The Odyssey, Chapter Six

"Sam, we need to talk."

"Okay...," she trailed, with a frown.

Cam shifted uncomfortably in his seat, hating the mess hall more with each passing day. "Are you...happy, with our arrangement?"

Sam took a moment before meeting his eyes. "I'm not unhappy," she tried.

"But you're not happy, either," he said.

"It's still new," she replied, shrugging awkwardly. "And we knew going in that it would be a bit...weird."

"Is it still weird?," Cam pressed.

"Sometimes," she confessed.

"Sam," he said, taking her hands in his own. "You don't have to do this, if you don't want to. I never meant to pressure you..."

"You didn't," she replied quickly. She sighed. "Actually, Daniel was the one who pushed me into trying. And he wasn't wrong," she added quickly, before Cam could protest. "It's just...we still work together. And for the time being, we also live together, on a very tiny, sparsely populated ship."

"And you're still worried about complications if things go wrong," Cam supplied. Sam bit her lower lip, and Cam slumped in his seat as realization dawned. "You're also worried about complications if things go right," he said at last.

"It's nothing personal. It's just..."

"Circumstances suck."

"Exactly."

"So where do we go from here?," he asked.

"I don't know."

Cam squeezed her hands. "You know, I won't be upset if you want to call it off," he said.

"You won't?," she asked doubtfully.

"Disappointed, maybe. But I want you to be happy too. And if being with me only adds to your stress..."

"It does and it doesn't," she tried to explain. "It has been nice, having someone to talk to."

"Yes, it has. But that doesn't really have to end. We are still friends, after all."

"Cam?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm so sorry."

"Me too," he sighed.


"Daniel Jackson. I wish to seek your council."

Daniel looked up from his work, surprised. "About what?," he asked curiously.

"A matter of great personal importance," responded Teal'c.

Daniel leaned against his work bench, arms crossed, facing his friend. "Okay. I'm listening."

"I believe my feelings for Colonel Carter have moved beyond the realm of friendship."

"Really?," Daniel asked, clearly startled. "Why? How? When?"

"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c warned.

"Sorry. It's just...wow. That's all."

"Indeed."

"So what do you need my help with?"

"As you are surely aware, Colonel Carter has become involved with Colonel Mitchell," he began.

"Vala said something to that effect," Daniel confirmed.

"I wish to present myself as an alternate candidate."

"You want to date Sam?"

"Indeed."

"I have no idea what to say," he confessed. "I mean, it's Sam. She's like a sister to me. I've never really given much thought as to how someone should go about wooing her."

"Nor have I," Teal'c admitted. "Until recently, she was promised to O'Neill."

"If not in words, than at least in heart," Daniel agreed softly. "God, this must be killing her," he breathed.

"I believe her time of mourning has passed, Daniel Jackson. Her current anguish stems more from our present situation than any discernible sense of loss."

"Are you sure?"

"Indeed. I have spent a great deal of time with Colonel Carter. She is weary of her attempts to find a solution to our situation, and grows increasingly despondent of ever achieving her goal. She feels responsible for everyone onboard this ship. It is a burden that weighs heavily upon her."

"Wow. I had no idea."

"She does not wish to upset the others with her own self doubt."

"Sounds like Sam, alright," Daniel sighed. "Teal'c, I still don't know what to tell you. I mean, it's Sam. How many men have tried and failed to earn her affection?"

"A great many," Teal'c noted dourly. "However, I believe her reception of these would have been coloured by her affection for O'Neill."

"True. But still..."

"Daniel Jackson. I believe there is much I could offer Samantha Carter, given the opportunity."

Daniel smiled. "I've never heard you use her name before," he said. Then, "Teal'c. That's it!"

"What is 'it'?"

"Her name! Find an excuse to use her name. Get her attention. Maybe once she stops thinking of you with the military half of her brain...," he trailed suggestively.

"Thank you, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c replied, bowing slightly toward the other man. "You have been most helpful."

"Anytime, Teal'c," Daniel replied, grinning. "And Teal'c?," he called, as the other man was turning to leave.

"Yes, Daniel Jackson?"

"Don't try to tell her how you feel. Just show her."


Sam sat alone in the mess hall once more, gingerly picking at the food on her plate. She was glad for the solitude. The past few weeks had been intense, and the reprieve, although devoid of any real comfort, at least offered the opportunity to process some of what had gone on.

She was losing herself. As often as she'd been accused of the same on base, burying herself in endless projects, working instead of getting a life, it was now, officially true. Work was destroying her, bit by bit, wearing her down with impossibility and failure. Only now, there was nowhere else to turn. Cam had been her best chance for a distraction on this ship, for something more than endless simulations and evenings of self-doubt and recrimination. And it hadn't been enough. She hadn't been able to force herself to feel what had never been there, that spark that would allow a relationship to begin.

She had failed herself, again. All her life, science had been her salvation. Human relationships were messy. They were unpredictable. They didn't follow any natural laws she knew of. But science, science had been order, beautiful in its symmetry. And now she had lost her faith in both. There was no one on this ship who could help. No one to restore the hope that some day, she'd have someone in her life. No one to inspire her toward the brilliant plan that would ultimately foil the Ori, allowing her to save their lives.

At times like this, she wished Jack were here.

He may not have been perfect. He may have been off-limits. But he had always inspired her. She had never fully understood why. But that had never really been important, when he'd been around. Now that he was gone... She didn't know how to go on.

Emotionally, she could let him go. Could resign herself that it was never meant to be, that the feelings they'd shared had been an integral part of their drive to keep fighting, to do what needed to be done, no matter the cost. But psychologically...She missed him. She needed him. She desperately wanted him to walk through that door, sit down, and instantly lay out precisely what needed to be done. Because that was Jack. That was the man who'd kept them alive eight long years, against all odds. And she really, really needed someone who could beat the odds for her now.