Requiem by Dinkydow

Chapter Four

Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter glanced around the room, searching for the one man she had most wanted to see ever since they'd made it back to the SGC - Jack O'Neill. As she scanned the crowded commissary for his tall, lanky figure, complete with tufts of unruly hair stuck up on top of his head, she nibbled her lip nervously. 'He isn't here... but he and Teal'c were right behind us, weren't they?'

"Looking for someone?" Daniel murmured into her ear.

"What?" Her taut nerves stuttered and her heart skipped a beat, "Oh, sorry." She blinked rapidly in an effort to regain some of the equilibrium she'd momentarily lost.

"Don't worry so much, Sam," Daniel chided gently with a smile, "And for your information, I saw him deep in conversation with Teal'c in the Gateroom."

She ducked her chin and blushed, her lips slightly parted, "Was I that obvious?"

"Yes," he grinned and seemed to be enjoying the moment way too much for Sam's peace of mind. "But that's only because I know you so well."

She couldn't stop herself from glancing at the still-closed double doors that led out of the room. "Yeah, well it has been quite a while, even if we don't count the fifty-plus years that we can't remember."

"Yeah, there is that," he paused and turned serious, "Speaking of those lost years, what do you think about that?" He crossed his arms in front of him, almost hugging himself with barely concealed apprehension.

"Why do you ask?" Sam responded with concern because she knew all too well that Daniel simply could not resist any sort of mystery, especially when it concerned what he might - or might not - have been doing for the period in question.

Because she understood the conundrum that the fifty years represented, she'd already decided that she would respect Teal'c's position. She realized that, for all intents and purposes, those fifty years had not happened to anyone but Teal'c, so her actions, and those of her shipmates, were purely rhetorical.

Like the conundrum posed by the question of Schrodinger's Cat - she knew the difference between what was real - and what was not. When it came down to it, it wasn't that important. What was important was that they had found a solution to their problem. However, that particular line of thought led to darker waters for Sam and she resolutely shied away from them, and instead focused on Daniel. He - and his curiosity - was the safer option for the moment.

As usual, she was not disappointed. With his opening question, Daniel was off and running, one arm crossed protectively in front of his chest, and the other hand gesturing and waving in her general direction. "You mean to tell me that you don't want to know what happened during those years that all of us were cooped up onboard the Odyssey?" His eyebrows did a Teal'c eyebrow imitation while he rubbed his chin and tried to look inscrutable. "You don't want to know what we did?"

Feeling the need to shield her Jaffa teammate from Daniel's zeal, Sam took a deep breath before she spoke, "Yes, I do wonder about that. I'd be a liar if I said that I didn't. But, Teal'c told us what we need to know: that I discovered a way to use the energy from the Ori's weapon to reverse time inside the bubble, disengage the ship's hyperdrive engines from the Asgard core, and take the Odyssey into a hyperspace window." She smiled as she tried to convince Daniel to let the matter - and Teal'c - alone. "Beyond that, it really doesn't matter, since it never happened to us; just to him."

From his expression, it was clear that Daniel wasn't convinced and his face twisted with frustration, "Yes, but I..."

She paused a moment in thought, as she remembered the signs of pain and regret that had flitted across the Jaffa's face while he spoke of their time onboard the Odyssey. They had occurred so quickly, that she had doubted - for a few seconds - what she had seen. However, because of her long, deep friendship with Teal'c, she knew that she had not imagined it, that his feelings were in all probability, very real, and very painful.

Sam laid her hand on Daniel's shoulder to get his attention, "Wait a minute and hear me out, Daniel. I totally agree with the idea that Teal'c should not - and cannot - tell us what happened. Not only that, according to what he's told us, we all agreed that he couldn't tell anyone the details of how we spent our lives during that time. Shouldn't we respect Teal'c and the decision that we all made?"

"Yes, but I..."

"Daniel," Sam pinned him with her blue eyes, totally serious in her intensity, "Has Teal'c ever given you a reason to doubt his word?"

Daniel paused, as he seemed to search his memory of their ten years together, "No, not really." He looked away from the force of her gaze. "He's always been upfront with me, even when he had to kill Sha're."

"Don't you think that it would take an incredibly strong person to carry the burden of all that knowledge, knowing that he could never reveal what he had seen us do - what we had all experienced?"

"You've got a point there," Daniel acknowledged, as he rubbed his chin and reached up to push his non-existent glasses back up his nose. "I just can't help but wonder."

Sam sighed with mock exasperation and rolled her eyes, "Holy Hannah, Daniel Jackson is curious! So what else is new?"

Daniel did not seem to be amused and pouted, his arms crossed once again, shutting her out.

She relented and touched his arm, which caused him to relax a little, letting her in. That gave her the opening she'd hoped for.

"All I'm asking is for you to consider this," Sam replied evenly. "Before you start asking him a whole bunch of questions, I think you need to ask yourself why you're doing it; to satisfy your own insatiable curiosity, or for the greater good?"

Daniel's face wrinkled with thought, as he seemed to consider her words. "Are you saying that I shouldn't find out what happened?"

She shrugged, "I'm just saying that you need to consider the ramifications of what you're so set on doing?" Her head tilted to one side, "Did it occur to you that your questions might make it harder on someone who already has a pretty tough job to do? That your incessant questions would isolate Teal'c even more? Think about it, Daniel. He knows things about us that we will never know. He's seen us as we've never seen ourselves, trapped on a ship, without hope, lonely and getting older year after year."

For once, Daniel was silent. The sound of the doors opening drew Sam's attention like a magnet, and she smiled with relief to see Jack and Teal'c framed in the open doorway.

"There they are," she waved to get their attention. Then she addressed the still silent Daniel Jackson, "I can't tell you what to do, but I'd like you to think about what I've said."

Daniel shrugged and looked uncomfortable, and Sam had to leave it at that. She just hoped that Jackson would respect Teal'c's decision and heed her words.

There had been an upside to their conversation though. If nothing else, Daniel's questions had distracted her from her own ruminations about what must have occurred. Even though he hadn't said it, Teal'c had implied that the burden to discover a solution to their dilemma had been laid primarily on her shoulders and that she had worked on that for over fifty years. He had stressed that it had been her efforts that had ultimately saved them, the Odyssey, and everything that the Asgard had given them.

She tried to compare a fifty-year stretch of working to solve a seemingly insurmountable riddle with others she'd deciphered in the past, such as when Jack had disappeared for months, but the sheer expanse of time defeated her. After all, fifty years was a very, very long time, longer than she had been alive. And the thought of working on nothing but that one thing for that long was an idea that she could not wrap her mind around.

'So, there was no pressure there,' she thought with a grimace. 'It wasn't as if I haven't pulled a rabbit out of my butt before; but the responsibility was primarily on my shoulders. Not only that, this was no abstract lab experiment and all our lives depended on it. It was up to me - Samantha Jean Carter - to produce yet another miracle and the absolute need to succeed must have been horrendous. I can't help but wonder how I did it? What I found to keep me going without Jack there to encourage me? Did I find someone else? Or get a hobby? And just how did I do it? Teal'c said the Asgard didn't think it could be done.'

The very idea made her fingers itch to run through the new Asgard data to figure out just how she had done it. If Jack weren't here now, she would have already been in her lab, running through the schematics, trying to figure out what she had already figured out... she sighed and rubbed her forehead. The paradox made her head hurt; and for once, she agreed with Jack when he said that all that time stuff was way too complicated sometimes.

'There will be time for that later, after I have some private time with Jack,' she resolved silently and smiled, putting it out of her mind for now.

Sam made her way through the personnel, "General O'Neill," she called and was gratified to see his silvery head jerk around to home in on her voice. He grinned when he located her and made his way to her side.

"I was beginning to wonder if something had come up," Sam smiled as she avidly drank in the sight of him clad in his Class A uniform. He looked fit, and certainly did things to the uniform that she, as a woman, could appreciate.

"Ah, shucks, Carter," he dimpled. "Nothing could keep me from this little shindig. And of course there is the cake... and other stuff."

"Stuff, sir?" Her blue eyes sparkled as he seemed at a loss for words.

"You know, cake, seeing old friends..." his hand took in the assemblage, "stuff like that, Carter." He shrugged and grinned.

"This must be some shindig to get you all dressed up in your Class A's, sir," she stepped back to give an appreciative smirk. "Did General Jumper have to order you to wear them?"

"No," he looked injured and then softened, "It came from higher-up... Ida as a matter of fact."

She grinned, "That high, huh? Remind me to thank her."

"Yeah, well, there are good reasons for wearing this monkey suit, and then there are even better ones."

"General O'Neill!" Both Sam and Jack's faces turned and homed in on General Landry. "Would you get over here before I have a riot on my hands?" He waved them urgently from his position next to the buffet table on the far side of the room.

Jack ducked his head toward Sam and whispered. "Don't look now, but I think I'm on."

"I understand, sir," Sam replied with a smile. "Want me to come with?"

"Yeah, sureyabetcha," he smirked as they both stepped forward. "I think it's time for speeches and some cake."

"Here he is, the man who provided the cake for this celebration," General Landry called out in the midst of a sprinkling of applause. "And I couldn't have said it better myself," he added as he indicated the large sheet cake laid out awaiting the knife.

It was adorned with the emblem of the SGC, done in blue, red, black, and gold against a creamy white frosting. The words, 'welcome home' were emblazoned below it.

"It's about time you got here, Jack." Hank said once Jack was standing at his side, "I had to protect this masterpiece at the risk of life and limb. It would have been a sorry sight indeed if I had survived the worst the Ori could throw at us, only to become a victim of a food riot right here at the SGC," he grinned savagely, seemingly non-repentant at his attempt to put Jack on a guilt trip.

Jack gazed at him for a moment, "No, that wouldn't do at all now, would it, Hank? So, let's get on with it, cut the danged thing."

Hank held out the knife, "You want to do the honors, Jack?"

Jack took the knife and looked at the cake, then paused. "No, I think someone else has earned that right, the one that got you all home." Jack held the knife out to Sam.

Sam shook her head, "Not me, sir. Teal'c. He's the one who sacrificed the most, he got us home."

Hank and Jack exchanged looks and then Jack nodded. "Teal'c!"

He jumped when Teal'c seemed to appear at his side. "You called, O'Neill"?"

Jack looked at him with a stern expression. "How did you do that?"

"To what are you referring?" Teal'c was doing the eyebrow thing and seemed to be enjoying himself.

"Sneaking up on me," Jack sounded exasperated, "That's what."

"It was not subterfuge," Teal'c replied with the hint of a smile. "I believe your attention was otherwise engaged."

"So it was, so it was," Jack sighed, "You wanna cut the cake or not, T?"

"I am quite willing to slice this culinary confection," Teal'c took the knife from Jacks' hand and turned to the cake.

"It's about time," Landry muttered, "But first a short speech from you, Jack."

"Moi?" Jack patted his chest and looked embarrassed. "Short, you say?"

Sam smiled and held her finger close to her thumb, "Very, sir."

"I can do short." Jack smirked, "After all, there is cake."

He looked around at the people gathered in the room, and Sam could not help but notice the hint of wistfulness that washed over his face as he gazed out at the people assembled there. It was gone quickly though and he turned his attention to the task at hand.

"May I have your attention, please?"

A hush fell over the room as everyone turned to face him, their faces alight with expectation, "General Landry insisted I give you a speech, but I'll keep it short because I know you all have jobs to do... and cake to eat." He grinned and listened to the good-natured laughter.

"All of you are aware of what your commander, the members of SG-1, and the crew of the Odyssey have accomplished. But I want to tell you that all this was made possible by some friends of mine who are no longer with us... The Asgard. Now I realize that not everyone here knew Thor and the rest of his little gray buddies like I did, but rest assured that they were the good guys and took our side against a whole gaggle of bad guys right from the start."

He hesitated, half expecting to be beamed up, and when it didn't happen, he continued. "So I'd like to propose a toast," he paused as Sam handed him a glass of punch.

He raised it on high and smiled tightly, "To old friends, absent but not forgotten."

"To old friends, absent but not forgotten," the rest of the room chorused. Jack took a sip of his drink. "I'm hungry, let's eat some cake."

oOo

Teal'c watched as Colonel Carter and O'Neill spoke to each other. They were together once again and looked so natural that it filled him with a sense of peace. What had passed between himself and Colonel Carter during their sojourn aboard the Odyssey - as they offered comfort and encouragement to each other - did not matter. It was as if it had never been, because for her, it had never occurred.

Though he could remember the joys and sorrows as if it were only yesterday, he could share only a very small portion with his friends. Though it left him feeling very isolated and alone, he had shouldered this burden with the full knowledge that only he was capable of carrying it. And he knew that any untoward revelations would only hurt his dearest friends.

He sighed, and moved away from the center of attention. Knowing Vala and Daniel from their years together, he suspected that they would not accept his reticence to disclose how they had wiled away the long years. To cope with their incessant curiosity, he had resolved to take refuge in his meditation. That ritual would enable him to shut out their questions and find some inner peace for himself.

He would miss the haunting melodies of Colonel Carter's cello though. And if there were a way for him to steer her in the direction of re-learning to play the instrument, he would do so. But it would be a difficult task, simply because she was extremely adept at discerning his moods and thoughts. And, because it involved a game of wits against so worthy an opponent, he would gladly undertake such a task.

When he perceived Vala's approach, a look of absolute determination on her face, he moved toward the table, where O'Neill and Colonel Carter were speaking with General Landry.

"I have not yet tasted of your confection, O'Neill," Teal'c reached for a plate that was dwarfed by its piece of cake.

"By all means, T. Partake, consume, make merry," O'Neill replied as he moved to one side, the better for Teal'c to slide in next to him. By an unspoken agreement, Colonel Carter moved to flank him, becoming part of a human shield to stand between Vala and her intended victim - Teal'c.

"Holy Hannah, sir," she said, her tongue flicking out to taste the frosting lingering on the corner of her mouth. "This is delicious."

Jack bent to whisper in Teal'c's ear, "I see that Vala isn't wasting any time."

Teal'c held his cake in front of him, fork poised in mid-air. "Indeed."

His face remained impassive, concealing his disquiet as his fork finished its journey to his mouth. He timed it so that the cake in his mouth prevented further speech.

"Hey Muscles," Vala gushed with a bright smile. "I've been looking all over for you."

Teal'c remained silent but chewed on his cake and motioned meaningfully to his full mouth.

"Don't give me that," Vala teased, her dark eyes sparkled with determination. "Give it up, Teal'c. Don't try the innocent look with me. I'm the one person it won't work with."

Teal'c lifted one eyebrow, "Whatever do you mean?"

Hands on her hips, she glared at him, "You know what I mean, Muscles." Then she turned playful and mock punched him on the shoulder. "Besides, you've got something I want."

O'Neill smirked and put his hand on Teal'c's shoulder, "Whoa there, big fellah, sounds like she's got the hots for you."

Grateful for what he knew was his friend's deliberate misinterpretation of Vala's statement; Teal'c chose his answer with care, "I, however, do not see you as a potential mate."

Colonel Carter sputtered, cake and frosting spattering them all and then coughed, a suspiciously evil glint in her eyes. O'Neill, seemingly impervious to Vala's murderous expression, smirked and didn't seem to mind that she could see the expression of glee on his face.

Vala wiped at her face with disdain, sweet crumbs clung to her face and neck, "Anybody got a napkin? I could use one."

Without a word, Teal'c handed her one and then turned away. "I am in need of kel-nor-reem."

"I'm not finished with you yet, Muscles," Vala warned as she wiped at her face. "Besides, I know you don't need to do that anymore."

"I don't think you get it, Vala," O'Neill said with a warning glint in his eye. "I think the T-man is not interested in whatever it is that you want from him."

"All I want is some information," she wheedled as Teal'c made his way through the crowd toward the door and his quarters.

Teal'c continued on his way, comforted by the defense that his friends, O'Neill and Colonel Carter had staged on his behalf. Though they would not always be there to deflect her insatiable curiosity, the time they had just bought would enable him to make his escape for now. He knew beyond any doubt that Vala would return with her questions, He now was afforded the time to recover his sense of balance that this latest venture had disturbed.

He had done his duty by appearing for the requisite time at the festivities. From long association with the Tau'ri, he knew that no one would think ill of him if he retired early and returned to the relative peace of his quarters.

Index