This story is complete but, unusually for me, I will be uploading it here in parts over the next few days rather than as a longer term series or in one longer part.

I hope you enjoy it.

Su

More Info:

Category: Angst/Romance. Missing scenes from, and episode tag for, Unending

Content Warnings: Minor language and sexual situations

Pairings: Sam/Teal'c, Jack/Sam

Season: 10 - missing scenes from, and episode tag for, Unending

Spoilers: Anything up to and including S10 is possible, but specific spoilers for Unending and Lines in the Sand

Summary: Marooned on the Odyssey, trapped in a bubble of time, Sam's guilt, loneliness and grief for Jack turns her towards Teal'c for comfort and support

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Copyright © 2007 Su Freund

Author's Note:

1. This story was inspired by the small moment of comfort we see Teal'c provide to Sam while trapped on the Odyssey, which moved both me and my muse. Jack's wrongheaded absence from the very final episode of SG-1 also provoked my muse, so he plays a big part in this fic – go figure!

2. The episode is not very clear about the amount of time passing between the various scenes on the Odyssey, or how much time has passed on Earth during their absence. Thus, I have followed the episode's lead and been vague about that in the story. I don't believe the story requires me to be more specific.

3. This story has not been beta read, so I hope you will forgive any errors. Hopefully there are very few. As to the story itself, I leave it to readers to decide if this could have happened…

Unending Time

Sam waited patiently for Teal'c to answer. He seemed to be taking his time about it, but she felt unable to intrude without his express permission. Now she'd got here, she was losing her nerve and wished he'd answer quickly. Maybe it was her hesitation and increasing tenseness that made it seem like he kept her waiting so long.

Just the six of them stuck together on this ship wasn't easy. Not much variety in the company, no matter how much you might get along. They managed to get by, but it was all too easy to grate on each other's nerves in such an enclosed environment - a ghastly Big Brother like reality show but with no end or escape. Claustrophobics beware!

She had let everyone down. Having suggested using the time dilation device, which seemed the only option way back then, she hadn't been able to find a way out, a way back home. And, Lord, she missed home, and Jack; him most of all.

Sam might have been able to bear this imprisonment with him by her side, and in her arms, but it was only just about vaguely tolerable without him. Was it living? She almost wished she'd just let the darned Ori blow them to smithereens. A quick death might have been preferable to this purgatory.

It was all her fault. If Jack had been there he probably would have made her think of the solution years ago; some simple, seemingly dumb, Jack-like comment, just as he had done so often in the past. The simple being the one thing she rarely seemed to think of for herself. He was good at that.

And if he hadn't made her see it, at least he would have comforted her, tried to get her to stop blaming herself, loved her regardless. His strength and support would have made her feel better, and he would have been there - that was the point. But he wasn't there.

Their lives together had barely even begun. Now this. He'd be back on Earth expecting her to return any moment, totally unaware of their predicament, time for him moving at normal pace. And all the while, here she was, older but not wiser, and lonely; insufferably lonely.

She needed a friend, a shoulder. If it couldn't be Jack, Teal'c was the next best thing. He had a great shoulder for crying on, great arms to hug her sorrow away, and was as quiet and calming as Jack. Sam loved that about him. Neither man was the best at communicating emotion verbally, but they didn't need words. They could communicate and comfort with thought and deed alone. It didn't take much. She could feel mainly whole again. She might even sleep.

Yes, Teal'c could be a comfort, but she wanted something different, something more. This was going to be hard, she knew, and was very far from certain, but she had to do it.

"Samantha," the low voice said as he answered his door.

Sam smiled thinly. How many years had it taken her to persuade him to call her something other than Colonel Carter? Too many. She was pleased he did so now, and with such apparent ease these days. He had been a godsend to her over these lost years. If not for him, she would have gone crazy long ago. They were good friends; it was right that he called her by her given name.

"Teal'c, I'm sorry it's so late. I can't sleep," she said explaining why she was calling on him when all of them should be in bed asleep. "Were you asleep?"

"I might have closed my eyes," he replied with a small smile, and then he searched her face, tilting his head to one side as he observed. "You are troubled. You wish to talk."

She nodded, pleased he understood, and he indicated she should enter. The pair had exchanged many companionable silences, the silence soothing rather than awkward - the silence of kin who have known each for a long time. So, when she entered, Sam sat in her normal chair and Teal'c perched on his bed where he could get a good view of her and gauge her feelings.

All six of them had tried to find ways to make their rooms more like home than the grey toned, monotonous cabins of a spaceship. Teal'c's decor was sparse, but the flickering, atmospheric candlelight he enjoyed from his many years of contemplative and healing kelno'reem suffused his cabin. Tretonin obviated the necessity of the act, but not the need.

For Teal'c, the shimmering glow of candles represented home wherever he was and gave him a form of serene peace. The required tretonin, which kept him alive and healthy, had been a priority for reproduction by the Asgard matter converter, but the candles were the one luxury Teal'c had craved, and were replenished frequently.

Sam had to admit, the dancing flames of the candles as they twitched and glimmered their shadows on the walls made his dull cabin seem special and homely. There was a time when she would have sat cross-legged with him on the floor, sharing their comforting incandescence and warmth, but these days she tended to use the more comfortable chair, which didn't make the light, or Teal'c's staunch presence, any less soothing.

So, she watched the flickering light in thoughtful silence, and Teal'c waited with enduring patience for her to speak, as he knew she would. He enjoyed these moments of intimacy with her, and had come to look forward to them as they became an increasingly regular feature of his life.

"I'm never going to figure it out, Teal'c. We'll never get home," she said eventually, her voice wobbling with emotion. As subtext, Teal'c knew she was mourning the loss of O'Neill, the man she loved so dearly; her husband.

The pair had spent too many years apart when they should have been together, but both made sacrifices for their work, to fight for freedom and their cherished Earth. Each one of the team had made such sacrifices and Teal'c knew they all believed the cause worthwhile, more important than personal considerations and living their lives - a small price to pay.

He had not been surprised when his two friends finally decided to stop making that sacrifice and try for love together. No one was sure it would work, least of all them. They were so different. Their long years of comradeship, shared history and the unfulfilled promise and tension, were both a blessing and a curse in building the relationship they strived for, but it worked.

They had married, been happy, and very much in love. Their time had come. Life had struck his friend a cruel blow by stranding her here at this time.

When Samantha played her cello, she played for her husband; sad refrains filled with yearning, loss and love. Teal'c wished he had the love of a woman who would play music for him that held such deep meaning and feeling.

He knew she blamed herself for their predicament, and for not saving them, and it tore at his heart to witness her sorrow and self-recrimination. He could not let her give up because to do so would be to give up hope of life, and of ever seeing her husband again.

When a solitary tear ran down her cheek and he noticed her shoulders shaking a little, the sound of a small sob, Teal'c stood up and approached, reaching out his hand and taking hers.

"Come," he said and she stood, knowing he would enfold her in his arms and make her feel better again, for a while. Warmth and companionship were so important, but a person needs more than that in their lives. Jack had made her realize that.

Sam had felt more complete with Jack as lover and husband. She had never understood quite what she had been missing for all those years, how fulfilling it could be to share life with someone else. She'd always shrugged off that notion, been an independent woman who could stand on her own two feet and face the world alone, believing such intimacy with another might subsume her. This was one reason she had previously shied away from marriage and all the union implied, despite her two previous engagements.

It wasn't until she and Jack had grown so close that Sam realized sharing her life with him made her stronger. She wasn't diminished as she feared, wasn't subsumed - she evolved and grew, and loved her husband even more for encouraging her to do so, rather than attempting to stifle her as her previous fiances had done.

Settling into Teal'c's strong arms, her head buried in his chest, she tried to choke back the tears she wanted to weep. She had to say what she had truly come here to say. Now was the time, but she wasn't certain she had the courage. She was going to ask a lot of her friend, and Sam knew him well, knew he would doubt and think what she was going to suggest was dishonorable. But she would ask it anyway.

Sam was lonely, and so was Teal'c. Why should they both be so lonely when they could be stronger in facing this uncertain future together?

Sam's water filled eyes looked up into Teal'c's compassionate brown ones and what she said next both puzzled and shocked him.

"Make love to me, Teal'c." Her blue eyes held the hint of a plea, and Teal'c drew back from their comforting embrace with an intimation of horror.

Sam hadn't intended to be that blunt. In her head, she'd envisaged this conversation, what she would say and how she would say it, and these words were not the ones she had chosen in any of those imagined exchanges. These words made it seem that this was all about sex and it wasn't. It was about way more than that. It was about the need for a companionship that transcended friendship.

There was so much more to lovemaking than sexual gratification. Sam wanted and needed those things, not a mere sexual romp. Her relationship with Jack had taught her much about this that she had never truly understood or experienced before. She hadn't meant to make this approach appear to be about sex, but finding the right words was not easy.

"You find me that unappealing?" she asked sadly, heart lurching dramatically at his reaction. She might have expected such a reaction, and Sam knew her inadvertently direct approach was wrong for Teal'c, but it was too late to withdraw her words now. All she could do was try to make him understand what she really wanted and her mind scrambled with thoughts of what she might say to mitigate the words.

"I do not, Samantha," he replied in a quiet voice, "but you are O'Neill's woman."

The initial brief glimpse of shock was gone and his expression gave nothing away. Sam thought it was so like Teal'c to appear stoical and unmoved and wondered what he was thinking about her suggestion, unable to discern anything from his tone either.

"You think it would be a betrayal." It was a statement, not a question. "I suppose you're shocked, appalled I should suggest it. I didn't mean it to come out like that. Nerves I guess. This isn't about sex, Teal'c; it's about way more than that." She still struggled to find the right words to explain, despite the many internal discussions she'd had before approaching him.

Teal'c thought for a while. He valued Colonel Carter's friendship, but also that of O'Neill. Frankly, yes, he was shocked, perhaps a little appalled and certainly a lot confused.

"I know not what to think."

Sam turned away, unable to meet the dark brown eyes that bored into her, half ashamed, but still yearning the feel of his warm body against hers, the power of his embrace. The strength of his friendship was important to her but she longed for more than that. She missed lovemaking and the true companionship it could provide between two people who cared about each other, and she and Teal'c cared about each other deeply didn't they?

This approach had little to do with her feelings for Jack, which were as powerful as ever, and everything to do with loneliness and need. These were desperate times and they might never get home. Was she expected to be lonely forever? And what about Teal'c? He might be a Jaffa warrior, and not quite human, but surely he had needs too, both physical and emotional?

Knowing she should have explained herself better rather than coming right out with such a seemingly bizarre request, Sam fumbled for words, wanting to ensure Teal'c understood and didn't lose his respect for her.

Teal'c remained unmoving, watching her back and her stance, knowing she would say more and needing her to say it. She seemed disconsolate and that bothered him. He loved Samantha Carter, perhaps not in the same way as O'Neill, but well enough. Teal'c did not wish to lose her friendship or respect anymore than he suspected she wanted to lose his.

"We've been struck here for years, Teal'c, and I still haven't found a way to get us home." The sob he heard when she spoke the words moved him, and he wanted to step forward and take hold of her, console her again, but he didn't. He simply waited for her to continue.

"It's a long time to live without someone special in your life. Someone you can confide in, someone to keep you company when you are happy or sad, someone to share with, someone to be your companion and comfort in times of need. This is a time of need, Teal'c, isn't it? It's a long time live without someone to make love to you and that you can make love to, someone to hold you in their arms and make you feel whole again. Don't you miss it? Don't you want that?"

Uncertain that these words truly encapsulated her feelings, Sam plucked up courage to turn and face him at last and still couldn't discern his thoughts. Tears were rolling down her face and sobs punctuated her words while heartfelt emotion emphasized them.

"Look at Daniel and Vala. What they have, what they share… I want that too. Maybe that wouldn't have happened back on Earth, we might never know, but we aren't back on Earth and maybe we never will be."

Teal'c stepped forward then, fulfilling his urge to soothe her by taking her into his arms and holding her close. She shuddered with sobs, tears flowing freely, and he said nothing, allowing her to mourn the loss she obviously felt so keenly. The loss of the man she loved very deeply, his friend – their friend - O'Neill. His hands stroked her back in a gesture of consolation and affection and she clung to him forlornly and helplessly, apparently overpowered by her acute urge to share her feelings.