"When you did not return for several hours, we began to suspect that something might have gone wrong."
"We just assumed that the machine had malfunctioned, and you were stuck out of phase."
"We attempted to communicate with you using the Sodan cloaking device, and when that failed..."
"What?"
"We took shifts... trying to keep... you company."
"You mean...?
"Yeah, we talked to an empty room."
"For two weeks?"
"It did stop eventually, but it did go on... for... quite some time."
"Indeed."
"Well, that must have been some conversation. What did you say?"
Cameron walked into the room and looked at the four corners. He sighed and hit the button to close the door; he was self-conscious enough as it was. He didn't want everyone walking by to overhear him talking to himself. He cleared his throat and said, "Well, Sam, you chose a pretty dull room to get yourself trapped in. I mean, that's assuming Dr. Lee is right and the force field went across with you to... wherever you went." He pulled the only piece of furniture, a four-wheeled stool, forward and sat down on it. He crossed his arms and pursed his lips. "Anyway. I know how it felt to be stuck somewhere and have everyone ignoring you. It's not a lot of fun. So I thought, I wasn't doing anything right now, so I decided why not come and keep you company.
"You've probably already figured out that we're pretty much clueless here, so I'm not going to lie to you. We can't figure this out. Dr. Lee is doing what he can, of course, and we've got a whole team of scientists downstairs who have put all their combined brainpower together, but they still cannot figure out how to get you back. Hell, they can't even figure out what you did.
"This is the reason I wanted you back on SG-1, Sam. There are a helluva lot of mysteries out there, and we could spend the better part of a century trying to figure it out, or we could let you have a crack at it. I figure it'd take you an afternoon to solve the really tough ones. I never would have asked to lead SG-1 if I didn't think you had my back. The thought of going out there without you is... pretty scary."
He glanced at the observation room and drummed his fingers on his thighs. He had thought about bringing something to snack on, but Landry pointed out that would be torture to someone who hadn't been able to eat in at least two days. That put a very dark clock on what they were doing.
"I hope you had some energy bars stuffed in your pockets." He laughed. "There's a rumor going around, by the way. Couple of airmen started it. They say that you have a stash of coffee and energy drinks and all kinds of go-juice stashed all over your uniform. Every pocket crammed full of something to give you that extra boost to go for another hour or two." His smile faded gradually as he examined the empty room. "I'm kind of hoping that one is true, right now."
#
Vala didn't pause at the threshold. She walked straight to the stool, plopped down, and spun in a full circle before she stopped herself and said, "Hi, Samantha. I don't mean to bother you if you're on the verge of some important discovery to save yourself, but I thought you might like some company. It's been a couple of days, so you're already woefully behind on base gossip. Sergeant Davis got his parking spot request rejected again. I suppose he's considered non-essential personnel, but I'd like to see one of those bigwigs try dialing the Stargate themselves."
She stuck her feet out, gripping the seat as she spun the stool in a slow circle. "Let's see, um... oh! A Captain Hailey has been trying to get in touch with you for a few hours now. She just wants to catch up. We had to tell her you're unavailable, but you'll get back to her as soon as you can." She pressed her lips together, nodded, and chuckled. "Now you better not make liars out of us, Samantha. We made a promise to that girl, and you better keep it."
Vala swallowed and looked down at the ground, pursing her lips. "I really wish you would come back, Sam. When I first came to the SGC under... less than... suitable conditions, I thought I had it all figured out. All of these men!" She laughed. "Believe me, I can handle men. They're rather simple creatures, don't you think? So I didn't worry too much about fitting in. But then you showed up. Confident and strong, and you terrified me. You had figured out your place in the world, in this base, and I was just some interloper. But then I came back a second time. My world turned upside down in every sense of the word." She bowed her head and looked at her boots.
"I always went for the comfort of men. I'm... sure you know what I mean, so I won't explain it. But for some reason, after the whole Ori nonsense, I went to you. And you didn't do anything, I mean, not really. But you put me at ease. You calmed my mind, just by being there. All the things you had been through, I mean... the Tok'ra implantation and the Replicator version of yourself, ten years of watching your friends die... I guess I just took solace from the fact that you were still here, after all that. And since you were still standing strong, I figured I could do it, too.
"So come back, Samantha. We need you around here. I need you around here."
She bit her bottom lip and looked around the room. "So... oh! Colonel Telford showed up for a briefing with the 302 pilots. Is everyone associated with this program gorgeous?" She sighed happily and fanned herself, swinging the stool with one foot as she tried to think of more gossip to share.
#
Teal'c knelt and placed the iPod on the floor, taking a moment to remember Daniel Jackson's instructions on how to operate the machine. He finally managed to get it figured out, and quiet music began to fill the room. He stood, clasped his hands behind his back, and turned to examine the room. He was usually very good about sensing when something was in the room with him. Out of phase objects were harder to detect if he didn't know they were there. Standing in this room where Samantha Carter was supposedly trapped, he knew he should feel... something. At least sense another presence. But there was nothing. He thought of how long it had been since she disappeared, how long it had been since she could eat or drink, but that thought made him melancholy.
"Hello, Colonel Carter. Colonel Mitchell suggested we... converse. To keep you company." He allowed himself a small smile. "However, I am certain you are laughing at the thought of me having a conversation with myself. I decided upon an alternative." He looked down at the iPod. "I hope you do not mind, but I took this device from your car. I thought you might prefer to hear some music instead of my attempts at conversation."
He moved to the stool and sat, "However, I shall spend time with you. Feel free to speak to me, if you wish."
After ten years, he couldn't count the number of times he had wandered into Samantha Carter's lab and just let her talk. The majority of times, he had no clue what she was talking about. The science was so far over his head that he barely even tried to comprehend it. But for some reason, speaking aloud helped Samantha think. It led to connections she might not otherwise have made. If his mere presence was enough to give her a breakthrough, then maybe it was worth taking the time to sit in the room for a while.
He had never told her, but Samantha was the true reason he had turned against the Goa'uld. General O'Neill had been a strong warrior, true. But Teal'c had seen a great many strong warriors bow before Apophis before their executions. He had watched them die, seen them taken over by lesser Goa'uld and forced into servitude. Attitude and what O'Neill called "gumption" didn't matter so much as a female warrior fighting alongside the men. Samantha Carter was not pushed into servitude to her men; she was a formidable warrior in her own right. A world that could produce women such as her gave him hope. That, together with the promise of O'Neill's strength and Daniel Jackson's intelligence, was what convinced him to take the final step and become shol'va to his gods.
Teal'c looked at a spot across the room. "Thank you, Samantha."
He kept his hands on his knees, letting the small white device on the floor fill the silence for him. He could only hope that Samantha was talking to him from a dimension he couldn't hear. But as the days stretched on, that became less and less likely. If she was trapped in the room, with no sustenance, then the bitter truth was...
"Should the worse occur, I shall miss you."
He tried to think of something else to say, but nothing came. He straightened his shoulders and stared at a random spot on the wall. If Samantha Carter was dead, then the least he could do was stand vigil over her final resting place, if only for a few hours.
#
The door opened and Cameron stopped when he saw the room was no longer empty. "Oh. Sorry, I'll come back."
"No," Vala said. "Come on. You can join us."
Cameron shifted the sleeping bag from one arm to the other. He saw that Teal'c had laid out a mat, while Vala was fluffing an insanely large quilt in her corner. He stepped inside and said, "So... guess we all had the same idea."
Vala shrugged. "If Sam has to spend the night here yet again, there's no reason she should have to spend it alone. Come on. You can have that corner." She pointed and Cameron walked over and dumped his sleeping bag. He dropped the book he'd been planning to read on top of it, then took a seat. He rested his arms on bent knees, his back to the corner, and watched as the other two members of SG-1 settled in for the night.
Vala started the conversation with a suggestion that they play a game called "Strip Truth or Dare," to give Samantha a show. Teal'c vetoed the suggestion with a mere raised eyebrow and Vala agreed they could just talk about what was happening on the base. Before long, it had turned into recaps of missions SG-1 had gone on, with Cameron filling in the blanks when Teal'c got tired of talking or reached his quota of five sentences per hour.
Occasionally, Cameron would glance at the empty corner of the room. They were still scheduled to go off-world to see if anyone had heard anything about Daniel, but they couldn't abandon their teammate who was in just as much danger, and closer to home. He caught Vala and Teal'c looking at the empty corner as well, but none of them mentioned it. No matter how long it took, they were going to fill that corner up again one of these days. And if that meant they had to sit in an empty room and talk to themselves for a couple of hours a couple of days a week, then so be it.
Sam would do it for them.