For notes, warnings and disclaimers see chapter 1

Chapter 6: All This Time
(Sam's POV)

I'm still trying to figure out what I can do to bridge the gap with Teal'c when I suddenly realize that I may have answered my question already. The fact that Teal'c is a Jaffa --and the fact that there are bound to be some major cultural differences between us-- are things I cannot change, however that doesn't mean that there can't be some similarities that could make it possible for me to accept where he is coming from a little better. Up until now I have been so focused on the differences between our cultures, thinking them insurmountable, that I have totally ignored the things our worlds have in common, even though some of them are pretty obvious. As I said, I am trying to rid myself of some thirty years worth of preconceived notions here but Teal'c is having to shed almost a century's worth of experience when it comes to seeing the world through a Jaffa's eyes... and that century is probably the key.

The thing is that, because of the obvious differences between human and Jaffa life expectancies, Teal'c's age is something I rarely --if ever-- think about, something I have a hard time associating with my very strong and seemingly young friend... but in this case it is also something I may be able to use.

Teal'c is almost one hundred years old. That means that he is only a few years younger than my great-grandfather would have been if he were still alive and the thing is that --even though I never even met the man-- I do have some memories of my grandfather... and I do remember hearing some of his comments about what the 'proper' place of a woman was supposed to be back when I was little. I remember how I used to envy the toy planes my brother got from him every Christmas when we were growing up and I remember how I had to make do with dolls and tea sets I never really cared for. I even remember my grandfather getting pretty mad at me for trying to borrow one of my brother's planes. For my grandfather toy planes were not appropriate for a little girl and I can only imagine what my great-grandfather would have had to say about the matter... and his perspective is one I can understand, one I can easily accept as being a product of his time.

That is a link I can use here because it is something I can definitely relate to... especially because in a way it wouldn't be wrong to say that Teal'c is a product of that same time, even if he does come from a different environment. The bottom line is that his idea of what a woman's place should be is not too far removed from the one that was prevalent here on earth at the time when he was growing up in Chulak and the way he treats me --not to mention what he perceives to be his duty to keep me safe-- is consistent with what I would have expected from a hundred year-old man.

When Teal'c was roughly twenty years old, the US Constitution was amended to guarantee women the right to vote and he was well over sixty by the time domestic violence was first recognized as a real problem in this country. Up until that point a man's 'right' to discipline his wife had been a tacitly --if not explicitly-- accepted fact, though some laws protecting women were already in the books. In fact even today animal protection shelters outnumber battered women shelters by a ratio of more than three to one, though luckily none of the women in those shelters has to worry about the possibility of being put down if an appropriate solution to her predicament can't be found in a matter of days. As for rape, well, that particular subject was still taboo up until a few years ago so I guess from that perspective Teal'c's views are not that alien after all.

In other words, even if I were to totally ignore the fact that he comes from a different world, Teal'c's age is something that should make it possible for me to understand where he is coming from. That's the good news. The bad news is that, seeing how what I'm trying to do here is to get him to change his mind, the fact that I understand doesn't really help me much. Sure, I can respect where he is coming from and how much he has accomplished, how well he is doing, but the bottom line is that --regardless of how logical the fact that he is having trouble adjusting to my role in SG-1 happens to be-- I still have to figure out a way to get him to trust me in the field.

That is the real problem here and --unfortunately-- it is one I still don't know how to tackle.

Sooner or later --hopefully sooner-- we will be back out there, fighting the Goa'uld, and when we do not only do I need to know I have my team watching my six but I also need to know that my teammates trust me to watch theirs (and my own). I simply can't afford to have them worrying about me, about the fact that I am a woman. Sure, I know they trust me as a scientist, I know they don't exactly see me as a dead weight or a burden and I know they accept me more than most teams would in their position --and in that regard I don't mean just Teal'c-- but we are on the front lines of a war here and a partial acceptance may still not be good enough to keep them safe.

Yes, we have clearly made some progress in the past couple of weeks but the bottom line is that, no matter how I look at it, in that regard we still have a very long way to go.


Author's notes: Hi guys, sorry about the delay. I was trying to write one chapter from Teal'c's perspective and the truth is that it was a total failure so I ended up scrapping the whole thing. I'll try to do better and be more regular with my updates from now on,

Alec