Another Kind of Love
Based upon Stargate SG:1 and Stargate: Atlantis
Takes place immediately after Sam gets sent home from Atlantis
Author's Note: I've been thinking about this one for a long time. I wanted to write something that was a little less "Head over Heels." Frankly, I'm not sure if Sam/Teal'c OR Sam/Jack fans are going to be entirely pleased with this one.
- - Washington, D.C. - -
Sam didn't like her apartment. Yes, she was glad that she was renting a fully furnished apartment on a month-to-month basis instead of moving all her things from storage. But she didn't like her apartment. She didn't like the couch, she didn't like the arrangement of the living room, she didn't like the bed, the night stands, or the vanity.
She just didn't like it.
Sam did realize that a lot of it probably had to do with her restlessness. Homeworld Security was still deciding what to do with her. She had just come home from Atlantis. Commanding SG-1 seemed like a step backward. She had already been to Groom Lake. And they weren't quite ready to give her a star and make her the CO of SGC.
To be honest, she wasn't quite sure she was ready for a star.
So she was in a weird limbo state, waiting to find out what was going to happen.
She wasn't just waiting to see what was going to happen with her career, she was waiting on Jack O'Neill. He had talked about retiring a few times, with more seriousness and more finality than he had in the past.
At least, that was what Daniel and Teal'c said. He had been talking to them more than he had been talking to her. Sure, he was never much of a poet, but she had expected to get some kind of regular correspondence from him while she was in Atlantis. She hadn't. In her year there, they had exchanged a dozen or two dozen emails. By comparison, Daniel emailed her almost every day, and she heard from Teal'c and Cam weekly. She even got more regular emails from Vala, who hated writing letters.
This was supposed to be it, right? She was almost forty, and he was sixty. They had been beating around the bush for over ten years. Wasn't it about time they finally went for it?
She had been in love with him for over ten years, and had been primarily single since she broke it off with Jonas because of it. Of course, there had been Pete. And Pete had been great, but Dad had convinced her not to settle. So she continued to wait and continued to live alone.
She had spoken with Jack a few times since getting back from Atlantis, but he hadn't said much. In his defense, most of those meetings had been either been at the Pentagon or at assorted football or hockey parties they had both attended.
She would ask Teal'c if Jack had said anything recently. He would be there soon to pick her up for dinner. Teal'c was in D.C. for a few days, and she always loved seeing him.
He said he would pick her up at six, and at 5:58, there was a knock on her door. She opened it to reveal Teal'c wearing a signature fedora and holding a bouquet of flowers.
"Teal'c," she smiled. "You didn't have to."
"You had mentioned distaste with your current living arrangements. I am attempting to remedy that."
She took them and gave him a one armed hug. "Come on in while I find a vase. I'm not even sure if I have one."
He followed her into the kitchen and stood near the door, unobtrusively, as she opened and shut every cupboard door, looking for a vase. "How have you been?" she asked.
"I have been well. I have recently spent some months with Rya'c and my three grandchildren."
"Three!"
Teal'c did a passable impression of a grandfather beaming with pride. "The most recent pregnancy resulted in twins. Two strapping females."
"Oh, Teal'c, I bet they're cute." She found a vase and put the flowers in water.
"They are indeed. And their elder brother is assuming his role well."
"Shall we?" she asked.
"We shall."
They headed towards the door, and he helped her into her jacket.
"Where are we going?"
"Pedicini's."
"Italian! I've been craving good Italian for like six months! How did you know?"
"When I visited Atlantis, you made a comment: 'I would kill for a good lasagna.' I assure you, no aggression required."
"You are too good for me."
"That, I assure you, is not true."
They had a very pleasant dinner, just the two of them. They caught up, talked about friends, and laughed. She really had missed him. He sobered slightly when she asked about Jack. He told her that Jack had mentioned retirement and wanted to just get to Minnesota.
Sam couldn't help but notice Teal'c changed the subject quickly.
He paid for her meal and offered her his arm as they walked back to her rented apartment. He gently held her hand against his upper arm while they walked. Sam couldn't remember the last time she walked arm-in-arm with a man, and naturally leaned on him slightly.
"D'you want a drink?" she asked as she unlocked her front door.
"Perhaps next time," he said. "I intend on being in the city until Monday. Would you like to go to the Smithsonian tomorrow?"
There was something about his question that jogged her memory, made her think of something. She wasn't quite sure of what. He had been acting weird all night. He had never given her flowers before. He paid for her dinner, he offered her his arm.
"Teal'c, what was this?"
He didn't answer.
"Was this a date?"
"I had hoped not to broach the subject so soon."
"What subject?" she asked, entirely uncomfortable with where this conversation was going.
"Perhaps we should go inside."
She let him in and they moved to the living room. Sam sat on the couch, Teal'c joined her, leaving a large space between them.
"I have become increasingly aware of my solitude, as of late. My child is grown, and has children of his own. The false Gods which I dedicated my life to deposing have been scattered across the galaxy. While there are still enemies at the gates, there always will be, and I will continue to oppose them. However, in our years aboard Odyssey, I became aware of existence outside the war.
"In the past year, I have become increasingly aware your absence in my life. Of your own solitude . . ."
Sam's mouth had fallen open somewhere during his confession. "On the Odyssey . . ." she asked.
He shook his head. "We were not physically intimate."
"But we were emotionally . . . Intimate," the word felt odd to say. To him. About him.
"When you live with four others in a confined space for decades, you become very emotionally intimate."
"But you and I weren't like the others."
He shook his head. "No, we were not."
Sam covered her eyes with her hands. "Teal'c, I don't know what to do with this."
"I know." He paused. "You will want to speak with O'Neill."
"Well, before that." She dropped her hands and looked at him. "I've done this before. I broke it off with Pete because I couldn't be with someone who loved me more than I loved them."
Teal'c shook his head. "No, Samantha, our love is not measured as such. They are different forms of love, but one is not greater than the other."
"I don't know if I could ever feel that way about you."
"Nor am I asking you to. I am asking you to allow me to be your companion in life. Or, at the very least, for a trial run."
She stammered for a second.
Teal'c held up his hand to stop her. "I have overwhelmed you, which was certainly not my intention. I will leave you to consider. Remember, your response does not affect our friendship."
She nodded.
"Good night."
Sam nodded again and watched him show himself out.
She had honestly never thought of Teal'c as a romantic partner. As a boyfriend. As a lover . . . She couldn't believe she was actually thinking about this. She had always assumed that after they stopped being on SG-1 together, she and Jack would get together.
Sam recalled an uncomfortable conversation with Jennifer Keller about him, and how he was going to retire soon.
Well, with the Icarus Project starting up, Jack's retirement kept getting delayed.
Neither one of them were getting any younger. And while she had been avoid admitting it to herself, her window of opportunity for having children of her own was closing quickly.
Jack probably wouldn't even want children now. He was over sixty, many of his friends (acquaintances, he didn't have many friends) had grandchildren.
It wasn't that she was lonely. Well, she was lonely, but that wasn't the problem. Having someone in her life sounded so tempting.
And Teal'c. She loved Teal'c.
But she was in love with Jack O'Neill.
Sam got up and went to her fridge for the bottle of wine she had opened two days ago, and poured herself a glass. The flowers Teal'c had given her were sitting on the counter.
Sam took a big gulp out of her glass. Well, she was just about due for a mid-life crisis.
- - End Chapter One - -