Chapter Two

Four weeks later

SGC, Cheyenne Mountain

"First Sam, now you. It's just not right."

At the indignant tone in Vala's voice, Teal'c looked up from his packing. Since her arrival she hadn't stopped moving restlessly about his quarters, picking up random objects to stare at them for a moment before placing them back down. It was obvious that something was on her mind

"I have gone away before, Vala Mal Doran. This is no different."

Since his announcement Teal'c had been aware that his leaving was having an impact on the others. For the first couple of weeks after Samantha Carter had left, they had all felt a sense of disorientation, as if they had lost an important part of themselves. And now just when they were adjusting to once again being a team of four, he was leaving them. Colonel Mitchell had tried to hide his disappointment, while Daniel Jackson had said very little. Vala Mal Doran on the other hand was being most vocal in her disapproval.

"I know that. But have you even considered what it's going to be like for me while you're gone? Daniel's been hiding out in his office studying some new artifact which apparently I couldn't possibly understand," she said, making air quotes with her fingers, "And Mitchell's tied up training some new recruits. You know I never thought I would miss the Ori but I'm beginning to wonder if we weren't just a little hasty."

Vala paused as she put down the carved wooden ornament she held in her hand. "I've got a great idea. How about I come with you?" She smiled encouragingly at him, her eyes sparkling with excitement, "What do you say Muscles? You and me? There's not much going on here, I'm sure Mitchell and Daniel won't mind if I go away for a few days."

"Your offer to accompany me is welcomed but I will be gone for many weeks, if not longer."

Teal'c had no wish to hurt Vala Mal Doran's feelings. Their friendship was something he had come to appreciate but he had his reasons for going alone.

For ten years he had lived here among the Tauri and along the way this strange planet had become his home. People, who had at first been strangers and then colleagues, were now his friends, his family. And yet he had another home, another family, and it was for this reason that he was leaving. All these years he had divided his time between this world and those of the Jaffa. In the beginning he had done it because it had been the right thing to do, a way to help free his people. Now though his people were free and yet here he was living back among the Tauri. He needed to decide once and for all where he belonged. Only by leaving could he know where his place truly was.

"Oh..." Her smile faded, her disappointment that she couldn't go with him obvious. "But you are coming back? Aren't you?"

Teal'c hesitated as he closed his bag, considering how best to reply to her query. In truth he was not sure if he would be coming back but he had not told the others any of this. He preferred honesty and was not comfortable keeping secrets from his friends but until he had made his decision it was best that they were kept in ignorance, some things were better of left unsaid.

"We will see each other again, Vala Mal Doran. Of that I am certain."

*S****S*

Six Weeks Later

Taking a sip of his coffee General Hank Landry looked out through the observation window in his office, focusing his attention on the three remaining members of SG-1 who were in the briefing room along with SG-3.

The effect of losing two of their team members was noticeable. There was a distance between the three, a palatable tension that they carried around with them, both as a team and separately.

He was not the only one to notice, others at SGC had also expressed their concerns. The lost of Sam and Teal'c had hit them hard but he had thought they would have been over it by now but instead things were getting worse, if that was at all possible.

Doctor Jackson and Miss Mal Doran seemed to irritate each other more when they were together, their irritability turning into a tide of constant bickering and arguments. Colonel Mitchell was trying his best to keep up morale and to act as a buffer between the two but even he was looking weary, his good humor far less in evident.

Away from the missions they spent little time together anymore. Doctor Jackson rarely left his office, retreating further away from the others. burying himself in the piles of books and artifacts that he surrounded himself with. Colonel Mitchell, it seemed, couldn't get away from the base fast enough, barely staying long enough to report back from their missions. Miss Mal Doran on the other hand was beginning to make a nuisance of herself, pestering a number of staff, offending others with some of her less than subtle comments.

He was a patient man and was confident that things would sort themselves out in time but he could not help but be concerned by the current state of affairs.

*S****S*

With his head curved forwards towards the floor, Cameron shut his eyes and let his mind drift as the hot water from the shower pounded down on his head, the rhythmic sound of the water roaring in his ears as it flowed over and down his body.

He felt as if everything he had worked towards was slipping through his hands. First Sam had left, then Teal'c and there was obviously something going on with Daniel and Vala but whatever it was neither of them were letting him in and for the first time in two years he felt completely and utterly alone. He was an outsider again, only this time it was much worse, this time it felt like it was his family that was abandoning him and it hurt like hell.

He tried not to think about it, hoping that the three of them would find that comfortable groove, get back into the rhythm that they had found when they had first met two years ago. So far he was doing his best to try to carry on as normal but if he was being completely honest with himself it was getting harder and harder to pretend that everything was alright.

Even running, the one thing he took refuge in when things got too much, wasn't helping as much as it use to.

It felt as if he had jogged endless miles in the past several weeks, pushing himself into a state of exhaustion, focusing his mind on each stride, the pounding of his feet on the ground, He had worked so hard to get the band back together. The last two years had been everything he had hoped it would be and more. SG1 had carried on with him as the leader and had added another new member in the form of Vala.

And now it looked as if what was left of SG-1 was falling apart and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

Something had to change.

*S****S