An aging Sam, Daniel, Vala, and Cam sat around the table eating. A seemingly unchanged Teal'c sat with them. It had been around twenty years since activating the time dilation device and Sam was nowhere near close to finding a way out of their situation than she was in the beginning.
"I wish Jack was here. He always had some sarcastic comment when we were in these kind of situations," Daniel said out of nowhere.
"Indeed Daniel Jackson, O'Neill would make things a great deal livelier."
Sam smiled weekly and looked down at her tray of food lost in thought. After a few minutes Daniel glanced at her.
"Sam?" She didn't respond.
"Sam, you all right?" Cam asked her putting a hand on her arm.
"What?" her head jerked up.
"Are you all right? You kind of spaced out there for a minute."
"I don't feel well. I think I'll go lie down." She excused herself and left the room.
"It must be hard for her," Daniel commented on her demeanor.
"She'll figure out a way out of this," Cam was confident.
"That's not exactly what I meant. Sam and Jack were…close."
"Indeed they were."
"Define 'close'" Vala spoke up.
"Sam and Jack have an interesting relationship to say the least. Over the years they became good friends and slowly, you could say they fell in love."
"General O'Neill and Sam?" Cam was a little confused.
"They were always there for one another from the beginning. It just naturally escalated. Teal'c and I always noticed it, even Jacob and General Hammond did. I think the first, and probably the only time they've admitted their feelings was during the Zatarc incident."
"But if they love another why not do something about it?" Vala asked.
"Because General O'Neill was her commanding officer for eight years," Cam confirmed.
"Exactly. Jack couldn't care less about ruining his own career, but he would never do something to jeopardize Sam's. I imagine they have some sort of understanding. They've almost always been more than friends, but less than lovers."
"I don't understand, why would them being together hurt Sam's career."
"The people of Earth have laws against military officers of different ranks from being involved romantically." Vala looked from one to the other.
"You actually have a law that prevents people from being together?"
"If one of them is the other's commanding officer, yeah. Sam and Jack would be charged with fraternization and have to go to court. If they were found guilty, their careers would be over," Daniel explained further to Vala.
Vala sighed, "Poor Sam, first they can't be together because of some stupid law, now they are separated by this." Daniel nodded, Teal'c looked thoughtful, and Cam only turned to look out the large window.
XXX
"Come in." Teal'c walked into Sam's quarters carrying a tray of food.
"Colonel Carter, are you hungry? I brought you some dinner."
"Thanks Teal'c. You can put it over there," she pointed to a small table and char.
"We are all concerned for you. It must be hard to be separated from the one you love for so long, never knowing if you will see them again." Sam looked up and him and smiled.
"I'll be all right. I just wish he was here." A lone tear escaped her eye and fell down her cheek.
"As do I." Teal'c walked over and gave Sam a large hug.
"Thanks Teal'c, you're a good friend," she sniffed back the rest of the tears and pulled away. "Tell everyone I'll be fine. I thought of something that I haven't tried yet. I give it a go tomorrow." Teal'c bowed and walked out.
Silently Sam walked over to the small window in her room and stood in front of it, looking out towards the Ori warship. She wrapped her arms around herself and sighed. "I miss you Jack," she whispered before turning to eat her dinner alone.
