For notes, warnings and disclaimers see chapter 1

Chapter 3: Of Strength and Honor
(Sam's POV)

Okay, so I've made a mistake --a big one-- and now I have to try to figure out a way to sort this out. The problem is that in order to do that I would have to understand where Teal'c is coming from a lot better than I do and I am no anthropologist. Of course, I knew from the start that we were going to have a problem here, I just never expected it to take this particular form, though maybe I should have.

One of the things Daniel mentioned while we were working on the guidelines was that in most ancients civilizations rape was seen as a crime against a man's honor --a crime against a father or a husband-- and while neither one of those labels applies to my relationship with Teal'c, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised by the fact that in some level he thinks of me as being under his protection. For him that is probably the natural order of things. I may be his teammate but to him I am a woman first... and the bottom line is that he is not the only one who feels that way. The colonel may be phrasing it in more politically correct terms by saying that I was under his command when this whole thing happened but in the end what he means is exactly the same thing.

The good news --if you can call it that-- is that he is not blaming me. Considering how this could have gone that is definitely an advantage.

"It wasn't your fault ," I say, trying to reassure him. "Yes, something happened to me that shouldn't have but I am the one who agreed to take some chances when I accepted a spot in SG-1 and I don't regret that decision. I knew what the risks were going in and I accepted them. It was my choice and you are not responsible for my choices."

"In Chulak there can hardly be a greater shame for a warrior than to fail to protect his woman," he explains.

"Yes, well, first, we are not in Chulak and second I am not your woman," I point out, on the verge of losing my temper in light of that particular comment. I know the differences between our worlds are not Teal'c's fault and I do realize that he is doing his best to get used to life on an alien world but there is something about that particular statement that triggers an almost instinctive reaction in me. Ever since I can remember I've been trying to be accepted as an equal in a male dominated world and I've never taken kindly to being reminded of the fact that, no matter how hard I try, it's never really going to happen.

"I am aware of that," he says, "however you are a woman and it is still my duty to protect you."

"It is our duty to protect each other, I'll give you that, but the bottom line is that if you don't trust me to take care of myself you could wind up dead," I reply growing more and more worried.

"Is not death something a warrior must expect here in your world, Captain Carter?"

"It is something a warrior may encounter, I'm not denying that, but there's a difference between dying for what you believe in while battling an enemy and dying because you don't trust your own teammate to be able to take care of herself," I point out before going on. "I mean, I understand that there are probably no female warriors in Chulak but..."

"Indeed. In Chulak women are trained so that they can defend their homes and their families in absence of their husbands but no Jaffa would ever allow his woman to go into battle with him," he interrupts me and I cringe again at the whole 'his woman' thing, though on a rational level I know I'm reading too much into it. It may sound alien to me but I guess considering the fact that Jaffa are essentially slaves, Teal'c does not see it the way I do. In his world the women belong to the men just like the men belong to the Goa'uld, that apparently is something that is not even questioned. He may be fighting to free his people but that doesn't mean he can turn off all of his preconceived notions at will just because he is living on a different planet now. He may be willing to give up his life in an attempt to overthrow the Goa'uld but that doesn't automatically mean that he is going to stop thinking like a Jaffa any time soon. That is something I knew coming in and it is also something I'm just going to have to deal with... in fact the good news is that in a way this conversation has alerted me to the fact that we actually do have a pretty serious problem in that regard. That is something we had overlooked simply because Teal'c doesn't really say much and it is also something that could easily have come back to haunt us in the battlefield. I don't know if I'll be able to change his mind about this one but I do know that we will be keeping a closer eye on this particular situation from now on.

"I get that, but things are different here. In Chulak it may be inconceivable for a Jaffa to allow a woman to go into battle but here I am a member of your team and as such it is up to me to carry my own weight. Now, I'm not saying that I don't want your help. I count on you to watch my back just like I hope you can count on me to watch yours, but that's no different from what would be the case with Daniel or the colonel," I say before a different approach occurs to me. "You are aware that you are far stronger than either one of them, aren't you?"

"Indeed," he says, merely acknowledging the fact.

"So you know that chances are there will be some circumstances in which you will be the one best suited to help them out."

"Yes."

"In other words, it would be possible for us to say that you are aware that there are some instances in which they may need your strength in order to survive, right?"

"That is correct."

"But, even though there may be instances in which they require your help, you don't feel that protecting them is a matter of honor, do you?"

"No, they are my fellow warriors, especially O'Neill."

"And physically who is stronger, the colonel or Drey'auc?" I ask, knowing that I have him almost where I want him.

"Drey'auc. She is Jaffa," he says without hesitation.

"So who is more likely to need your protection, Daniel and the colonel or Drey'auc?"

"But it is not only a matter of strength, Captain Carter, it is also a matter of honor. I respect them as warriors and it would not be honorable for me to treat them as if they were women."

"Yes, well, the point is that I'm not that much weaker than they are and that means that I don't need your protection any more than they do," I all but growl.

"That is correct, however you are still a woman so there is no dishonor in me treating you as one," he insists and I am sorely tempted to hit my head against the wall but --realizing that there's no point in giving myself a concussion here-- I start pacing instead. Okay, so I'm guessing this is going to take a while.


Author's notes: Hi guys, thank you for your reviews, they are really appreciated. Now, before you tell me that Teal'c's reaction here is not consistent with his reaction to Ishta, please remember that we are talking season one here and Ishta doesn't appear until mid season seven so it is not unreasonable to assume that Teal'c's attitude toward female warriors may have changed in the meantime.

Thank for reading and please review!

Alec