Cycles, by Devra

Part 3: Observation

Observation: Teal'c's POV

"MajorCarter, you have requested my presence?"

"Come on in, Teal'c."

I bow upon entering. She acknowledges my greeting with a slight smile. It has been some time since SG1 has gotten together as a team and I can no longer remember when Major Carter and I have spoken in private. By tacit agreement, we have ignored the interactions of Daniel Jackson and O'Neill. We have taken to hiding within our separate lives rather than face the truth. We are in danger of losing SG1, not from the Goa'uld, but from a deadlier weapon, one from within….our own teammates.

I myself have become immersed in the Jaffa uprising, my concerns for my Taur'i family pushed to the side. Major Carter has taken to finding work that keeps her locked in her office, rather than spend time with O'Neill and Daniel Jackson.

I alone am aware of Daniel Jackson and O'Neill's bond which transcends the boundary of their friendship. General Hammond has approached me, seeking my counsel as their teammate. It was with great sorrow that I had no answer for the General. I am satisfied that he has chosen not to place his head in the sand like Major Carter and myself. And after the incident with the replicators today, General Hammond used the terminology "calling them to the carpet" with regard to Daniel Jackson and O'Neill.

"Teal'c, have a seat."

This has been a trying few days for the SGC and especially SG1. I look up at Major Carter and am dismayed by the exhaustion in her face. Her eyes, so like Daniel Jackson's, are dulled with smudges of darkness shadowing them. I am concerned. My symbiote moves with my agitation as I feel growing anger towards our other teammates. Do they not see what they are doing? Without warning their words of friendship have become as sharp as a warrior's knife. The wounds they inflict cut deeply, not only into each other, into us as well.

Major Carter gently covers my hands with her own. "You need to hear this, Teal'c. I need to share it with you… then we need to decide what to do."

She explains that while trying to get the gate room cameras back on line, she became aware that the audio feed from the cameras was not lost. "I have the feed from Daniel's encounter with Reese in the gate room." She swallows, visibly upset, but she is a strong warrior and I will not insult her with well meaning platitudes.

She takes a deep breath and rewards me with a slight smile. I believe she is thankful that I let her gain control of her emotions of her own accord. "I have the audio feed from Daniel and the Colonel's encounter in the gate room."

I lean forward, anxious to hear this. Both O'Neill and Daniel Jackson refused to speak of the incident. Major Carter hits a button and the room is filled with the sound of the replicators moving along, what sounds like, the gate room floor and ramp. I next hear Daniel Jackson's voice…talking with the robot.

He is a brave man, Daniel Jackson, and I am filled with a warrior's pride as he pleads for Earth's survival to the robot. By the echoing sound I know so well, I can tell she is walking down the ramp…Daniel Jackson is promising to show her his world. But something goes terribly wrong and the next sound I hear is one laced with pain from Daniel Jackson. The robot is irate and the lab is filled with the sounds of the replicators following her back up the ramp in the gate room.

Daniel Jackson again begins to argue with her, screaming at her that her father made her wrong. I can visualize very clearly Daniel Jackson's persuasiveness as he begs for Earth's continued existence. I now can hear the resignation in his voice then echoed in her voice that she is going to follow his lead…Daniel Jackson had convinced her to shut down…to sleep. I am again filled with pride that he is my friend.

While Daniel Jackson was in the gateroom, both Major Carter and myself, as well as the other members of the SGC, were fighting the replicators in the base. Fighting for our lives and the lives on the planet. Daniel Jackson neither heard nor saw any of this…he had succeeded in getting the robot to acquiesce. But we did not know this.

The reverberating sound of gunfire fills Major Carter's lab. In my minds eye, I see O'Neill discharging his weapon…I hear Daniel Jackson cry out. He is screaming at O'Neill for firing and for his own ineffectiveness to protect one he believed to be his friend.

I hear but have difficulty acknowledging Daniel Jackson calling his friend a stupid son of a bitch, his voice cracking with emotion. I hear O'Neill saying he was sorry, that that was the way it had to go down. As other people enter the gate room, I can no longer distinguish our teammates' voices from the others. Major Carter shuts off the tape and turns to me.

I am not sure what she wants. What should I say? Had I known the destruction Reese was going to cause on this planet, to the people I call my family, I would have killed her with my staff weapon as she lay defenseless and sleeping on her world.

"The Colonel took Daniel home." Major Carter states. "To talk, hopefully."

I stand, I feel the need for Kel-no-reem. "Then it is their hands, Major Carter." I place my hand gently on her shoulder. "We will hope that they will behave like warriors and confront their truth."

"General Hammond is not aware of the contents of this tape, Teal'c."

"And we will keep it that way for now. Nothing is going to be gained at this point in time by playing it for him. We will decide, once we have spoken to O'Neill and Daniel Jackson."

"Thank you, Teal'c." Major Carter gives me a forlorn smile.

Even though I am missing my comrades and friends…I want to make amends to the friend standing in front of me whom I have ignored. So I ask, "Would you care to join me in the commissary for a meal, Major Carter?"

"Thank you, Teal'c that would be nice…I would like that."

I bow at her acceptance. The healing of SG1 has begun. I can only have hope that the Colonel and Daniel Jackson can see what they once were…and regain what they have lost…what we all have lost…

On to Cycles 4: Begin Again