Epilogue

Sam crawled across the queen-size bed to her side and curled up with her head in the middle, hugging her husband's pillow and taking a deep breath. "God, it's good to be home."

"Yeah?" Daniel asked, letting his eyes roam freely up her bare legs.

"Yeah. They didn't have Daniel-scented pillows over there. It's hard to sleep on Eau d'Air Force."

He chuckled, giving her a sympathetic smile. They rarely spent a night apart – at least he'd still had her things around. "You should've asked the other me for one."

"For a used pillow? Yeah, 'cause he didn't think I was creepy enough."

Daniel tugged his shirt over his head and perched on the edge of the mattress. "He thought you were creepy?"

She shrugged. "Honestly, I'm not sure what he was thinking. He avoided me at all costs."

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart." It had been hard enough with a Sam that was just crazy – he couldn't imagine being totally snubbed. Curling up beside her, he changed the subject. "So, I have a confession to make."

She arched a brow. "Oh, yeah?"

"I kissed a woman who wasn't my wife."

The delivery was absolutely dead-pan, and it made her grin even as she smacked him with the pillow. "Well, if we're playing True Confessions, then... I kissed a man who wasn't my husband."

"Hussy," he teased, leaning down to press a tender kiss to her forehead before pulling her close to his chest. "He really avoided you?" he murmured softly into her hair. "That's funny. She told me they were like siblings."

"Fighting siblings, maybe," she admitted. "I don't know what it was, exactly, but he just couldn't handle it."

"Must've been rough to be alone."

"I wasn't, really," she insisted. "Colonel O'Neill took good care of me."

Daniel yanked back to look her in the eyes. "Colonel O'Neill?"

"Yeah, why?"

"She didn't talk about her life much, but I guarantee you she mentioned him twice as much as all the others combined," he pressed. "Trailing second was a guy named Teal."

"Teal'c," she corrected. "Long story, that."

"But about the colonel. And her," he said. "I wonder..."

"You wonder if I stepped into the middle of something?" Biting her lip, she thought back to the glances, the way he'd stood a little too close. She'd known he was interested, but she hadn't really considered that it might have stemmed from the other Sam. Especially since... "That would be a big something, Daniel."

"Aren't there rules against that?" he asked, oblivious. "The whole fraternization thing?"

"Like I said... a big something. Sleeping with your CO is way crazier than walking through the Stargate." She grinned maliciously. "He was pretty hot, though. And definitely interested."

It was his turn to smack her with the pillow. "So, this man you kissed who wasn't me. He was me, wasn't he?" When she didn't answer, he pressed, "Wasn't he?"

"Of course he was, you dolt." Wrapping her arms firmly around him, she drove him to his back and kissed him soundly. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too." She hadn't noticed his hands drifting down until they caught the hem of her nightgown and started inching it up. "You know what else I missed?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

"Ooh, tell me," she murmured.

Leaning up a little, he murmured something in her ear that made her giggle. One hand reached over to shut off the light before he flipped her over and showed her exactly what he'd been missing.

~/~

Sam had run from that potentially embarrassing conversation in her living room as quickly as possible, excusing herself to clean up the leftovers and load the dishwasher. Scraping the rice remnants from her plate into the sink, she leaned over and stuck it into the tray of the dishwasher.

When she stood up, she had a guest. Colonel O'Neill stepped sideways along the counter – closer, closer, until a light hip-check forced her a step toward the open appliance. He followed right behind, their arms pressed against each other as he stepped in front of the sink. She couldn't help it. She grinned.

There was nothing left on his plate, but he pretended to scrape it off, anyway, holding her sandwiched between him and the open dishwasher. Only when he handed over the dish, still not looking at her, did he say, "I'm glad you're back, Carter."

"So am I, sir," she murmured, relishing in the warm of his body so close to hers. "So am I."