Chapter Nine

The blue event horizon shimmered and sparkled, shifting slightly as four people dressed in black and carrying battle rifles emerged from the seemingly calm waters. The group of villagers surrounding the Stargate took a step backward, away from the strangers who had appeared from the ring.

Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell stepped forward and said lightly, "It's okay, folks. We're professionals."

Two hours later, the team known as SG1 was sitting around a roaring fire, enjoying the celebration being held in their honor by the natives. Dr. Daniel Jackson squatted in front of the two Lt. Colonels, a grin covering most of his face, and said excitedly, "As far as I can tell, this civilization seems to be very similar to the pre-colonization Native American culture. And they have been left untouched by the Gou'ld for several generations. It is the perfect opportunity to study. . ." he trailed off as he watched several women dance around the fire in traditional clothing. "Be right back," he muttered as he went off to follow the dancers.

Sam Carter and Cameron Mitchell shared a laugh to the bemusement of the tall dark Jaffa who took a seat beside Colonel Carter. Teal'c had a plate piled high with food and was currently trying to drop something akin to a snail into his mouth. Sam and Cameron stared incredibly at him until he finally noticed and asked quietly, "Is something wrong?"

As they shook their heads, Cameron answered in his usual joking tone, "You're really going to town there, aren't you, Teal'c?"

The Jaffa took a break from eating long enough to glance around at the villagers and reply innocently, "I do not know of any town nearby, Colonel Mitchell."

"It's an expression, Teal'c," Sam tried to explain to her friend, "It means that Colonel Mitchell thinks you have taken a lot of food to eat."

"I do not understand, Colonel Carter."

Sam shook her head and laid a comforting hand on her dark friend's arm. "I think he's just wondering about your choice of nourishment."

It may have been dark and the only light illuminating their conversation was the fire, but the two Lt. Colonels could have sworn they saw a smile forming on the Jaffa's face. "This food is very similar to what is served on Chulak. In fact it is considered a delicacy at our table."

"Well, that explains it," Cameron remarked as he threw his own food into the fire and watched it burn.

Sam giggled, but didn't follow suit, instead reaching for something that looked like chicken and bit into it, telling herself it was no different from earth food. Finally losing that battle, she placed the meat back onto the plate and turned to Cameron, wiping her mouth with something she assumed was a napkin. "So how are things with you and Nicole? You haven't been hanging around my house lately."

Cameron smiled and leaned back against the log behind them. "No, it's been so beautiful lately, we've been spending most of our time outdoors. She loves hiking and camping. Funny, though. I never would have pegged her as an outdoor lover."

Sam nodded. "Me, either. She and Daniel never did any of that stuff."

"Well, she loves it. But she's killing me with the little amount of sleep she needs. I barely sleep on the camping trips. Damn woman wakes up at the crack of dawn."

"So do I," the blonde next to him replied, completely forgetting her own food as they continued to watch Teal'c enjoy his. "You think there's something wrong with that?" Cameron shrugged but didn't respond, knowing he wouldn't win whatever argument that would follow. "So does this mean the two of you are finally sleeping together?"

Her team leader snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. "If by sleeping you mean in separate sleeping bags in the same tent, then yes. If you mean the way normal couples do, then no, we're not."

"She's still promoting celibacy?"

"Very funny. You know, it's actually not that bad. I like getting to know her in other ways before we get physical. I've never felt this way about anyone else before, and I don't want to screw that up by jumping into bed with her."

Sam's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Before she could respond, though, Teal'c remarked in between bites, "Colonel Mitchell is correct." Both Sam and Cameron turned to him, waiting for him to continue. They didn't have to wait very long. "My wife and I found that waiting until marriage increased the odds of success in the marriage. We did know each other quite well when we were finally intimate."

"I thought your marriage was arranged," Sam replied.

Teal'c shook his head. "You are mistaken, Colonel Carter. Drey'auc and I did not have an arranged marriage."

"You never talk about your wife, Teal'c. Do you think I could meet her someday?" Cameron asked, leaning forward in interest.

Again Teal'c shook his head. "She is dead, Colonel Mitchell."

"Oh," Cameron sat back and turned back to the fire, his expression changing instantly to one of regret and sorrow. "I'm sorry."

"You did not know. There is no need to apologize," Teal'c replied as he again picked up his food and started to eat.

It was this conversation that played itself over and over in Teal'c's head later that week as he sat down in his room to kelnorim. He had not thought of his wife in many years, not since her unfortunate death that had scarred him more deeply than he would have liked to admit. Not only had it wounded his own heart, but it had almost cost him the delicate relationship he had with his son, Rya'c. Thoughts of his family were making this kelnorim exceptionally difficult, even more difficult than it usually was without his symbiote.

In the middle of these thoughts, he heard a soft knock on his door. Resigning himself from the kelnorim attempt momentarily, he stood and answered the door, slightly surprised to see the curly red haired woman on the other side. He moved aside, allowing her to walk past him before he shut the door behind her.

She stopped in the middle of the brightly lit candles, their flame dancing on her light skin and reflecting the moisture that precariously perched itself at the edge of her eyes, threatening to spill over at any moment. Teal'c remained silent, waiting for her to speak, to tell her why she had decided to stop by his room in the middle of the night. He studied her, noticing how her hands were wrapped tightly in clothes and how she was dressed: in a black tank top that clung to her and sport-like shorts. He had seen this apparel before, and he knew what she had been doing directly before coming to visit. She had been boxing.

Anyone who knew Nicole well knew that she only boxed when she was upset. And as rare as that emotion was for the woman, she had two places she could release that anger: here at the SGC where General O'Neill had set up an area for boxing and in Colonel Carter's basement where Nicole had set up her purchased punching bag. Teal'c assumed she had been using the former or she would not be standing in his presence at the moment.

After a long while, the woman took in a shaky breath and sat onto the edge of his bed gingerly. "Sorry for dropping by like this," she whispered as she harshly brushed away her tears.

Teal'c took the desk chair across from her and tilted his head slightly to one side in curiosity. "There is no need to apologize," he told her as he had told her boyfriend only a week earlier. "Do you need to talk, Nicole Leah?" It had only been a few months since the woman had decided she wanted to use her last name once again, but Teal'c had no problem adjusting to it.

She sighed loudly and nodded, rubbing her exposed arms gently. "I just had a visit from my sister," she informed her friend, her tone making it explicitly clear this was not something she considered to be a good thing and knowing her as he did, Teal'c was not surprised.

He nodded slightly and said simply, "Athena has upset you again."

"That's putting it mildly," Nicole replied before launching into her story.

"That ought to do it," Samantha Carter told Nicole and smiled in the red head's direction. "Thanks for your help."

Closing the laptop before her, Nicole shrugged and began to organize the report that was emerging from the printer. "No problem," she replied, smiling back at the Lt. Colonel. "Anything else you need?"

Sam shook her head as she accepted the report from Nicole and tucked it securely in her arm. "No, I'll just take this to General Landry. He'll be pleased – it's very early." She smiled again and patted Nicole's arm gently. "Thanks to you. I'll be back."

Nicole nodded and turned to clean up the rest of the supplies from their experiment. Just as she heard the door shut tightly behind her, she heard a familiar sound: a Q flash. Rolling her eyes, she folded her arms over her chest and turned to face her sister. "Hello, Teeny."

"Hello, big sister," Teeny replied, a huge grin covering her face and her blue eyes sparkling with excitement. "I have good news."

"Oh yeah? Do tell."

"You're not going to believe it."

"Just tell me, Teens."

If it was possible, Teeny's smile grew even larger. "Okay, but promise me you won't jump on me when I'm finished."

"That should be easy enough."

"Fine then. Guess what human I've been granted the right and responsibility of making a Q again?"

"Um, me?"

"Yeah, isn't it great?"

Nicole nodded although her expression was not one of joy and replied with very little emotion, "That's nice. See you in three months."

Teeny shook her head violently, her blonde curls smacking her face as she did. "No, silly. You don't get it. I get to change you back tonight."

The red head froze in the middle of grabbing a microscope, her hand stopping in midair. "What did you say?"

"Isn't it wonderful? We get to start having adventures together again!"

"But I have another three months. The year isn't over yet, Teeny." Nicole's breathing became labored, and she leaned against the table for support. "I want my three months," she finished, her green eyes wide.

Teeny's own blue eyes narrowed on her sister, her smiled disappearing behind the wave of confusion sweeping over the Q. "You . . . want . . . three months . . . here?" she asked incredulously. "But . . . you're human here. Why would you want to stay?"

Nicole collapsed into the nearest stool and dropped her face into her hands, unsure how to explain her feelings to her sister who had never really understood the desire to be human – and certainly never would. "I just do, okay?"

"It's that guy, isn't it?" Teeny asked, dropping into another stool beside Nicole's. "You fell in love again and are willing to give up everything for another guy? Didn't you learn your lesson the last time?"

"It's not just about Cameron, Teeny. I have other reasons, ones you wouldn't understand."

Teeny let out her breath in a huff and crossed her arms over her chest as her anger began to build. "Well, I have news for you, big sister. If you don't come back now, the elders will take back any offer to become a Q again. You say no to me now, you say no forever. Is that what you want? It won't just be three months anymore, it'll be for the rest of your life, however short that may be."

"Okay, okay, no need to threaten me, Teeny. I get it. I need to make a decision. But can't you give me some time to think it over?"

The blonde tapped her foot impatiently on one of the rungs on the bottom of the stool. "Fine, since I love you so much and respect whatever insanity it is you find yourself in, I will do something for you."

"And what's that?"

"I give you twenty-four hours as Q. You can't make a proper decision as a human. You don't even have all your memories. So, I'll make you a Q again and you can do what you want with it. In twenty-four hours, I'll come back and you can tell me your decision."

"And if I decide I want to be human for the rest of my life?"

Teeny sighed and hopped off the stool. "Then I'll give you your wish, even if I do think it's stupid."

"Thanks, Teens."

Teeny shook her head and snapped her fingers enveloping Nicole in a flash. In an instant, the red head was inundated with memories rushing into her head in conjunction with the familiar power once again filling her body.

"You are a Q once again?" Teal'c asked when Nicole had finished her story. She nodded mutely. "Then I do not understand. What is the cause of your frustration? Whatever your decision, your sister will honor it."

Nicole nodded, the tears spilling over onto her cheeks at last. "I know, Teal'c, but I'm not sure what I'm going to decide yet. Part of me really wants to stay here but then part of me really wants to hold on to the life I used to know. I don't know what to do."

"Have you spoken with Colonel Mitchell about this?"

She shook her head and replied softly, "I don't want him to know about this until I've made my decision. It's not fair to get him involved. I want to make this decision for me, not for him."

Sam sat at her table gazing at the laptop before her, lost in her own little world. Every now and then, she'd type a few things and wait for the screen to flash that she had a message in return before typing again. It had taken her a while to get used to instant messaging, but once she did, she enjoyed "talking" to her boyfriend in her downtime on the base, laughing at the things he typed to her from his office in Washington, D.C.

"Hey, Sam, have you seen Nicole?"

She glanced up to see the familiar face of Cameron Mitchell staring back at her. Checking the time, she realized her lunch break was over and quickly shut the computer before her and answered distractedly as she ran a hand through her hair, "Uh, no, Cameron, can't say that I have. I thought she spent the night with you."

It was his turn to arch his eyebrows in disbelief, not justifying that assumption with a verbal answer. "So you haven't seen her since yesterday?"

"No. Come to think of it, we were supposed to go out to celebrate finishing that report last night. When I came back from the general's office she was gone. I assumed she had gotten tired of waiting and went off to find you or something. But no, I haven't seen her since last night."

"That is because she spent the night in my room," the monotone voice of Teal'c surprised them as he answered their question, having entered the room unnoticed only a few moments before. "She awoke this morning and mentioned Colonel Carter's house before she flashed away."

This new information took a moment to settle on Cameron and Sam, but once it did, they both began talking at once. "Flashed?" Sam asked in a shocked tone, while Cameron focused on another aspect all together: "She spent the night in your room?"

"To answer you both," Teal'c began as he placed a folder on Colonel Carter's table. "Yes, she fell asleep in my bed after we finished our long conversation. I kelnorimed on the floor during the hours she slept. Yes, Colonel Carter, Nicole is once again a Q. But it is complicated."

"Complicated?" Sam and Cameron asked in unison.

"Yes. She has the next twenty-four hours to decide whether or not she wishes to stay that way."

"Why wouldn't she tell us about this?" Cameron asked, looking at Sam briefly. She shrugged before he turned back to the Jaffa.

"She does not wish to concern you with this decision. She feels it is one she needs to make on her own."

"But she talked to you," the slightly hurt boyfriend pointed out.

Teal'c bowed his head a little toward his team leader. "I believe she needed someone to talk to, and I was here." With that, he turned and left the Lt. Colonels once again alone in Sam's office.

They turned to look at each other in surprise before Cameron's eyes found the black table top and remarked softly, "Well, that was strange."

Sam nodded, her eyes glued to the door where Teal'c had disappeared. "But it gives you a chance to weigh in on Nicole's decision. I mean, now that Teal'c has given you some kind of heads-up."

Cameron shrugged. "But what am I supposed to say or do that would convince Nicole to stay?"

"Have you considered that if she decides to stay, she'll be giving up everything to be with you?"

"Of course I have. But what do I have to offer that would even slightly tip the scales in my favor?"

She flashed him a huge smile and replied in a knowing tone, "Oh, I'm sure we could think of something."

A few hours later, Sam and Cameron stepped inside her house quietly. They split up, each walking into individual rooms in search of Nicole, meeting in the front hall a few minutes later, neither one discovering anything. "Go outside," Sam told Cameron in a determined tone as she went in the direction of her basement.

She opened the door and began descending as she called out for her tenant, not really sure if she would get an answer. When she reached the bottom, she looked in all directions, stopping when she noticed something out of place: a door that was usually locked standing wide open. Her breath caught in her throat as she moved toward it.

Inside the little room, Nicole sat cross-legged on the once cluttered desk. She was staring at the piece of equipment that was very out of place in a suburban home. It was round and quite a bit smaller than the one that was at that moment situated safely under an inconspicuous mountain, but it was no doubt a Stargate.

Not unaware of her friend's approach, Nicole asked Sam in a low voice, "So how'd you manage to keep this in here? I'm sure General Hammond wouldn't have been happy to let it stay."

Sam smiled nervously and leaned against the door. "Yeah, I kind of had to lie about it."

"Really? Can't say I ever saw you lying to your superiors, but then again, maybe I shouldn't be surprised at anything you do, should I?"

The blonde shrugged as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I knew they'd never let me keep it here, and I just wanted to study it. They wanted me to send it to Area 51."

"So what did you send to Area 51?"

"Boxes of miscellaneous parts. They wanted me to take apart the mini-gate anyway."

Nicole laughed. "Nice," she replied, obviously approving of the deception. "Glad you had it in you."

"Why? Why is this so important to you?"

"Because . . . I need to do this if I'm going to live as a human. You have to know I can't stay on one planet for the rest of my life."

Sam's eyebrows burrowed in confusion. "You want to go through the Stargate?"

"Yeah, maybe be assigned to a team or something."

"But this one doesn't even work."

Nicole flashed her friend a smile and snapped her fingers, causing the small gate to flare to life, the swishing liquid that emerged narrowly missing the two women. "Never tell me something can't be done," the Q told Sam in a teasing tone. Hopping off the desk, she went to stand before the shimmering pool of light.

"Which gate did you dial?" Sam asked, moving closer, but ready to run at any moment, still not trusting the device completely.

"The Alpha Site," Nicole answered in a distracted way as she studied the event horizon. Smiling, she turned away from it and waved at Sam. "Wish me luck."

Sam shook her head in disbelief and replied softly, "Luck." And as she watched, Nicole took a step backward into the Stargate, disappearing without a trace.