TITLE: Pak Semue
AUTHOR: Christian
EMAIL: lonz@d.n-r-w.de
CATEGORY: Sam/Teal'c romance
SPOILERS: Slight spoilers for Crossroads, Window of Opportunity, Beneath the Surface
SEASON/SEQUEL: season 4
RATING: PG 13
CONTENT WARNINGS: Mention of sex. Nothing visual though.
SUMMARY: Sam and Teal'c get on closer terms with each other
STATUS: complete
ARCHIVE: Anywhere please!
Home: Stargate Atlantis Pandora
DISCLAIMER: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: My belief is that there's a lot of potential in the relationship between Sam and Teal'c that hasn't been explored deeply enough so far, neither in fan fiction nor in the series itself. It's time for a change ...


Pak Semue

Samantha Carter has never been one of the people who give up quickly, but here and now she was on the brink of surrendering. The heavy backpack pulled on her shoulders, her feet hurted form the long walk and the chilly air of the mountains went straight to her bones. I will suffer a damn flu any minute now! she cursed silently, but no word of pain crossed her lips. After all she had voluneered for this. Under no circumstance would she allow herself to show any weakness now.

Teal'c seemed to be unaffected by the climate as well as by his burden. The usally sullen Jaffa was in a friendly, almost enthusiastic mood. Nevertheless he kept up his silence, and this time Sam was thankfull about it. She didn't really felt like talking.

It had started quite harmlessly. Teal'c had told them about Pak Semue, a ritual performed by Jaffa every twelve years. They climb up one of the Seven Sacret Mountains of Chulak and step into the isolation of a secret cave to perform the ritual that serves to bring body and soul into harmony. The most important part of the ritual is the Pak Sechai, the ritual group of two Jaffa who fought side by side for many years and earned the others respect. Only in a group of two the ritual can be performed correctly.

That was Teal'cs dilemma.

Of course Jack had jumped in and offered Teal'c to perform this "ritual number" with Teal'c, but the Jaffa had answered that this ritual was only allowed to men who wore a Printa. And in that moment she - Sam - had thrown in that if they already violated one rule, it wouldn't matter to also violate the other by letting a woman take part in the ritual. She had no idea why she had said that. Maybe she just had had the feeling that women on Chulak enjoyed more rights than elsewhere and had been disapointed in learning that the opposite was true? Yes, the more she was thinking about it, the more she came to the conclusion that this was the reason exactly! Oh , Samantha, why can't you just keep your big mouth shut!

Somehow her words had touched something within Teal'c, because he had asked her - even begged her - to perform the ritual with him. In the following days he had treated her with a special care she never witnessed before. It was as if the Jaffa had finally realised with whom he was traveling through the Stargate day by day, week by week. Eventually she had agreed and he had thanked her - being Teal'c - with a nod and a smile. A smile by Teal'c! That was something so rare that it almost took her breath.

And now they were here on Chulak and she regreted her lighthearted decision with every fiber of her hurting self. They were marching for many hours now without a single break. Maybe this was already part of the ritual, so she hadn't said anything yet. But if it was continuing this way for very much longer ...

"We have reached our destination, Major Carter."

The Jaffa turned around and pointed into a crevice of the rock.

"There we will spend the next days to perform the Pak Semue."

Sam just hoped that there was no more strain ahead.

***

"I was already asking myself why the backpack was so heavy", Sam said, whilst Teal'c carefully placed the contents in front of him. There were candles, a lot of candles. Pouches and flasks. And joss-sticks. Great! Sam had never been a fan of this esoteric stuff. Back on high school she had refused to take part in the spiritual sessions and Tarot-readings of her class-fellows and used the time to find out more about hard scientific facts. And now she was about to perform such a ritual with a man who believed in it completely.

Teal'c not only believes in it, it is really important for him. And he trusts me. Oh my god, I will greatly disapoint him!

"Teal'c?"

"Yes, Major Carter?"

"Uh ... nothing. Everything's fine."

The Jaffa send her a penetrating look and she felt uncomfortable.

"I shall call you Samantha from now on, as it is custom. Afterwards I shall call you by your rightfull title again."

"That's ... thank you."

"You seem to feel uncomfortable."

Sam didn't answer but looked around in the smal cave. They had climbed deeply into the interiour of the mountain where the outside cold could not reach them. It was even warm in here, and the underground pond with hot spring water lead to the conclusion that there was some kind of vulcanic activity within the mountain. The warmth filled her body and slowly vanquished the pain.

Teal'cs questioning look still penetrated her, so she decided to do something about it: "This is all very unfamiliar for me. But I'm ready. Let's start."

"Good", the Jaffa nodded. "Then let us begin with the first part of the Pak Semue wich is called Pak Kala - the unbounding of the body. To do this we free ourselfs from our clothes."

Immediately the Jaffa started to take of his jacket and placed it in one corner of the cave. After that he took of his shirt, showing his ebony, muskular chest, disfigured only by the opening in his belly, the Printa, sign of a Jaffa. Sam starred at him with an open mouth the whole time. After he had taken of his trousers and socks he noticed her silence.

"You seem to be confused, Samantha."

"I ... I'm not sure if I got you right. We undress?"

"That is correct."

"Completely? I mean ... naked?"

The Jaffa nodded.

"Oh ..."

Sam looked around suspiciously and expected Jack and Daniel to come out of their hiding with a big grin on their faces any moment. This could only be a joke, couldn't it?

She realised that Teal'c was dead sure about it, when he took of his underpants. Somehow she couldn't resist staring at him standing there in his full splendour. Wild thoughts flew through her head. Thoughts which she had never thought before. She feelt her cheeks first and then her whole head turning read.

What are you waiting for, girl? a voice in her said. Just turn around and flee out of the cave! And dishonour one of the best friends you ever had!

Slowly she unbuttoned the first button of her blouse and then everything went pretty fast. A few moments later she had stripped herself of any clothing and stood completely naked in front of the Jaffa. A strange feeling of lust filled her body and Teal'c seemed to have a similar feeling, as she could easily find out by looking at his most precious piece. Nonetheless his face showed nothing but serenity and calmness.

"We honour our clothing by storing them in a tidy manner", he said pointing at the heap at her feet. She hurried to line up her clothes neat and tidy.

"What's next?"

"Now we continue the unbounding of the body by removing all hair."

"Shaving my head? Again? Well, alright. But that's not really fair, you know? With your bald head you can skip that part of the ritual."

"I was speaking about all hair, Samantha."

"All ...?" Sam felt her voice trailing off.

***

At the same time Jack and Daniel sat in the SGCs cafeteria and Daniel had to endure the Colonels worries for a hundreth time.

"You think it was a good idea?"

"Hm?"

"Letting Carter and Teal'c go without any further ado?"

"Why not?"

"I mean - Chulak. Why Chulak, for crying out loud? That's a damn dangerous place for a searched Jaffa and a Tau're."

"I believe it has something to do with Jaffa traditions ..."

"That's something else I don't like. This traditions thing. Why the hell didn't we ask Teal'c what kind of ritual this Pac Mani is?"

"Pak Semue. And I don't think Teal'c will get Sam into any unnecessary dangers. C'mon Jack, you should trust him a little more!"

"I do! I just wished ... oh whatever!"

***

Sam had just had the strangest experience of her whole life. First Teal'c had cut the hair from her head with a pair of scissors. Than he had lathered her whole body and shaved her every little hair with a razorblade. Afterwards she had done the same with him.

First she had felt like loosing it every second. She didn't know what she had done if it would have happend. Would she have run out of the cave screaming? Or would she have jumped the man who had become a very close friend over the last couple of years to spend a night of love with him? Instead she calmed down more and more and started to enjoy the ritual.

After the Pak Kala came the Pak Olchaa - the cleansing of the body. Together they dived into the warm stream of the underground spring and washed their bodies in the tingling water. After that they climbed ashore, dried their bodies in lovley smelling towels and rubbed etheric oils into each others skin. It was a wonderfull experience and Sam felt a warm and relaxed sensation she hadn't felt for a very long time. Teal'c was as calm as ever, but his looks and gestures showed her how much this ritual meant to him. She was incredibly thankful to him that he shared this very special event with her.

Afterwards they sat naked and back to back in a circle of candles and joss-sticks and started the third part of the Pak Semue - the Pak Semuai, the overcoming of the body by meditation. Never in her life had Major Dr. Samantha Carter, US Airforce astrophysicist, expected to take part in a ritual of this kind and gaining so much by it. Her body was warm, her spirit calm and incredibly sharp at the same time, and the sense of comradeship and love between her and Teal'c brightened her heart.

"What are your feelings, Samantha?" She heard the deep voice of the Jaffa more through her chest than her ears.

"Uh, we are allowed to talk?

She felt the Jaffas amusement as if their conciousness would be connected somehow. An interessting psychological side effect of the ritual, her analytic mind told her dryly.

"We are allowed to talk. Indeed this is an important part of the Pak Semua and serves to enhance the bound within the ritual group."

"To answer your question, I feel good. Very good. I would never had thought that ... I mean, you know me ..."

"No. I do not really know you, Samantha. We are fighting side by side for many years now but never talked about personal things."

"I never had the impression ... Well, you're not exactly on the talkactive side. We never needed to exchange much words. We always pulled on the same string." She stopped shortly. "Did we ever had an argument?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"That's really strange. We are close friends. We are always in agreement with each other. So why didn't we ever talk?"

"Maybe our interests are divided too widely."

A thoughtfull silence followed. Then Sam spoke again.

"Yes, you're probably right about that, Teal'c. You live in a world of old rituals and customs that I have little interest in. Meanwhile my own world is made of numbers and facts. They are not always completely understandable facts, especialy when it comes to wormhole physics. But there are always facts to give me some kind of security and control. Metaphysical ... stuff ... always scared me. Of course I had to deal with so much of it in the last couple of years that my views regarding it have changend. But it's still ... stuff. spiritual. Ethereal. Or to use another word: scary."

"Are you scared by my way of life?"

"Not only that. At the beginning I was completely scared by you. By what you have once been. By your appearance. Your whole manner. I got used to it soon after, but I never felt obliged to approach you on my behalf. I always hopped you would open up on yourself. But you never did."

"I prefer not to talk very much."

"Why is that?"

"It is a result of my education. Ninethy Years my life was filled with rituals and traditions which gave reason to my existence. When I choose to go to the Tau're I feared to be forced to break with my traditions. But your people allowed me to keep them. This I do. At the same time I try to learn your customs, but most of them I do not understand."

"Would you like to share your customs with someone?"

"Yes, I would like that very much indeed. But Colonel O'Neill is not the right person for serious undertakings like that. And Daniel Jackson listens with much interrest and makes notes. And then he devotes himself to other things."

"And what about me?"

"I have to confess that I never thought about this possibility. Up to the moment when you showed your interesst in the Pak Semue. It was the first time I realised you might be interessted in me and my customs."

"Why not earlier? What did I do wrong?"

"Nothing. I always admired you, Samantha. As a warrior and a scholar. And also as a woman. But you have always been so much a part of your own world that I never found a way to communicate with you."

"I can be quite reserved sometimes."

"The same description is true for me."

"Looks like we broke the spell."

"Indeed it does."

"I admire you, too. Your physical and spiritual power. And your serenity. Whilst my life goes up and down like a roler coaster, you are like an unmoveable rock. Just to have you around helps me calming down."

"I feel very pleased to hear that. But my outer calmness not always corresponds with my inner self. And sometimes my anger is bigger than my self-control. Shan`Auc ..."

"You loved her."

"That is correct."

"I'm sorry, Teal'c."

"There is no way of changing what has already happend. Sometimes you have to make a sacrifice when you choose to stand by your conviction. She made the biggest sacrifice possible."

"I wished I would be able to stand by my conviction for once."

"But you do not dare?"

"I'm afraid of the consequences."

"One day you have to face the consequences. I said the same to him."

"Really? When?"

"When the events repeated themselfes. We learned the language called latin together. And at the end of every time loop he kissed you. More than a hundred times. When we solved the mystery, he did not wanted it to end. He had become addicted to that kiss. But in the end I was able to convince him that there is no sense in not accepting the consequences."

"That son of a ... you will not tell him that you told me?"

"No."

"Thanks."

"One day you two have to accept the consequences. I will be ready to give you all the support I am capable of."

"Thank you. I promise to lend you the same support whenever you get into trouble."

"I thank you, Samantha."

A comfortable silence swept over the cave, until Sam decided to interrupt it once more.

"Does the Pak Semue include making love?"

"Bodyly love is no fixed part of the ritual, but it is not forbidden either. Many ritual groups choose to make it a fixed part."

"Really? I thought the Pak Semue is usually only performed by male Jaffa ..."

"With no exception so far."

"Oh ..."

"Do you want to deepen the ritual by bodyly love?"

"Would that be alright for you, Teal'c?"

The Jaffa nodded. She could not see it, but she felt it.

"Then it is alright for me, too."

***

"Interesting haircut, Carter."

"Thank you, Sir."

They had returned through the Stargate unharmed and it almost looked as if the Colonel wanted to hug her with joy. Fortunately he hold back at the last moment and changed the movement into a friendly pat on her shoulder. Then he turned to Teal'c.

"So you did the monk number with her?"

The Jaffa raised an eyebrow and then nodded. "The Pak Semue was successfull."

"Very successfull I might add", Sam said and poked Teal'c into the ribs. To the complete amazement of Jack and Daniel the Jaffa returned the gesture with a smile.

"Indeed, Major Carter. I look forward to being joined by you in my next Kel Norem."

"And I will bring the gregorian chorus CD. There's no reason not to enhance the ritual by Tau're influences."

While the two of them leaved the Stargate room in a way that could be only described as chattering, Jack and Daniel looked at each other baffled.

"I really wonder what happend on that mountain", Jack said.

"I have no idea. But it seams to have to do with etheric oils", Daniel replied.