AN: During Forever in a Day (Daniel loses Sha're and leaves the team) and Past and Present (Daniel gets a new girlfriend).
Daniel was gone, or at least almost gone. Seeing his entire office packed up into the Colonel's truck and moved into that tiny apartment had been an emotional experience for Sam. She wasn't sure when she had grown so close to Daniel, but she had. And now he was leaving the team and disappearing from her life for all practical purposes. She was going to miss him. It's not that she didn't understand that he was hurting from Sha're's death or that he needed to make a change, but she didn't want to be selfless about this.
"I don't like the new guy," Colonel O'Neill announced from the driver's seat interrupting her thoughts and drawing her attention. "Mothman, I don't like him."
"Rothman?" she corrected.
"Whatever. Discount Daniel. I don't like him," the Colonel reiterated dismissively.
"You didn't like Daniel at first either," she pointed out.
"That's not exactly true," he retorted gently.
"Or me," she added.
"Ok, that's definitely not true," he argued more vehemently.
"In fact, I think you really only liked Teal'c."
"What's not to like about Teal'c?"
"Nothing. I'm just saying, maybe just give Rothman a chance," Sam suggested.
"Do you like him?"
"I don't know him," Sam answered. It wasn't uncommon anymore for Colonel O'Neill to ask her opinion about tactical decisions these days, so it made sense he would ask her about Rothman also.
"He's not Daniel," he concluded. Sam thought that might be the most sincere compliment that he had ever paid Daniel.
"No, he's not. But I can see why Daniel wants some breathing room. It wouldn't be easy to be there every day. To be reminded of her all the time."
"Yeah," silence descended on the cab again.
"Do you think he'll ever move on? Fall in love again? Get married?" Sam asked.
"Maybe. I don't think he'll be in a hurry though. I think finding her became so much a part of who he was the past few years that I don't think he knows who he is without it."
"What about you?" she asked.
"Me?" Was Carter asking him if he wanted to get re-married?
"Skaara. Is finding him a part of who you are? Is it the only reason you're still going out there every day?" Oh. That.
"No. Maybe at first, but not now," he replied honestly.
"Why do you do it then?"
"Somebody has to keep your butt out of trouble." Cute little butt, he added to himself as his mind drifted.
"I'm serious."
"So am I. And what else am I going to do with my days, Carter?"
"So, if things were different, if you had other things to do, you wouldn't be here?"
"Here?"
"The SGC."
"If it was something better than going through that gate, sure. Kind of hard to beat though."
"Yeah, it is. Tough competition."
"Tough, but not unbeatable," he concluded.
Jack wasn't trying to be enigmatic. It just came naturally to him. Honestly, clear communication wasn't really what was on his mind at the moment. The questions had made him think about what his life would look like after retirement. Again. At the moment, it looked solitary. It wasn't that Jack minded being alone. He was pretty good at it, actually, but lately he had thought it might be nice to not be alone if he could be with someone as great as her. Not her, he knew it couldn't be her. But someone like her. Okay, not someone like her, since that seemed really unlikely too, but someone nice. Someone that understood him without having to say every little thing out loud. Someone who could sit in the cab of his truck in silence and be comfortable with it. Someone who could single-handedly mount a rescue mission to save his ass from a Goa'uld base.
There was no point in retiring just to sit around by himself and stare at the wall. So, it was official. He'd be going through that gate until he died.
"Okay, but if she is Linea, can I tell Daniel?" Colonel O'Neill asked a little too eagerly.
"Sir..." Sam scolded him.
"What? I'm just sayin', somebody has to tell him that he's getting a little too friendly with the Destroyer of Worlds. Also that she's old. Which one do you think will upset him more?"
"He just lost Sha're. He's probably a little sensitive right now."
"And?"
"And, maybe you aren't the best person to talk to someone who's feeling... sensitive, " she ventured.
"You think you should tell him?" the Colonel asked her.
"Oh no, I don't want to tell him," she answered honestly.
"Fine, I'll do it."
"Sir," she cautioned with her eyes.
"I'll be nice," he promised with upraised eyebrows.
"Colonel," she questioned with her eyes.
"I can be nice. I can do the tears and the crying thing," he assured her. "Just ask your... Dr. Carter."
"You made her cry?"
"No, I didn't. He did. The other me."
"Not surprising, but that doesn't really help your case," she concluded.
"Uhh, she was crying because I was dead, not because I was an ass."
"Well, how could you just go and die on her?" Sam accused.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to die, I just... wait... wrong reality. And we agreed to never talk about this again. The point is, I'm telling Daniel that he's banging an old lady and she's the Destroyer of Worlds, but I'm gonna be nice about it. Also, what was that? Like, 6 days after Sha're? That's gotta be a record, even for him."