A/Ramble: I couldn't come up with a nice title, but I hope this is somewhat misleading. I have no talent for music, but I love string instruments. Violins, in particular. Another while-sorting-the-almonds endeavour. At this rate my other two stories will never end. Oh well, I have night shift the next two days, so writing is on the list. Fair whack of Sam/Teal'c friendship, but ultimately a Sam/Jack item. I hope you: Enjoy!

~ Notes ~

The Odyssey
20 years

"I am unfamiliar with that piece..." Teal'c's low grumble disrupted the flow of music falling from the cello's strings. Sam's flinched as the gentle tune was suddenly broken. She lifted the bow from the strings and looked to her friend over her shoulder. "...but I find I am reminded of Bach."

She wasn't sure how long he'd been standing there, but this isn't the first time she's played this piece, nor - she is sure - the first time he has heard it.

"I wrote it," she replied with a forced smile. Teal'c stepped gracefully into the room, his hands held comfortably behind his back.

"It is painfully sombre." Teal'c stopped in front or her; for such a bear-like man, it's been a long time since he's ever been intimidating to her.

Her eyes dropped over the instrument, looking down the strings.

"General O'Neill pointed out that I hummed when I was happy..." she tilted her head in a dismissive half-shrug, "or any strong emotion. I hummed to myself during Dad's funeral. I'm almost as old as he was when he died."

Teal'c's eyebrow twitched, as if wanting to rise. After a few brief moments of silence he chose to sit down, crossing his legs with grace enough to reflect the years of practice he'd had. Sam didn't need to look at him when he positioned himself at her feet. She's learnt to lean on him in times like these. Almost a peaceful romance, but easy and plutonic. No tension or expectations. It was akin to an innocent, childhood romance; a status she relied on to never change. Not when one of the things she mourned was a romance of a far different nature.

"I don't think I've ever hummed for him..." she shook her head and let her eyes rise to meet Teal'c's. She didn't need to elaborate. He knew about the slowly developing relationship between herself and a certain Major General in Washington DC.

"Are you happy, Samantha Carter?" was all he asked.

Sam wasn't sure what to say. She was sorely tempted to reply with one of Jack's trademark, witty comments.

"I don't know. Yes... No... I-" She shook her head, wondering. She considered the Cello again. "I hummed this tune at the funeral." She lifted the bow to the strings and drew out the first few notes. "But when I play it now..."

"You are mourning something else?"

She plays it for him. For never allowing herself to be happy with him. For herself. Mostly, yes, for herself.

"Wasted time. Ignored opportunities." She canted her head again, the sounds still flowing from the wooden piece. "My own mettle. Nothing ventured, nothing gained." She chuckled, "I'll happily explore every crevice of the universe, but never myself. I think we're going to die here Teal'c... and Jack won't even have blinked."

Her lids closed to grieve in the embrace of the soft and woeful notes. Teal'c allowed her to continue, listening to her hum along to the soul-searing riff.

~ SJ ~

Present day

"I like the grey streak; it's distinguishing," Sam grinned at her friend.

Teal'c smiled a lot more now. He also exercised a greater degree of patience and was a much better conversationalist. She couldn't feel guilty for preferring this new side to her team mate, although she felt immense sympathy for the number of years he'd endured with only SG-1 and General Landry as company, only to lose them and start again.

"I agree," He grumbled with a gentle smile. She could get used to that.

"Bet you're glad to be off the Odyssey. I can't imagine spending so many years on one ship. You should ask for back-pay." She leaned forwards on the bench as he moved around the room, systematically lighting candles.

"I am. I do not feel the need for compensation..." he looked at her over his shoulder. "...and you handled the confinement quite well."

Really?

"Yeah... I'm sure you helped a lot there, Teal'c. I'm surprised we didn't try to make you bring back anything. Notes or letters. I mean, to lose fifty years of memories... It's incredible." She felt her eyes widen in awe. They did every time she thought about it. She didn't expect a reply, and certainly nothing like the one he gave.

He began to hum.

The tune was familiar and invoked a sharp shiver down her spine. She knew that song, but couldn't place it. It brought memories and thoughts to the surface. Her father's funeral, her estrangement from Pete. The cabin. He must have learned the art of subliminal messaging. She didn't notice him stop.

"Are you happy, Colonel Carter?"

"What?" her voice was quiet. What did he mean by that?

Her friend turned to her, the candles - she now noticed - all lit. She could see a lifetime of memories swim before his eyes. She wondered how much he now knew about her. What she'd told him. How many demons he'd seen her contend with.

"You left a note for me to pass on to O'Neill. However, I feel it was intended for you."

"A note?"

"Several, actually."

Damn him and his cryptic, Jaffa ways. He turned away from her and sat down on the floor, gently humming that strange tune. She knew it, she was so damn sure.

Humming. A symbol of her personal happiness. The constituting sign. Jack. She never hummed for him.

Within a fraction of a second, Sam learned a lesson fifty years in the making.

~ SJ ~

Four weeks later
Minnesota

"Sounds sad..." Jack observed in a sleepy grumble.

She's decided she loves the outdoors. The sun, the breeze, the fresh air. It's wonderful. She loves the grass and the freedom and she is totally in love with lying outside in his yard with him. Even if he's using her stomach as a pillow. She smiles and runs her fingers though his hair in a long-yearned caress.

"It is. But it's for you."

The sun is bright and warm; she can't even conceive the cold and loneliness of space here.

"For me?" Jack pulls her fingers from his hair to hold onto them, purely for the sake of claiming them as his own. That, she knows, he loves.

"Mm hm..." she confirms as she crosses her ankles and resting her other hand on his stomach. She continues the melody she knows, just a little faster to make it less mournful. She has no reason to mourn. She's alive. She's with him. She's been promoted and is going to Atlantis.

"I'm happy."

She is sure.

~ SJ ~

So, so, soooo random. I must stop these and go plan some stories and write chapters. Oh, for those wondering, the 'notes 'Teal'c brought back were musical notes. Feedback welcome!