Chapter 26 – Betrayal
That was the reason why Teal'c did not understand the latter development: one day O'Neill would throw himself at Carter's feet, then the next announced he'd be leaving her for Laira. He had been despicable, insulting her in the base corridors; that had been a very difficult time for her, and Teal'c would still be wondering how she had been able to forgive him if he had not understood the truth: she knew. Carter had always known, O'Neill could never hide anything from her.
After his painful meeting with Hammond, Jack had gone beyond his rights and left to join his wife at her home; it was probably not under surveillance, but he stayed alert anyway.
"Sam, I know you don't want to see me or talk to me, but I do need a brief moment of your time."
His voice was so serious that she laid down her arms, keen to hear what he had to say. Jack offered to go for a night stroll.
"Some of our allies complained our teams are stealing artifacts during missions. As we record everything on tape, we were actually wondering if mercenaries were in fact behind all of this. Anyway, Hammond gave me a task, and I'm gonna have to pretend to betray you... I'm gonna show my very worst side, but I swear that anything I'll say will be all for show, Sam."
They'd stopped walking; Sam came closer to him and gave his cheek a soft stroke before Jack nimbly caught her fingers and kissed her hand.
"We should have been actors, shouldn't we, my love? Make believe... Well, we're more or less doing it already... our life is just a big fat lie anyway..." Sam said.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, everyone is already betting on when we'll be court-martialed, and we're pretending we've never heard any of the rumors about us. Whatever they can imagine, it's still a gross understatement anyway..." Sam smiled.
"You know, sometimes I think it's all a bit... exciting!"
"I know, so do I! It's kind of really cool foreplay... we barely touch, with only the lightest feel, we steal covert glances, just like lovers having dinner with their respective spouses..." Sam chuckled, as she hugged Jack close.
"We share jokes, intimate memories, very innocently of course, in front of everybody..." he replied, kissing his wife softly on the mouth.
They'd gone back to Sam's and made peace, after weeks and weeks of war waged. Nobody had known, as then-Major Carter had perfectly played the part of a second-in-command trampled upon by her CO; Daniel did also argue his case to an unyielding General Hammond so that she'd be SG1's leader. Then, when the underground network had been dismantled and their allies satisfied, she'd feigned amazement, but Teal'c had not been fooled, and he'd caught their knowing glances, betraying their sharing of a secret.
Teal'c understood the need to hide, and had even sometimes saved the day for his friends. He'd been their innocent alibi several times, without letting their secret – and his – slip, because he did not want his friends to become aware he knew.
One of the most difficult hurdles in O'Neill and Colonel Carter's relationship had been their return from the Alpha site. Teal'c had understood then-Major Carter had been pregnant then, although she did not confide in him he had been able to sense a minute change. Teal'c did never really find out how she lost her baby, although it had probably been due to the shock from the attack by the Kull warrior, or maybe by her desperate and exhausting flight to save her own life. O'Neill had only learned of his wife's condition and her subsequent loss when they had returned. When Samantha Carter finally re-joined them in the clearing, emotions had already been running high: between O'Neill's stress and her own disappearance she had had a lot to deal with, but Teal'c had surprised their silent exchange when O'Neill took her in a comforting embrace. Teal'c had understood all the love they each had for the other whilst they had uttered not a single word to break the spell. He did admire the two Tauri warriors: their silent communication had gone beyond a perfect knowledge of the other; they were but one soul, as if one being in two separate bodies, and they worked even better than a whole team.
Teal'c had always been a very quiet individual, but he was so deep in thought that he had not realized he was being spoken to until Sam put a light hand on his forearm.
"Teal'c, are you alright?"
"Yes Colonel Carter, I was simply... away," gazing benevolently at her.
"Teal'c? Dessert?" Jack inquired.
"Indeed." Teal'c nodded his assent, the ghost of a smile playing upon his lips. "Have you remembered some of your lost memories, Colonel Carter?"
"A few, I think... it is still all a bit muddled but I do remember some, images mostly."
"Such as?" Daniel asked, discarding the dessert menu.
"Let me think... A bespectacled man, wearing a kind of beige robe, standing in front of a gilded wall inscribed with unusual symbols... hieroglyphics maybe?" Sam said.
"That's me, on our first meeting! She remembers me!" Daniel proudly stated.
"She does remember me as well, and our first meeting too..." Jack smiled at him.
"In the briefing room, wasn't it?" Janet laughed.
"Erm... yes Ma'am!" Jack pretended to think about it.
"Did I really talk about my reproductive organs in front of everybody?" Sam smiled and ate a forkful of her chocolate cake.
Jack smiled as he remembered her witty repartee to his pretend misogyny: 'I'm an Air Force officer just like you are, Colonel, and just because my reproductive organs are on the inside instead of the outside, doesn't mean I can't handle whatever you can handle.'
"You did! Since then, nobody at the SGC ever says 'vagina' anymore, the current term is 'feminine reproductive organ'!" Jack stated, eliciting laughs around the table.