DISCLAIMER: I don't own the ladies and I'm making no money from them.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
SPOILERS: Ripple Effect.
Serendipity, Almost
By scarimor
Sam leant back against the open door, relaxing her shoulders against its familiar grey and blue-striped paintwork. Her hands hung in her pockets and her eyes swept lazily across the other versions of herself scattered around the room. Most were clustered around the table - eating jello, drinking coffee, comparing their near-identical or not-so-identical selves and lives: desert and forest camouflage interspersed with olive and black BDUs; she hadn't considered it before, but now the notion struck home - Always liked a woman in uniform...
"Bored?"
Sam turned to her right at the unexpected question. Another Carter was sitting at the work-station by the wall, tapping away at the keyboard. Eyes that Sam was used to seeing in a mirror flicked up at her, then back to the monitor.
She appraised her counterpart, noting that like herself, and unlike the others, this one chose to go bare-armed. She shrugged. "A little."
Carter smirked. "You're bored out of your skull."
Sam's mouth twitched. "I guess you'd know."
"And hot."
Sam wiped at the sheen of sweat she could feel on her neck. "Yeah, they keep this SGC warmer than the one I'm used to."
Carter stopped typing and leaned back in her swivel chair. "That's not exactly what I meant." She smiled.
Sam processed that for a few seconds. "Oh." Nice one.
Carter laced her fingers together and stretched her arms. A couple of joints clicked. "I don't supposed you've got a cigar?" she asked.
Sam's lips curved into a slow grin. "Sorry. Smoked my last one back at those ruins while Daniel dug up his 3000-year-old butter churn."
"Me too. Did your Daniel end up- ?"
"Throwing it at that microraptor that chased us back to the 'gate?"
"Uh-huh."
Simultaneously they each pulled one of the creature's tail-feathers from their pocket to show the other. They flashed smiles.
Carter twisted from side to side a little in her swivel chair. "So... Sam..." She glanced at the other Carters in the room. "Which one do you think most likely to join us?"
Sam blinked a few times. The hum of conversation in the room seemed a fraction louder in her ears. "You mean, join us to-?"
"Help relieve your boredom."
Sam nodded. Of course. "Well..."
Carter reached a languid hand out to her and took her fingers in her own, tugging her ever so slightly closer. Her counterpart's finger-tips stroked her skin lightly.
Sam considered the spread before them. With any luck they wouldn't be stuck in this reality for long, so the subtle approach was out. "Black and Green are too wrapped up in each other," she said, returning the nonchalant caress with a stroke of her thumb.
"Hmm. And the Camo Quads haven't stopped yakking since they arrived."
Sam eyed the quietest version of herself who was perched at the end of the table. "How about Glasses?"
Carter followed the direction of Sam's gaze. She frowned. "Maybe. Looks like a bit of a dark horse under that cute smile." She glanced up again and winked. "Bet she's kinky as hell when she gets going."
Sam's eyes widened. She coughed for effect. "Before we take this any further, is there something I should know?"
Carter's smile broadened. "Nothing you don't already, I bet."
Sam felt a pleasant heat rising in her cheeks.
"We should probably save her for next time."
"Yeah."
Sam's counterpart stood up, still holding her fingers with the minimum of pressure. "Level 15?"
"Should be a spare dorm."
The corner's of their mouths rose in unison. Unnoticed by the other Carters, they slipped out into the corridor.
The End