Tribute

DISCLAIMER: MGM owns Stargate. I, sadly, do not.

SPOILERS: Everything up to Season Eight.

SUMMARY: The truth behind Teal'c suddenly having hair.

ONWARDS:

Lieutenant Colonel Doctor Samantha Carter was in something of a quandary. As a scientist, she often spent hours theorising, brainstorming and generally trying to find answers to questions that most people in the universe had never in thought of. Give her an open wormhole, she could tell you exactly how it was made, and could probably bore you with the theory of it for several hours. However, there was one thing on the SGC base that had her completely puzzled.

"Can I ask you something?" Sam put forward, cocking her head to the side and staring at the subject in question.

"Indeed."

"The hair…I mean, I've known you for seven years, and you've never even had the tiniest bit of hair before."

Teal'c paused for a moment before finally inclining his head in agreement.

"What you say is true. Since becoming part of the Serpent Guard of Apophis, I have never allowed my hair to grow," Teal'c said. "Until recently, I saw no need to change that tradition."

Sam nodded, taking in this new information, trying to put it into equations and formulas she could understand. Except that still didn't answer her question.

"So…why now?" Sam finally asked.

Someone who didn't know Teal'c would have taken his silence to mean that the discussion was over. Sam, however, was content to wait for an answer.

Teal'c pursed his lips, his eyes lowering to the table in front of them. He had had many people ask him about his hair, but never had he answered any of them. Jack O'Neill had never been seriously curious, and Daniel Jackson had been too polite to ask. Samantha Carter genuinely wanted to find out the answer, and Teal'c knew that she would find nothing humorous in his answer as so many others would.

"In truth…I cannot reach the back of my head to keep it clean shaven," Teal'c explained. "When I was on Chulak, it was Drey'auc whom I trusted with a sharp blade at my back."

Sam hadn't ever really thought about it before. She'd never thought about the practicalities involved in Teal'c being clean-shaven. She'd never seen him growing even the slightest amount of stubble anywhere on his body. Until recently, she'd honestly thought him incapable of growing any sort of hair.

"So…who was helping you here? And why aren't they still helping you?" Sam asked.

Teal'c finally looked up at his teammate, and Sam was stunned to find that Teal'c's usually stoic expression was pain-filled, and she could have sworn she saw tears glistening in his eyes.

"Because DoctorFraiser is no longer with us. And I will trust no one else with regard to my body."

Sam didn't think she could have been more stunned with the answer he'd given her. She could feel her heart in her throat, tears in her own eyes as she remembered the fiercely gentle way her best friend had with each and every one of the members of the SGC.

Struck dumb, she could only nod in understanding. In a way, Teal'c was honouring their fallen comrade. His sudden growth of hair was a constant reminder of what had been taken from them. It was somehow fitting.

Sam blinked back her tears and took a moment to remember her best friend. Major Doctor Janet Fraiser. Chief Medical Officer of the SGC and amateur hairdresser.

Yes, she decided, it was a fitting tribute.

Random. Really really random, but it wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it. Enjoy!

Toodles.

DKG.