Traveling to Othalla
Teal'c looked out into the emptiness of space as he thought.
'This would be a long trip indeed if she was already trying to fill the empty spaces with idle chatter and consuming the limited supplies they had brought. She seeks to rid her mind of thoughts of O'Neill while on a mission to save him.'
Teal'c wonders about Major Carter's motivation. Leave no man behind goes just so far. And undoubtedly someone else on this planet or in the galaxy must have the ancient gene. He knew why he was here – O'Neill was his brother and the loyalty he owed him was to his very blood and bones.
Sam went to the back of the Tel'tac to procure for him the unwanted turkey sandwich. When he asked her about Pete Shanahan her response could well have been said about O'Neill. Teal'c thought to himself that women were indeed fickle. At one point in his life he would have said this was certainly not true of Jaffa women. He had believed they were loyal to death but that was before Fro'tak. He understood the need to provide for Ry'ac but it still stung. Major Carter had not promised herself to O'Neill nor had O'Neill staked his claim on her. Perhaps he was mistaken although he though not; these two were meant for one another. Teal'c did not fancy himself a romantic. As the image of Ishta flitted through his mind it occurred to him maybe he was deluding himself. It confused and sadden him that, at least for these two, love proves to be another casualty of this war.
Traveling back to Earth
Jack wanted to get back to the base and a nice hot shower. He was itchy, his skin was pealing, one of the side effects of spending a few months as a Popsicle. He thought too that he had freezer burn around his heart. He felt that same pain he had felt when the ships log informed him of Carter's abduction by Fifth and the disintegration of the Replicator ship. And Daniel, good old Daniel, had to remind him of it, as if he could forget. Forget the pain – accomplish the mission. Yeah he could do that, again and again till there was nothing of him left.
He wished they had left him frozen – no memories, no pain.
Finding her brought its own special distress. He longed to hold her. To have confirmation that she was real, to feel her warmth, he was still so cold. But her CO couldn't do that. She seemed happy to see him. After all hadn't she come after Thor to save him, even endured torture at Fifth's hands? The joy of seeing her alive was soon quashed. The unbidden memory of the other man flooded back. His heart, nearly thawed, felt cracked and shriveled - bad case of freezer burn. It should just be tossed in the trash it was good for nothing. He felt exhausted, his eyes burned, his skin itched and the headache came back full force. He was happy a few hours ago, weapon in hand, fighting the bad guys, saving the damsel in distress. Now, totally drained, he wondered why they just didn't leave him the hell alone.
He sought solitude to lick his wounds. Maybe Thor could refreeze him so he could dream of drifting alone among the stars.
O'Neill looked for a place to hole up and sleep. He found an alcove off the main control room where he could hear if thing got dicey. Thor's ship was not exactly a luxury liner.
Thor wanted to put O'Neill back in the pod. Jack had been thawed much too quickly and was near death when revived. Thor did feel somewhat sorry that they put O'Neill in such jeopardy but it was necessary for the defeat of the insidious Replicators. But Jack begged off he only wants to rest. Lying here he can hear Daniel and Sam talking - tales of Fifth pretending to be Pete and in love with Carter. Poor fool – he's doomed, Jack thinks, not only Fifth but Pete as well. Carter has left wreckage over a wide swath of the Milky Way, not intended mind you but still.
Teal'c looms over him with a blanket in his hand and a turkey sandwich. It gives Jack a start, he is kind of jumpy. The big guy would lend an ear but Jack thanks him, snags the blanket, ignores the sandwich and turns toward the wall. He hopes for sleep; it is the closest thing to oblivion for now.