Daniel stood in the hallway, hands in his pockets, lingering outside the closed door. He reached up, and his hand hovered inches from its surface as he hesitated. He inhaled deeply and forced his hand to connect with the door.

"Enter," a deep voice called from the other side.

He cracked the door and stuck in his head. "Teal'c, hi."

Teal'c smiled at his friend in greeting. "Hello, DanielJackson. I hope you are doing well."

"Yeah, mostly." He tentatively rubbed the back of his neck and hesitated in the doorway before adding, "That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about."

The larger man raised an eyebrow. At the silent invitation to go on, Daniel stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

"Can I ask your advice on something?" Daniel continued.

"Indeed, you may."

Folding his arms tightly around himself and not quite meeting the larger man's eye, Daniel asked, "Well, uh. . . what would you do if you were. . . uh. . . in love with a woman who's. . .," he stopped and shifted his feet before he finished, "in love with someone else?"

"You truly wish to know what i I /i would do?" Teal'c asked in his most deliberately serious tone.

What would Teal'c, the Jaffa warrior and former First Prime of Apophis, do? Maybe that was a question better left unanswered. Realizing that this was Teal'c's form of a joke, a slight smile crept to Daniel's lips. He relaxed and crossed the room to take a seat across from his friend. "Okay, what would you suggest a man from Earth do?"

Teal'c studied him for several moments with a piercing gaze that was nearly uncomfortable for Daniel. Finally, he answered, "I would suggest you tell ColonelCarter how you feel."

If he'd been drinking, he would have done a spit take. "What?" Daniel gasped.

"Are we not speaking of you and ColonelCarter?"

His mouth still hanging open, Daniel asked, "Teal'c, what would make you think that?"

"I have observed you glancing at her when you have no cause to do so. On occasion, you look at her with what some might call a 'twinkle' in your eye. Also, much like the woman in your scenario, she is currently taken."

i Oh, shit. /i He hoped Teal'c was the only one who'd noticed. The chances were good. Teal'c was, after all, one of the most observant people Daniel knew.

He sat silently, debating whether he should deny his friend's accusation or confirm it. Deciding that denial would do him no good and would only add another lie to the list of those he'd told his friends, he confessed. "So I'm really that obvious?"

"I believe it would not be so were you to ask another individual. I have seen no indication that others are aware of your feelings for ColonelCarter. I myself did not know for certain until you posed your question to me moments ago."

Daniel nodded his response, and Teal'c questioned, "You are concerned because of ColonelCarter's engagement to Pete Shanahan?"

"No. Yes. Sort of." He looked at Teal'c, hoping the big guy knew what he was getting at. The only response he received was a quizzical eyebrow. "I i was /i initially upset about her engagement, but I was also happy for her. I was getting used to the idea that she was getting married. Don't get me wrong. Deep down, I still hoped she would change her mind and realize that she wanted to be with me," a sarcastic smile found it's way to his lips, "but I'd pretty much given up all hope of that." The smile disappeared and was replaced by a deep frown. "Now. . . damn, now. . . well, I wasn't prepared for this. I got used to the idea of her with i Pete /i , but. . . but. . . I do still want her to be happy, but. . . of all people. . ."

Interrupting Daniel's rambling, Teal'c cautiously questioned, "You are referring to her feelings for O'Neill?"

Daniel's eyes grew as big as saucers then narrowed as he glared at Teal'c. How the hell did he already know everything? Daniel suddenly felt like the biggest fool on the planet. "You knew?"

"I have observed ColonelCarter's behavior in much the same way as I have observed yours. She has, of course, been a bit more obvious with her feelings than you have been."

Ouch. Teal'c hadn't meant for those words to hurt. He was merely stating a matter of fact, but that didn't stop the nail from entering Daniel's heart. The signs had been there, but he'd been too blind to see them.

"Did you not realize ColonelCarter felt this way about O'Neill?" Teal'c asked, second guessing whether he should have brought up the subject.

"No, I did." With a half smile, he added, "I just had to learn it the hard way."

Teal'c cocked his head to the side, looking confused.

Daniel's eyes fixed on the floor. "A couple nights ago, Sam came to my house to talk. She told me she was in love with Jack."

Teal'c sensed there was more to the story. "And?"

Daniel inhaled deeply, looked up from the floor, and answered, "And she ended up kissing me. Or I kissed her. I'm not really sure which." That statement earned him another confused look from his friend, which compelled Daniel to try to explain. "I was talking, and she. . ." He pictured her lips as they'd hovered near his, then her pulling off her top and tossing it to the floor, revealing the yellow satin bra and soft, milky skin that was almost always kept hidden from him. His cheeks grew hot, and he cut off his description. "Well, that's not really important, but she did a lot more than just kiss me." Taking a minute to recompose himself, he realized what he'd just done. "Oh, shit. I shouldn't have told you that. I promised her I wouldn't say anything."

"I will tell no one," Teal'c assured him.

Daniel nodded. "Thanks."

Silence remained between them until Teal'c finally asked, "Do you believe this indicates that she returns your feelings?"

He shook his head. "No. She made that pretty clear. She said she was just. . ." He felt a lump forming in his throat, and he swallowed hard to fight it back. "She was just using me to distract herself from the situation with Jack and Pete."

Teal'c said nothing. He merely looked at the floor with a contemplative, far away expression.

Curious what his friend was thinking, Daniel prodded, "Teal'c?"

He looked up from the floor and met Daniel's eyes. "That does not sound like the ColonelCarter I have grown accustomed to."

"What do you mean?"

"ColonelCarter values your friendship far too much to risk throwing it away in such a careless manner."

Daniel's eyes glimmered as though Teal'c had turned on a light bulb inside his head. "What are you saying?"

"I have said nothing more than what I stated." He was playing coy.

"You think I should go after her?"

"I believe you should do what you feel you should do."

Daniel liked the sound of that, but he still had one big problem. "I can't do that, Teal'c. What about Jack?"

"I believe your people have a saying: 'All is fair in love and war'."

"Yes, Teal'c, but it doesn't work that way when you're dealing with your best friends. You can't just steal your friend's girl."

"I was not aware that O'Neill had staked a claim on ColonelCarter."

Daniel glared at him. "You know what I mean, Teal'c."

"That does not negate my original point. O'Neill and ColonelCarter are not involved romantically. He has made no admission of his feelings toward her. If you express your feelings, and she returns them, you are not stealing her from him."

"But what if I tell her, and she doesn't return my feelings?"

"You must be prepared to face the outcome."

"I don't think I am."

"Then you must be prepared to forever wonder what would have happened if you had told her."

He nodded. Though a bit melodramatic in his presentation, Teal'c was right. Years from now, Daniel didn't want to look back and wish he'd acted. But he still had a problem with Teal'c's suggestion. "I can't go behind Jack's back like that."

"Then speak to O'Neill about it first."

For some reason, Teal'c didn't get it. Daniel's jaw clenched as he shook his head then nearly shouted, "I can't do that!"

"Then it appears that all you can do is sit around second guessing and making yourself miserable."

His tone was perfectly calm, but the words themselves were harsh. Daniel knew he deserved them. He'd come to Teal'c hoping to find a way to move on, to get over Sam and to keep his friendship safe. Instead, Teal'c was filling his head with the idea that he had a chance with her and advising him to pursue a relationship. How incredibly frustrating.

At the same time, though, Teal'c had given him exactly what he'd been looking for. If he confessed his feelings, and she rejected him, it would set him straight on the path to moving on. Of course, he couldn't be sure how safe their friendship would be after that.

In any case, Teal'c was just trying to help, and he had no right to yell at him. "I'm sorry. You're right."

"Does this mean you intend to express your feelings?"

"I'm still not sure." Before he decided that, he had one other decision to make: whether it was more important he get over Sam or that he keep their friendship intact.