Unable to sleep that night, Sam curled up on her couch, a blanket draped over her lower half as she wrote formulae down on a notepad... or at least tried to. The reasons for her insomnia were now impeding the task. She closed her eyes with an exasperated sigh and replayed the events of that day. There had been so many different teams, most of them dressed differently... many different versions of herself, who were all essentially reflections of herself. Even the determined version of herself from the black team that had caused the convergence.

What should have struck her the most, she thought, was seeing Martouf alive again, and she had sensed Lantash within him.

The mixed feelings she had about that were drowned out by a rather vivid repeat of the alternate Sam in civilian clothes kissing Daniel... and Daniel responding. It made her feel... as she thought more and more about it, the initial jealousy that she had felt grew sporadically. To even her own surprise, she felt as though it should have been her in her alternate counterpart's place.

She felt the whole thing to be odd too... how intimate Daniel had been in the gateroom with that other Sam. The last time she had seen him anywhere near as so was many years before... on Abydos with Sha're. That had been restrained due to cultural reservations about public displays of affection, but even so...

She was curious as to what happened between the time that that Sam had slipped out of the room that all the Sams were working in, and the time when an SF escorted her back after searching for her.

The whole situation began to make her face up to her own feelings for him once again. She sighed as she thought of the number of times she had almost told him, but held back because she didn't know how he would react. His friendship was more valuable to her, the Colonel having missed it greatly during her time in Nevada despite the many phone calls to and from Colorado Springs.

She exhaled as she looked up at the ceiling before deciding to relax and indulge in her thoughts, partly as a means to be able to sleep. She smiled slightly as she found herself imagining herself in that other Sam's place in the gateroom, slipping her arms around Daniel's neck, and then gazing up at him with a glowing smile.

On second thoughts, she didn't want to be that Sam. Despite what that Sam had done earlier, she didn't have Daniel in her life any more. The thought brought up some traumatic memories from her past, of losing Daniel so many times, and she began to cry quietly.

A knocking at the door shook her out of her thoughts and she quickly dried her eyes, wondering who it could be at that hour. Slipping her pyjama bottoms back on, she composed herself and then went to answer the door, pausing in surprise on seeing Daniel with a pizza box in his arms. She smiled slightly and he said, pushing his glasses up,

"Um... hi... Sorry about..." he paused on realising that she had been crying, and he asked, "What's up?"

Realising what he had noticed, she stood aside to let him in, replying softly, "Nothing." She followed him in the kitchen, watching as he put the pizza down, opening the box. "Daniel... you didn't have to."

He shrugged as he instinctively opened a cupboard with plates in it. "I figured you might need the company... it's a lot to take in."

She exhaled, raising her eyebrows briefly. "I'll say."

As she took bottles of beer out of the fridge, he asked, glancing at her, "Are you ok?"

She nodded, not replying and he looked increasingly concerned. They went to the lounge in silence, carrying plates and bottles, putting them down on the coffee table. He asked as they sat down, offering her a plate and disturbed on seeing the sadness on her face,

"How was it seeing Martouf again?"

She shrugged, replying softly as she looked down at the slice of pizza on her plate, neither eating, "It... it was good. I missed him."

Sensing that she needed comfort as she put her plate on the coffee table, looking preoccupied, he put his own plate down and pulled her into his arms. He murmured as he gently rubbed the top of her back,

"Sam... tell me what's wrong."

She shook her head against his shoulder and sniffed before straightening up, and she said, eventually smiled albeit in a strained way for a moment, "It was nice seeing Janet again."

He nodded, still concerned as he replied with a distant expression, "It was. At least she's out there somewhere doing her thing... and scaring the willies out of battle-hardened Jaffa and awkward Air Force Colonels alike."

She smiled. "I was thinking the same thing. Even Bra'tac admired her... and he's a tough crowd."

He smiled back at her as they both rested their heads against the back of the couch, looking at each other. He said as she reached for his hand,

"So many different possibilities."

"Yeah... it's interesting how one change, the same event with a different outcome... or just a tiny change can result in huge differences."

"A ripple effect."

She smiled at him. "I was thinking of the butterfly effect..."

"The flapping of a butterfly's wings causing a hurricane? It fits."

She chuckled. "Well... ripples work too... it's less dramatic... and it fits with aquatic descriptions of time."

He smiled. "Time stream."

Her smile faded and as he looked concerned once more, she asked, looking at him, "What happened today?"

Eventually realising that she was talking about his experience with the other Sam, he blushed, and replied with a shrug, looking down at the hand she still held, "Nothing much." He closed his eyes as he remembered alt-Sam's words, and he took a deep breath. He finally looked at her again and said quickly, the faintest trace of tears in his eyes,

"Sam... the other Sam made me face up to my feelings... for you... that it was possible for you love me." He paused but resumed before she could even process what he had said as he turned away from her. "Apparently we'd been married... and I'd died saving Janet on 666. We, uh... they have a daughter."

He took another deep breath and closed his eyes. He was about to say something else when she was suddenly at his side, wrapping her arms around him tightly. Feeling a sense of déjà vu in amongst his confusion, he asked, his mouth suddenly dry,

"Sam?"

When he finally saw her face, he saw that she was trying hard not to cry as she smiled and remarked, ruffling his hair affectionately, "Of course I love you." He looked sceptical. "You have no idea how many times I almost told you these past few years. So many times... I chickened out because I didn't think you'd actually feel the same way."

As an indescribable realisation came over him, he turned to her, caressing her cheek as he looked scared, and then he hugged her tightly, closing his eyes as she clung onto him. He whispered, now unable to stop himself from crying,

"I always thought you loved Jack."

"And I thought you weren't aware of me as anything other than your friend."

They gazed at each other, finally noticing something that had been in each other's eyes, and they dried each other's tears. He hesitated still, unsure, when she smiled slightly and kissed him. Unlike his first time with the other Sam, he reacted almost instantly and gave her everything that she had given him and more as she held onto his shoulders.

Panting after the kiss, they rested their heads on each other's shoulders, still holding onto each other, and he said with a happy sigh as he played with her hair, "Guess what?"

She looked at him and he continued, "That wasn't the only universe with an 'us'."

She grinned on remembering something alt-Martouf had told her as well as remembering alt-Janet and alt-Daniel smile at each other in the gateroom. "I know." She blushed a little but still smiled. "Apparently I'm having your baby." She kissed him again. "Martouf told me... and apparently..." she slipped her arms around his neck as they gazed at each other, smiling coyly,

"... we have two other children as well. And then... that black team... double-crossing as they were... their you and their me had been on their honeymoon when we were using the Mark IX. The Hazmat team's Cam is gay and has the hots for you, but Hazmat me and Hazmat you are an item..."

He looked bemused on remembering the Cam from the team dressed in Hazmat suits, and how that Colonel had smiled at him in a corridor. He smiled briefly, looking embarrassed. "You picked up a lot, didn't you?"

"Oh yeah... all small talk. You'd be surprised how many universes have an 'us'." On seeing his surprised and stunned expression, she remarked, "You thought it was just me and the General didn't you?" She cocked her head. "It's a big multiverse... so many possibilities and outcomes... and those teams were from universes closest to our own... which means..." They smiled at each other and kissed once more.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

As Sam began to drift off in his arms later that night, after they had made love, he nuzzled her neck. She made a humming noise as she smiled and stretched in his embrace, and he whispered, "Do you want to see some photos from that other universe?"

She nodded and sat up as he looked for his jacket... finding it in a heap with some of her clothes. He reached into a pocket and then laid back down with her, drawing a blanket over their naked forms. He softly kissed her and gave her some photos. He held her in his arms as they looked through the photos, and she remarked with a sigh,

"Despite what happened afterwards... we look happy, don't we?"

He nodded as he held her tighter, and she put the photos down before burying her face in his chest and remarking, grief-stricken as she remembered losing him in the past, "What I hated the most about you being Ascended and semi-Ascended... was that I didn't know where you were, whether you were alright." She sniffed and released a shuddering breath. "I can't imagine losing you forever now. It would kill me."

He kissed her, whispering, "I can't promise anything but as long as I am able, as long as I have the choice, I will never leave you. I chose to leave after Kelowna... but I'm older and hopefully a little wiser now. My place is here."

They reflected over their words and the events of the day for a long moment before he said, stroking her shoulder, "I want you to have something."

She looked at him curiously and opened his hand to reveal a slightly scuffed and battered gold band, a little broader than the one the alternate Sam had worn. She frowned slightly as she looked at it, and he replied,

"That other Sam gave it to me."

"Daniel..."

"She wanted me to have it and I want you to have it." He kissed her neck and rested his head against hers. "It's only right."

She reluctantly accepted it and then said, looking at the ring, "I suppose it could be a symbol that despite your tendency to come back from the dead, you're still mortal." She kissed him gently, whispering her thanks before putting the ring in his hand. He frowned and then she held out her right hand for him. Smiling, he slipped the ring onto her middle finger, and she rested her hand on his chest, snuggling in his embrace as they both considered the future that lay before them now, the myriad possibilities.

– Fin

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Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are very welcome.