Beautiful. A perfect picture. A log cabin, a frozen lake and snow all around. Doctor Samantha Carter pulled her coat more securely around her thin shoulders as she ventured out across the ice. It all would have been perfect if Jack had been there to share it with her. Samantha smiled to herself as she remembered the happy hours they had spent decorating, wrapping presents, baking… It all seemed so long ago. Winter had been his favourite season and he'd loved Christmas most of all.

Somehow this was the only place on Earth that she still felt close to him. The cities, the towns… all still showed the scars of the Goa'uld attack. Out here, she could pretend that nothing had happened, that at any moment Jack would appear, rosy cheeked and dragging the Christmas tree behind him. Closing her eyes, Samantha could pretend that she felt his arms about her, his lips against her skin. But Jack was gone and there was no way of bringing him back.

Closing her eyes, she let the tears fall unbidden. It shouldn't still hurt this much, she reasoned. The scientific part of her brain tried to explain her grief, to compartmentalise it. She knew the stages … knew what she should be feeling and when… why then did she feel like her days of mourning would never end? It didn't help to know that there were other worlds out there, other realities where Jack was alive and well. She remembered his kiss and how wrong it had felt, a pale imitation of her Jack but sometimes she wondered if that wouldn't have been better than the alternative. Doctor Samantha Carter existed in this world but she couldn't call it living.

She was so tired. It would be so easy to give up, to lie down in the soft snow and not get up again. The world wouldn't miss her… or so she wanted to believe. But she knew that wasn't true. They were still rebuilding this world and she was an integral part of that. So many had died and Earth couldn't afford to lose another soul. And deep in her heart Samantha knew that Jack would want her to continue, to live her life without him. She'd tried. God dammit she'd made every effort control her grief and make out like everything was fine. Most of the time she was working her ass off and too busy to do anything apart from eat and sleep. It was only in these quiet moments that the grief threatened to overwhelm her.

"Sam? Sam?"

The man's voice called to her and Sam reluctantly turned her attention back to the cabin. There was smoke curling out of the chimney, the yellow lights were warm and inviting.

Life goes on, she thought to herself somewhat bitterly. He was a good man. A kind man. He loved her. She couldn't have Jack so she had chosen to live her life with another. No one could blame her for needing the companionship, for not wanting to be alone. Taking one more look at the star filled sky Samantha breathed a silent prayer to the other Sam Carters out there. Hoping against hope that they'd had better luck than she had. If any of them had found their Jack then she wanted to believe they had the sense to act on their feelings… and never let him go.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

And somewhere in another Universe, on another Christmas Eve, Major Samantha Carter stood outside a small log cabin, by a lake, in the depths of a snowy wood. Taking a deep breath she knocked on the door.