They had been married for five years.

Carter sighed happily as she thought about it. She could barely believe it had been that long. Working late in her lab as usual, Teal'c had thought to bring her blue Jello from the cafeteria before he left for the night. Even though it wasn't much, it still made her feel warm inside. Kissing her, he had pulled away and said,

"Do not work too hard Samanthacarter."

She had shaken her head at him, rolling her eyes at his use of her full name. He only used it now in jest.

Now finding her eyes too heavy to keep open, she rested her head briefly on the table.

"Majorcater," Teal'c said as he followed her down the hall to her lab. She turned to smile at him as she unlocked the door.

"Yeah Teal'c, what is it?"

He seemed a little uneasy, which was unusual for Teal'c. Cater opened the door and invited Teal'c in after her. Once she had assumed her customary position behind her work table, Teal'c spoke.

"Majorcarter, I do not know how these things work on your planet, but Colonel O'neill has appraised me of some of your customs."

Sam frowned at him with a smile. "Yeah? Customs for what?"

Teal'c cleared his throat and seemed ill-at ease. "Customs for the courting of females."

Carter almost laughed but then felt a strange sense of jealousy. She and Teal'c had grown close over the past couple years, especially after Teal'c's wife had died, and Carter knew she felt more for him than just friendship. She looked away for a moment, fiddling with a piece of alien tec.

"Is there someone you want to court?"

She kept her eyes down, hoping he would say it quickly and get it over with. He surprised her when she felt soft fingers caress her chin, coaxing her face up to look at him. She felt her breath catch as their eyes connected.

"Yes, Samanthacarter. You."

Surprised and distracted by Teal'c fingers, she didn't respond right away, but quickly said,

"Me?"

He made one of his customary grunts of ascent and let his hand drop from her face. "I would be honored if you would join me for coffee tomorrow when you have finished working."

Samantha smiled at him and nodded. "Okay, but there's one condition."

Teal'c raised one of his eyebrows.

"You have to call me Sam or Samantha, no more double names."

Teal'c cracked a small smile and gave her a nod.

"…Carter… Carter!"

The voice broke into her dream and she jerked awake, sitting up quickly and almost falling off her stool. Mitchell's strong arms kept her from falling clear to the ground.

"Whoa there. You all right? I didn't mean to scare ya."

He let go of her once she righted herself on the stool and stepped back. Smiling at him tiredly, she nodded.

"I was dreaming about the first time Teal'c asked me out."

Mitchell smiled. "Speaking of Teal'c, maybe you should go home, get some sleep." His eyes were concerned.

Carter shrugged. "No, I think I'll just get some coffee instead. I've got to finish this analysis before tomorrow. I guess Teal'c will be sleeping alone again."

"It's a good thing you two work together or you'd never see each other." He said it in jest but Carter had to admit it was partially true. Getting up, she made her way to the door but Cam stopped her with a gentle hand on the arm.

"Hey, I'll get it for you. You stay and keep workin'."

Sam looked up into his clear blue eyes and smiled slightly, resolutely ignoring the tingles that were spreading up her arm from his fingers.

"Thanks Cam."

"No problem," he said with a smile and made his way out of her office.

Sitting back down on the stool, she shook her head to herself, staring at the table. She loved Teal'c, there was no question about that, but she was feeling more and more attraction to Cam with each passing day. At first she wanted to blame it on some kind of alien tech but all the tests she had run had come up with nothing. And anyway, she knew she was just looking for an excuse.

Teal'c she loved with her heart and soul but there was no question in her mind that she was attracted to Cam. She loved Cam on a certain level, as a team member and friend, but she was scared of that love growing. Of course, she was committed to Teal'c no matter what, but her physical attraction to Cam was starting to unsettle her.

And it wasn't just physical. She was attracted to him as a person. He was funny, caring, kind, but also commanding and firm when he needed to be. He was a good leader and a true friend.

Rubbing her face, she sighed, willing the thoughts to stop, willing her mind to cease running in circles. I love Teal'c… but Cam is so hot… why am I so attracted to him?... but Teal'c is hot too… why can't Cam just be a friend?... Is it normal to feel attraction to someone I'm not married too?

"Hey," Cam said as he entered her lab with two coffee cups. "You sleepin' again?"

Looking up from her hands, she shook her head. "No, just thinking."

He held out the cup to her and she took it, her hand brushing his. She could feel the tendrils of energy making their way up her arm from their contact. Grinding her teeth loudly, she took a long sip and then looked down at her work, trying to ignore Cam.

"You want to talk about it?"

"What?" she asked, surprised.

"Do you want to talk about whatever is bothering you? Because I can tell something is wrong."

Sighing and rolling her eyes, she shook her head. "I'm fine Cam, really, I just need to finish this work."

Hoping he would take the hint, she looked down again and he nodded. "All right well… let me know if you change your mind."

After Cam left her lab, Sam sighed and rubbed her eyes again. She would never cheat on Teal'c, not even on pain of death… would she?

OOOOO

The next morning, Teal'c knocked on the door to her lab and smiled when her eyes connected with his.

"Teal'c," she said with a smile. He walked into the room and wrapped her up in a tight hug. A moment later, he leaned down to kiss her. He was just deepening the kiss when the loud voice of Colonel Mitchell came from the hall.

"Hey kids, briefing in five!"

Sam pulled away to see Cam's hand come up, indicating five minutes. Then he quickly turned, practically bolting down the hall away from them. Sam giggled a little and Teal'c turned to glare at Mitchell's retreating form. Sam let her arms fall from Teal'c.

"I'm sorry I didn't make it home last night." She looked at Teal'c, waiting for a reaction.

"You had much work to do, Samantha. I was able to watch many reruns of the X-files. It was not an altogether wasted night."

Sam laughed. "So you prefer the X-files to me?"

His strong hands came around her body once again and he looked into her eyes. "I do not prefer anything to you, Samantha."

She smiled. "Thanks Teal'c."

Five minutes later, they were all assembled in the briefing room with Landry at the head and Colonel Mitchel across from Samantha, Teal'c next to her, and Vala and Daniel next to Mitchell.

"So, Colonel Carter," Landry began in his brusque manner, "What do you have for me? I hear you were working all night!"

Colonel Carter nodded. "Yes sir. Unfortunately I haven't gotten very far. I really need the translations from Daniel if I'm going to make any headway. And I also need someone who would be willing to be experimented on."

Landry frowned. "Colonel?"

Sam took a breath. "Well sir, I can't make the device work except when it's in contact with a human. It seems to be activated by living tissue."

"Hm," Landry grunted. "And how are the translations coming Dr. Jackson?"

Daniel raised his eyebrows. "Well sir, I was also here all night-

Vala interrupted. "Yes he was. And leaving a newlywed bride at home alone isn't very nice. What do you say muscles?" she said as she turned to Teal'c. "Sam and Daniel are here all night, we should get together, play some cards, listen to music, watch the X-files?"

Daniel turned to Vala. "Not you too? Teal'c showed you the X-files?" Vala gave him one of her winning smiles and Daniel turned to Sam. "Now we'll never be free of that show."

Sam held back a laugh as she glanced sideways at Teal'c but Landry interrupted.

"People! Stay on task please! Dr. Jackson, your translation?"

Daniel cleared his throat and gave Vala a short sideways look. "As I was saying… I was also here all night and I believe we may have actually stumbled across a language that is entirely new. I can't find any similarities to any language here on earth."

Mitchell frowned. "Wait, don't all languages have some roots in Earth culture because all the other worlds were populated by ancients?"

Daniel nodded.

"So," Cam continued, "The fact that this language is completely unrelated is actually a very important find."

Daniel nodded again with his eyebrows raised.

"All right all right people." Landry cut in. "I'm assuming you would like to go back to the planet and check it out?"

Daniel nodded. "Yes sir, that would be the most helpful to my translation."

"All right," Landry said with finality. "Daniel and Vala, you will go back to the planet with SG14 and continue to attempt translating the ruins. Colonel Mitchel, you will assist Colonel Carter with her tests and Teal'c, you're needed on Chulak. The council is having deliberations which require your presence. Bray'tac called only an hour ago to request that you join him."

Teal'c gave Landry a slight head bow as the General rose from his seat. Mitchell and Carter stood.

"Get to it and good luck."

OOOOO

A little while later, after everyone had left, Mitchell joined Carter in her lab.

"So, what's happening? Am I in for a wild ride?" Mitchells blue eyes danced as he looked at Carter. She smiled at him.

"Well, I really have no idea what this does yet so I can't guarantee everything will go as planned. But, I'm not detecting anything strange or harmful coming from the device and there were no warnings that we could decipher on the ruins." She shrugged. "You should be fine."

Mitchell let out a short laugh. "Well… if you say so."

He sat down on a stool next to her behind the desk and she cleared her throat as she looked at her computer screen. This was going to be harder than she thought. She could already feel his presence next to her; the heat from his body, the gentle nervous shaking of his leg. She sighed, trying to put it out of her mind. This really would be much easier if Teal'c were here.

"Okay," Sam said as she turned to Mitchell. He looked at her expectantly and their eyes met. "When I say go, put your hand on the device, okay?" He nodded.

"Go."

He put his hand gently on the palm sized device and Sam looked at the computer she had hooked up to it. There was a sudden energy spike and the device started emitting a low hum. Cam looked at Sam nervously.

"Is it supposed to be doing that?" He asked.

Sam furrowed her brow. "I don't know but I'm pretty sure it's not going to hurt you… Just a couple more seconds…"

Just then, the device stopped humming and the energy output went back to zero. Cam took his hand off the device and looked at Sam in surprise.

"Sam," he said. She turned to him from her computer screen and watched as he moved his arm around.

"You remember how I have that shoulder issue? I've pulled it out of its socket one too many times?"

Sam nodded, still looking at his arm.

"Well, it doesn't hurt anymore."

Sam frowned at him. "Not at all? You were complaining about it this morning when I barely tapped you in the hall."

"I know!" Cam said with passion. "That's what I'm sayin'!" He held out his arm to her. "Try it now."

"What, tapping your shoulder?"

Cam shrugged. "Well, whatever. Just try to get a pain response."

Standing, she punched him lightly in the arm. He turned to her with an eye roll.

"Sam," he drawled out, "You're gonna have to do better than that."

"All right, all right," Sam muttered and then punched him considerably harder.

Cam laughed loudly and stood up. "That would have had me on the floor before now! I mean, it hurt a little but, I bet you anything my shoulder is healed."

Laughing with him, she shook her head. "So this is a healing device?"

Cam shrugged. "Stands to reason."

"Huh…" Sam frowned. "I wonder why it didn't work on me."

Cam gave her a friendly elbow. "Probably because you don't have anything wrong with you."

She conceded the point with a raised eyebrow and then turned to Cam. "So, you don't feel any side effects?"

"Nope! I'm fit as a fiddle!"

She raised her eyebrows again and cocked her head to the side. "Well, I guess we'll see. I mean, a device like this has to have side effects right?"

Cam surprised her by touching her arm lightly and standing much closer to her than she had expected. "Sam," he said, "Not everything has to have negative side effects."

She felt the breath catch in her throat at his crystal blue eyes. She could see it in his eyes, feel it in his body; he was attracted to her too. After a moment, he cleared his throat and pulled away, releasing her arm.

"So," he said a little awkwardly, "Do we need to do any more tests?"

"Uh… no. I think maybe you should go see Dr. Lam though, find out if your shoulder is better."

Cam gave her a patronizing look. "Sam, if my shoulder wasn't better, it wouldn't feel like this."

Giving him an equally patronizing look, she said, "Cam, just humor me. There are a number of different ways this device could work. I want to find out as much about it as I can."

A moment passed. "All right," he said, "I'm goin'."

Shaking her head as he left, she sighed, pushing her feelings firmly out of her mind.