UNENDING: SAM
"I love you, Jack," she whispered, as she sat at her window and stared out at the stars—in the direction of home. "I love you, and I'll love you til I die. But I don't have you. I can't have you. We've been on this ship for so long… I can't fix it. I don't know how to get us out of here, and get back to you." She wiped tears from her cheeks with the palms of her hands. "We're going to die out here. And you'll never know what happened—that I spent all these years… damn!" She sobbed for a minute, forced herself under control. "You'll think we died in an instant. That's better, really. I'm glad you won't know—but it makes me so angry, too! I'm not even sure why it makes me angry, you know. I'd rather be alive than dead, even trapped here, I guess... It's so messed up in my mind. You're there and I'm here and… Damn it! I should be able to figure it out!" She stopped talking and was quiet for a while. "I feel like a ghost," she said at last. "I'm here but nobody out there can see me. You can't see me. I'm talking to you, but you can't hear me. There's no way I can let you know…"
She drew in a deep breath. "And now I feel so horribly guilty. I feel like I've betrayed you. But I can't live without somebody to care about. I can't be just a ghost... it's been so long. Eight years. I didn't expect to feel this way about anybody else. Can you possibly understand? Loneliness is so hard. I didn't mean to feel this way about him."
Tears welled up again, but she found herself smiling through them. "But he's so good. You know that. You know how good and amazing he is. He's always there when I need someone. So patient and strong. And he loves me, Jack. He loves me, even though I have failed..." She gulped down another sob.
She pulled her legs up, and wrapped her arms around them, resting her cheek on her knees. For a long time she stared out the window at the stars. Eventually, she heard the door behind her open and close softly, sensed footsteps crossing the room. Teal'c's strong arms encircled her, and she let herself be drawn back against him and cradled there, safe and loved.