Disclaimer: The conversation in the second part of the story, which I put in italics, is a direct quote from the episode Chimera.
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They sat across from each other at the lunch table in complete and utter silence, except for the occasional sounds of silverware clinking. Both of their minds were still reeling about their latest mission to Kelowna, how close to death they came, yet again, in that drill. They had been sitting like this for at least a half hour, which is why Carter's sudden exclamation caused Jack to nearly fly out of his seat.
"I envy quarks."
Well, now, if that didn't confuse the living daylights out of Jack, and it wasn't just the random comment out of nowhere. He really had no idea what quarks were.
"Quarks, Carter?"
She started to turn about a thousand shades of pink. He wasn't supposed to have heard that. Heck, that comment wasn't even supposed to be made out loud.
"Ah, nothing, sir."
"Now, Carter. You can't just bring up something like quarks and then just leave it be."
"Sir, do you even know what quarks are?"
The silence that followed was enough of an answer for her. She just nodded, confirming her suspected assumption.
"Quarks are found in protons, neutrons, and other subatomic particles. They are a major constituent of matter."
"And you would envy this....why?"
Her mind floated back to Kelowna, to how surprised she was when they first arrived to find that Jonas was involved with someone. Granted, that person ended up to be a crazy Gou'ld, but still. No one on the team back on Earth had been involved with someone like that for who knows how long. They worked as many hours as they could, except for Jack, of course, and then preceded to go home to cold, empty houses. Seeing Jonas like that brought back the vision she had of her father while suffering from the head injury...how she deserved to be happy.
She sighed. The look on his face told her that Jack was still waiting for an answer. She knew that she should just come out and say it. More than likely, he would even understand.
"It is a known fact that quarks are never found on their own as isolated, single particles. They are always bound together."
He nodded his head in understanding. If only she knew how much he wanted to be the one she was bound to, but he knew that wouldn't even be feasible in the near future. He wanted her to be happy, too.
"Yes. Quarks."
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Two weeks later, he was riding in the elevator when Carter stepped on. Almost immediately, she started humming an all-too-familiar tune."Humming?"
"I am?"
"You are."
"Sorry."
He felt his stomach twisting in knots. This was it. She was happy. Sure, it wasn't with him, but at least it was still happy.
"What's his name?"
Shoot. She was caught. A small part of her had wanted to hold off on telling him about her new relationship until she knew it was something more serious.
"Now, why would you…"
"Humming."
"Pete."
There it was. A name. A confirmation that she had found someone.
"Pete."
"Pete Shanahan, he's a cop."
"Speeding again, are we?"
"From Denver, he's a friend of my brother's."
"Set up."
"Pathetic, I know."
"No, it's great."
"Really?"
" Isn't it?"
"Well, it's not serious."
"And yet...it is...hum-worthy."
She felt bad. There wasn't a single ounce of her that had wanted to hurt him. Jack meant the world to her. It's just, a person can only wait for so long. They weren't getting any younger, and the war wasn't seeming to be letting up any time soon, either.
"Sir..."
"Carter, it's none of my business, I'm just happy you're happy about something other than...quarks...."