A/note: these evil one-shots keep distracting me from the longer stories! I am averaging one a day! Set between Seasons seven and eight, when Jack is a Popsicle.

~ Déjà vu ~

"You know, I had a remarkable sense of déjà vu the other day."

Sam was startled by the voice that spoke to her as she showered in the locker room. She assumed it was empty, which was not unreasonable at nearly one in the morning. What perplexed her even more was that she recognised the voice as Daniel's. She quickly turned the water off and poked her head out of the cubicle, firmly holding the curtain to the wall.

"What do you want, Daniel?" she turned her head to the left and found a white towel held up to her face. Daniel leaned on the wall beside her cubicle, idly picking at his fingernails.

"I won't look," he added casually, still looking at his nails. Sam grabbed the towel and pulled it into the shower as Daniel began a rather random drawl.

"I've developed an understanding about the military. You are all - essentially - government employees that are trained and authorised to use lethal force to defend the civilian population. In your case Sam, the population of the planet," he rambled quickly.

"Your point?" Sam asked as she dried herself. Daniel continued as if he had only paused to take a breath.

"You wear uniforms as a means of uniformity, discipline, and for the sake practicality. You use ranks to organise a large number of personnel and define levels of experience and expertise."

"It took you this many years to work that out?" Sam huffed, stepping out of the shower with the towel firmly wrapped around her. Daniel now had his arms folded and was staring at the ground.

"But I never understood why thou shalt not feel for thy commanding officer," he added, finally looking up and doing Sam the courtesy of keeping his eyes on her face.

"Daniel," Sam sighed and looked away. "What do you want me to say? I care about the Colonel as much as I do about you and Teal'c."

Daniel simply gave a little 'huh' noise.

"So if it came down to choosing between say, Jack and I; choosing who would live and who would die, the decision would be fifty-fifty?"

"No." Sam answered quickly, surprising Daniel.

"No?"

"I would save you." She explained with conviction. "You and Teal'c are civilian. We would put you first."

"Even if Jack begged and pleaded?"

"He wouldn't."

"But say he did," Daniel prodded. Sam groaned and rubbed her brow.

"Where is this coming from? Why are you interrogating me for answers you know, I can't give you?"

Daniel pushed his hands into his pockets and began slowly pacing the room. He stopped and turned to Sam, both reasonably ignorant to the fact she was standing in only a towel.

"Like I was saying, I had a notable sense of déjà vu the other day."

"Which day, Daniel?" Sam asked, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. She was humouring him, but her patience was wearing thin.

"When we froze Jack."

"And you chose now, of all times and places to tell me about it?"

"No cameras in here," Daniel shrugged. Sam narrowed her eyes and regarded her friend carefully.

"Alright. Tell me."

"You remember when I stepped through the quantum mirror and into the alternate reality? When that Earth was being attacked by Apophis?" Sam nodded slowly.

"Vaguely."

"You know you and Jack were engaged in that reality? You were a civilian, of course." Daniel sounded so casual and calm, Sam was quite ready to kill him.

"Two realities out of an infinite number of possibilities," Sam began, but Daniel interrupted.

"There was one instant I remember very clearly. Jack was going to talk to Teal'c and you, she, stopped him." Daniel held up a finger to silence Sam before she tried to speak again. "They shared a lovely little hug and said their goodbyes. However, it was the look on her face that got me."

"Daniel..." Sam sighed, now too tired to argue with him. He was poking at a very large can of worms. "Is there a point to all this?"

"She knew he was going to die. She loved him and knew he was most likely not going to survive." He stepped forwards until he was on the edge of entering her personal space. "But, I was very surprised to see that look on your face a few days ago."

"And?"

"And in that reality, she called him 'Jack'. I can count the time you have called Jack by his given name on one hand. I'm sorry Sam, but when I juxtapose the two memories, the similarities are quite amazing."

Her silence told him that he had given her enough food for thought. Seeing that she was processing the information provided, Daniel took his queue to leave. Sam was left with the memories of Antarctica fresh in her mind and nothing but a damp towel around her body. She wasn't sure why it came, but a stray tear rolled hotly down her cheek.

Disregarding the fact that she had Pete in her life, Sam allowed herself to miss Jack in the silence of the empty locker room at one in the morning.

~ SJ ~

I'm sleep deprived, and have hayfever (red nose included) and am going to bed. Good night all. Hopefully these one shot ideas will stop distracting me from my other stories. Reviews welcome.