Right Time and Place by Betty Bokor
Sam/Daniel. Jack and SG-1 share a celebration off-world.
Spoilers: All seasons, including 9.
Disclaimer: The Stargate original characters belong to MGM/Showtime, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corp. This was written strictly for the purpose of entertainment. No attempt at copyright infringement has been made.
Right Time and Place
Chapter 1
The negotiations had been unusually simple. Daniel was extremely satisfied with the agreement he had reached with the people of Saída. They were interested in human advances in polymers and offered medical technology in return that could be modified to be very useful to humans. The Saidans were physiologically more advanced than humans, but the difference was minimal. A research team was waiting for the technology to come to the SGC to start their work.
The day SG-1 was supposed to go back to Saída to finalize the treaty, Jack was on base. He had come with an official "excuse", but Daniel knew him enough to know that he missed his days in Colorado awfully. Daniel thought it could be a good idea to give him a taste of his old job and officially requested him to join SG-1 for the signing of the pact and the subsequent celebration. Jack took a while to "consider" the request and finally agreed, trying to hide how thrilled he was about it. The general and the team were effusively received by the Saidans and the signing of the agreement went as well as the previous negotiations had. After the formalities were all concluded, there was a lavish celebration on the main residence of the government of Saída.
Near midnight, all the Saidan guests started congregating in small groups; it looked as though everyone knew where to assemble. A couple of aides approached Jack and SG-1 and explained that they needed to get ready for the final celebration ritual. Sam was taken with other women and the men were all guided to a different room to be "prepared".
Sam's group of women started walking along a corridor and one by one all the women were led to individual rooms. When Sam entered the room that had been assigned to her, she noticed that it was luxuriously decorated and thought that if she hadn't known for certain that it was actually a room in a building, she would have believed it was an Arabian tent. Long shiny and silky cloths hung from the ceiling and completely covered the view of the walls. Many vibrantly colored pillows were spread around and a considerably sized bed dominated the center of the room. As soon as she noticed the bed, Sam became wary.
"What is this ritual you are talking about?" she asked the young woman that was supposed to help her.
"Just the ordinary Mating Night," the Saidan said uninterestedly.
Sam felt her blood run cold. "Mating Night? What do you mean? I'm not going to mate with anyone," she said firmly.
"Are you married? Are you engaged to be married? Have you been promised to a man?" the woman asked.
"No, but that's not the point. Or maybe that's exactly the point. I'm not engaged so I'm not mating with anyone." Sam felt fury at the surprised face of her aide.
"The Mating Night is only for people without prior engagements. If you were married or about to be, you would not be allowed to participate. Because you are free, then it would be an offense to our ancestral traditions not to do it. Are you in a fertility period?"
Sam thought the intended target of the Mating Night probably would be to procreate and immediately tried to take herself out of the eligibility pool. "No, not at all. I would not be able to conceive at all," she said with resolve.
"Great. That makes you a perfect candidate. The tradition doesn't allow for unwanted pregnancies that could jeopardize the future of the participants. This is just a celebration. The physical joining is one more way to show our joy at the good events of the day."
Sam sat on the edge of the bed and sighed defeated. What would be the men doing? Would there be any way to contact Daniel and ask how to politely refuse without creating an interplanetary incident? "Can I talk to my teammates before this?" she asked.
"They are being prepared for the ceremony, too, but in consideration of you being from another culture, you could choose from your men before our women select them."
"Excuse me?" Sam asked, completely at a loss.
"Women choose among the available men. You are allowed to choose between the men from your planet before any of our women has the right to pick one of them. In any case, you must hurry. Soon, every woman will share your right."
Sam had to decide fast what she would do. It certainly looked better to select one of her teammates than to have to face an unknown man. She tried to run them through her mind. First, she decided against Teal'c. He had looked very interested in a nightlong conversation with a native woman. Gorgeous woman, Sam thought. If the lady had the right to choose, she would probably prefer Teal'c. Besides, her relationship with Teal'c was perfect as it was; no point in adding other aspects to the mix.
Second, she rejected the idea of choosing Cameron. She had known him since her Academy days, but there had never been anything else than camaraderie between them. Now that he was in SG-1, their friendship was deepening, though not to the point of a physical relationship.
She was left with Daniel and Jack. Jack had been in her imagination for years and she had hoped that after moving to D.C. he would try to make something out of years of flirting and innuendo. However, nothing had happened. She was not sure that to choose him would help the situation in any way. Perhaps she would be forcing him into something he had never actually wanted.
On the other hand, Daniel was her best friend. They knew each other's secrets and shared most of their lives. Yet, sex had never been part of the equation.
Her thoughts were brusquely interrupted by the young woman, who had been setting up some attire on top of the bed. "You must decide now. If you have no favorite, we will choose a nice man for you."