Unending Devotion 2

Get A Life Or Get A Cello

by Sistine

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/ass/sistine/unendi02.php
Summary: Sam has to know for certain that she can't have Jack.

She shouldn't be doing this but she couldn't help herself. She had to know for certain. Pushing a button on the control panel in front of her, she accessed the camera footage from outside General O'Neill's quarters - which was conveniently just down the corridor from Daniel's room. How had she missed that piece of information before?

Patiently, she sat and waited for one or both of them to go to bed so that she could see which room they went into this time. She knew that the two men were sleeping together but a part of her said it was just for convenience sake rather than anything else.

What did Daniel have that she didn't have - apart from the obvious? But Jack had said that he wasn't gay, so it obviously wasn't the obvious physical features that he had been after. If one took the physical out of the picture, then all that was left was either intellect or personality. So which of those had attracted Jack to Daniel rather than to her?

She had to acknowledge that Daniel was very smart, possibly as smart as herself, although in different areas to her. And he had the knack for communicating with people, drawing in many more allies than she had. Men and women alike seemed to fall for Daniel, whereas if she were honest, she couldn't say the same thing about herself. It probably could be said that Daniel literally had universal appeal.

Why didn't she?

More to the point, why hadn't Jack fallen for her? She was good-looking - some would say beautiful - smart, and despite what some people said, she had a sense of humour too. All the same things as Daniel. So why?

Sam checked the portable computer she held in her hand. Two dots were steadily heading down a corridor and she knew they were her targets. Being a whiz with technology had certainly helped her with creating the device and had enabled her to keep away from the two men for the past few weeks. She had simply calibrated the hand-held device to scan for the frequencies emitted from Jack and Daniel's sub-dermal locator beacons, and that enabled her to know where they were at all times. Not that Daniel's location changed much: Asgard room, the dining room, and either his or Jack's quarters. The colonel was much harder to avoid as he was constantly on the move, roaming the corridors to see who he could annoy next in order to stave off boredom. There had been a few times when she had barely avoided running into him, and she had learnt to modify her own routine so that wouldn't happen again.

She was brought out of her musings as two figures moved into view on the screen. Jack and Daniel, walking side by side as always, barely able to fit a piece of paper between them. Despite their proximity, there was nothing else to suggest that the two men were intimate. No wonder she hadn't noticed anything back at the SGC.

She watched as they stopped by Daniel's door, the linguist laughing at something Jack had said. Then Sam's eyes filled with tears as Jack placed a hand on the small of Daniel's back to usher him through the doorway before following him inside. She looked away and missed seeing Jack throw a glance up at the camera before the door closed behind him.

It was over. She was never going to have Jack, not unless this affair the men were having didn't last the period of time that they were stuck on this ship. There was always that one small hope that she could cling to. But maybe, in the meantime, she should get on with her life. Get a hobby. She had always wanted to learn the cello...

***************

Jack didn't know what had made him turn to look at the camera as he was entering Daniel's quarters, only a sensation that they were being watched. If someone was indeed watching, he knew who it would be. He hadn't seen Carter since he had broken the news about his and Daniel's relationship to her a few weeks ago. It was a big ship, and Carter was supposed to be working on a way to get things back to normal, so he wasn't entirely surprised by that but he still had to wonder whether she was deliberately avoiding them. Even the others had noticed that Carter was never around at mealtimes or joining them for cards in the evening. Jack had hoped that she might have made the effort to let either him or Daniel know that she understood why they hadn't told her but so far, nothing.

Daniel turned and saw Jack's slight frown. "What are you thinking about?" he questioned his lover.

"Nothing," Jack waved it off. He had planned a night full of loving sex so he didn't want to spoil that.

"Is it Sam?" His friend's disappearing act had worried Daniel, and he judged that even though it might not seem like it, it had probably worried Jack as well.

"Yeah." Accepting that he was going to have to talk this through before getting down and sweaty with Daniel, Jack went to stare out the window at the stars. So many worlds out there, so many that he had been to but may never again if they didn't get out of this mess.

"This will be hard for her to adjust to," Daniel stated, following his partner and putting his arms around Jack's waist, resting his chin on his lover's shoulder. "She's had years of thinking that the two of you were destined to be together."

"I should have told her earlier." Jack rued that fact.

"Maybe." Daniel didn't blame Jack for not doing so; if Sam had figured out their relationship earlier, then Jack's career would have been ruined. "If it helps, I think you made the right call."

Jack scoffed at that. "You didn't think so at the time." Daniel's jealousy had been quite something to behold.

"Yeah, well, I have the benefit of hindsight now," Daniel admitted. His reaction to Jack using Sam's attraction as camouflage hadn't been pretty. The make-up sex was great though, he thought with a smile. "Although if she had known, then maybe things would have worked out with Pete."

"Maybe," Jack echoed Daniel's earlier utterance. Personally, he wasn't sure that Carter was keen to settle down and possibly give up exploring the galaxy.

"We should tell the others," Daniel continued. "Even if we find a way out of this before everyone retires, no-one will mention anything back on Earth." That, he was confident of.

"Tomorrow then," Jack decided, not wanting to waste time. He spun around in Daniel's arms and raised his eyebrows. "Now, about that thing I had planned..." He leaned and captured Daniel's lips in a passionate kiss. One good thing about being stranded - they had plenty of time to be together.

***************

"Oh, I've known for ages," Vala said the next day. She, Teal'c and Mitchell had been called to the briefing room a few minutes earlier so that Jack and Daniel could tell them about their relationship.

"Really?" Daniel was surprised. "For how long?"

"Since you didn't take advantage of me when I was naked," she replied with a cheeky grin. "Of course, I didn't know who until I came to Earth and met General O'Neill. After that, it was pretty obvious."

"Speak for yourself," Cam Mitchell said, stunned by the revelation. "I never suspected a thing." He had thought that maybe Daniel and Vala were together but not once had he thought anything about the linguist's close friendship with the general.

"Are you okay with it?" Jack asked, hoping that he wouldn't be avoiding Mitchell for the rest of their stay.

"I guess so. I don't understand what you two see in each other though," Mitchell admitted, shrugging his shoulders. In a way, it was a relief because now he wouldn't have any competition if he pursued Sam - provided Teal'c didn't set his cap at her, that was.

"I do. They're both hot," Vala spoke up, grinning widely at both men.

Four sets of male eyes stared at her, all incredulous but in the case of Jack, with a touch of smugness.

"I, too, am comfortable with your relationship," Teal'c stated after a few seconds. Like Vala, he had known about it for a long time and was pleased that his friends had found love with each other.

"Good." Jack was very relieved and he could tell by Daniel's expression that he was too. That only left Carter but it was more personal with her than the others.

After a few minutes, the others left, leaving Daniel and Jack alone. As Daniel shifted to lean against the edge of the table, Jack observed, "That went better than I expected. I thought Vala would have more objections though."

"Well, we know now why she never pushed too hard with me," Daniel replied.

"I'm surprised she never mentioned it earlier." Jack moved to stand in front of his lover, inserting himself between Daniel's outstretched legs. "Vala's never been known for her discretion." Outspoken was more how he would have described the woman.

"Maybe she's learnt a thing or two in her time at the SGC." Daniel reached out to rest his hands on Jack's hips, free to show their connection now that everyone knew.

Jack stepped in close and pulled Daniel to stand within the circle of his arms. "I know I definitely did." He started to lean in for a kiss before the sound of someone clearing their throat stopped him. He turned his head to see Carter standing in the doorway.

"Am I interrupting?" Sam said even though she knew that she was. It was disconcerting to see the two men in such an intimate embrace, although it would have been worse if she had interrupted them a few minutes later.

"Not at all," Daniel lied diplomatically, moving out of Jack's arms so that Sam wouldn't feel uncomfortable. "How are the calculations coming?" he asked to break the awkwardness.

"Slowly." Sam took a deep breath; this was going to be difficult. She turned to Jack first. "Sir, I'm sorry for my reaction to what you told me. I guess I should have known that things were never going to happen between us but I just didn't want to admit it."

A sharp elbow from Daniel had Jack rubbing his ribs. Jack glared at his linguist and then looked Sam squarely in the eye. "I should apologise too, Carter. I should have said something long ago. Maybe not the specifics, but enough to let you know that I wasn't... you know."

Sam sighed; that was a typical Jack apology although slightly more eloquent than usual. "Apology accepted." She looked at Daniel. "I'm happy that you've found someone. I know how hard it was after Sha're died."

Daniel nodded; that had been a difficult time and Sam had seen him grieve on several occasions, bringing the two of them closer together. "Believe me, Sam, Jack was the last person I expected to end up with."

"Hey!" Jack protested, assuming a wounded expression.

Daniel grinned briefly and continued on. "But we know each other inside out. Mentally speaking," he hastened to add, seeing Jack raise his eyebrows. "It just felt right."

Sam nodded although she didn't really understand how he felt. She had never had that kind of relationship yet though not through lack of trying. But it made her realise that she never would have been happy with Jack as there were too many things she would never understand about him. She looked at Jack. "What about you, sir?"

"What he said," Jack took the easy way out. Besides, he wasn't going to discuss - more than necessary - his relationship with Daniel to the woman who had had hopes about a similar relationship with him.

"So why didn't you let me know that you weren't available earlier, sir?" Sam questioned Jack, trying not to glare too much at him; despite her annoyance with him and the personal nature of this conversation, he was still technically her superior officer. "What about all that... support when my father died?" She still remembered how nice it had been to have him hold her.

"Ah." Jack looked down at the floor before forcing himself to meet Carter's eyes. "That."

"Yes, that." Sam wasn't going to let him avoid answering her question.

Jack glanced at Daniel and saw that he wasn't going to get any help from his partner. "I was missing Daniel, you needed comfort so... I gave you comfort."

"That's all?" Sam said incredulously. "You missed Daniel so you hugged me?" She hated the thought that she had been a substitute for when Jack couldn't have Daniel.

"I didn't technically hug you," Jack disagreed. No, he definitely hadn't hugged Sam liked he did with Daniel. "I just put an arm around your shoulders."

"That was more than you'd done in the eight years prior to that," Sam pointed out. To her, that had been a huge step forward. Then, all of a sudden, he had headed off to Washington and she had been left with nothing. Again.

"Yes, well, maybe I crossed the line," Jack admitted, shooting Daniel a sideways glance to see how he was taking all of this. They had discussed events back at the time but Jack wasn't sure whether Daniel had completely accepted the explanation. "I shouldn't have done that and I'm sorry. But you know why Daniel and I couldn't say anything about our... relationship."

Sam nodded; she did understand even though she wished it wasn't necessary. They hadn't wanted to compromise her in the event that someone found out.

"Are you going to be okay with this?" Daniel asked, watching Sam carefully. He would hate to lose her friendship, and if they were all going to be stuck on the ship for awhile, avoiding her wasn't really an option.

"I will be." She would get over this but it would take time; ten years' worth of feelings weren't easy to erase. Sam smiled tentatively at Daniel. "But if you ever get sick of him..."

"He's all yours," Daniel agreed, knowing that it would never happen. Then, realising the subject had probably gone as far as it was going to go, he changed the subject. "So Sam, did I tell you that I found instructions in an Asgard file on how to create solid objects using the beaming technology?"

"A replicator like on Star Trek, in other words," Jack chimed in, having heard about this the other day.

"Really?" That was intriguing and would definitely take her mind off relationships for some time. "Have you translated it yet?"

Jack grinned and quietly left the room as the science twins started discussing the practicalities of creating a replicator for the ship. There were a few things he needed, starting with some new toys for the bedroom. Now who could he get to ask Carter to make them...

***************

A few days later, Sam stared at the cello. She had always wanted to learn how to play but now it didn't quite have the same appeal. It was a substitute, she realised, for the lack of romance in her life. She sighed; her life was so pathetic.

"Hey, Sam, do you... oh." Vala came to a standstill as she observed Sam's downcast expression. "I can come back..."

"No, it's nothing." Sam automatically put a smile on her face. "You were going to ask me something?"

"Yeah...uh, what's that?" She pointed to the object in the middle of the room.

"It's a cello." When Vala just gave her a blank look, Sam explained, "it's a musical instrument on Earth."

"Oh." Vala looked at it some more and decided it was very strange. "Where did it come from?"

"Daniel found a technical manual in the Asgard files on how to replicate solid matter," Sam told her. "So I reconfigured part of the ship's beaming technology to become a replicator. After all, if we're stuck here for months, we're going to need food and this will probably be the only way to make it."

Vala considered the information and grinned; that was just as Jack had said. "Can you make me some handcuffs?"

"Handcuffs?" Sam echoed. What did Vala want those for?

"Yes, handcuffs. For sex. Don't tell me you've never used them before?" Vala's tone was incredulous. Her former Goa'uld, Qetesh, had loved experimenting frequently so Vala knew and liked plenty of different bedroom activities. Plus, Jack had promised her that if she asked Sam to make them, then he would owe her a favour down the track.

"Uh..." Sam didn't know quite how to answer that question so she deflected it. "Who are you planning on using them with?"

"I thought I'd try Muscles first, give you a chance to try with Mitchell," Vala stated. When Sam said nothing, Vala raised her eyebrows. "Are you planning to stay celibate forever?" The idea was foreign to her.

"No, I--"

"Because I know the boys don't want to," Vala continued. "So why not take advantage of that and have some fun?"

"But you don't love either of them," Sam pointed out.

"I not in love with either of them, no, but that doesn't matter. Soooo, which one do you want?" Vala thought that she was being very generous in giving Sam first choice. And if she couldn't have Daniel, well, there was no reason that she couldn't have fun with one of the others.

"Uh..." Sam thought through her options, a part of her feeling silly for going along with Vala. Another part of her, however, pointed out the advantages in having a companion. So, which one would it be? She tried to picture herself with Teal'c but couldn't; he was too much of a good friend. "Cam."

"Good. I'll take Teal'c then." Vala had been hoping for that; she had a feeling she could talk him into more adventurous things in bed than Mitchell. "So, about those handcuffs..."

"Right." Sam glanced at the cello and then moved towards the control panel to fulfil Vala's request. Maybe the cello didn't have to be her only life outside of work. Now the question was, how would she approach Cam about spending some time together as lovers?