked at her sceptically. 'Nothing?'

Sam sighed. 'Nothing. We were both upset about the Colonel, I mean, how he'd acted and then leaving like he did, but neither of us would ever have gone...there.'

Janet's fingers tightened around the ceramic she held. 'If you say so.'

'I do.' Sam stated firmly.

'And the two of you didn't comfort each other at all?' Janet asked bluntly.

'Of course we comforted each other, Janet, we're friends.' Sam caught the tense she used and bit her lip. 'Were friends. Daniel checked up on me when I got home and I admit we shared a hug – just friends hugging to comfort each other. That was it.' She remembered it clearly. 'Then, he left.' She held Janet's gaze firmly. 'I swear to you; nothing happened. Daniel and I were only ever good friends; really, really good friends but that was it.'

'It's got nothing to do with me, really.' Janet said defensively, looking away from her friend.

'Doesn't it?' Sam asked gently. She wasn't unaware of her friend's feelings for Daniel, even if the topic was as off limits as her own feelings for the Colonel.

Janet flushed and shifted in her seat. 'Daniel and I were also good friends, Sam. That's all.'

Sam nodded and dropped the topic. 'I think they got married in the other universe because I was pregnant.'

Janet choked on her drink a second time. 'You have got to stop doing that to me!'

'Sorry.' Sam said insincerely.

'What happened to the baby?' Janet asked concerned.

'Daniel said they lost the baby soon after they married.' Sam shrugged away her churning emotions.

'And then he lost you.' Janet sighed, remembering Daniel's comments that his second wife had died. 'How did you…?'

'The computer entity thing when the Colonel…' Sam couldn't finish the words. She looked at Janet solemnly. 'Apparently, I didn't make it into the base computer. He said the Colonel was killed in the next mission he took.'

Janet wasn't surprised. She'd seen the Colonel's grief when they'd thought they'd lost their Sam. She sighed, compassion rising for the man in the infirmary bed down the corridor; a mirror image of the Daniel they had lost. 'He's lost practically everyone he's ever known or cared about.'

'It looks that way.' Sam agreed sadly. 'He's just all alone.' She slipped off the desk filled with a sudden sense of urgency. 'I should get back to him.' She hesitated by Janet. 'Should I take his glasses?'

'They're not his.' Janet snapped. Her mug hit the desk with a thump as she avoided Sam's knowing gaze. 'Sorry.' She glanced apologetically at her friend. 'I've already arranged for another pair to be made to Daniel's prescription.'

Sam nodded. 'I'll see you later.' She wandered back out into the corridor, unsure whether the chat with Janet had helped her make sense of the life her alternative self had apparently lived. She glanced back through the internal window into Janet's office. Janet was gazing down at something she held in her hands; it was Daniel's glasses.