Summary: Jacob has second thoughts. Missing scene from "Seth".
Author's Notes: Written for the prompt, The things we do for family.
He would do almost anything for her. He'd move heaven and earth if that would make her happy. Not to mention defying the Tok'ra by running to help when SG-1 needed him. But this, Jacob shook his head, this was asking way too much.
"Come on Dad. Please?"
"Sammie..."
"It's just a visit. A couple days tops. It would mean the world to Mark."
Jacob couldn't help it. The sarcastic snort along with the skeptical look he gave his daughter was an involuntary reaction, although now that he thought about it, he really didn't believe her words - even though he wanted to with all his heart.
"I have a lot of things on my plate, Sam," he said. "Seth is no longer in the picture, but we have a lead on another Goa'uld that we need to follow up on." He tried to ignore the rueful expression on Sam's face, then told her with a sigh, "Despite what I said earlier, I just don't think I'm ready for this."
Sam nodded, her expression now understanding. "I called Mark and told him we were thinking about coming to see him."
Jacob shook his head, wondering why he didn't just walk away. Mark had made it clear how he felt about him, no need to go and hear it again.
But Sam was insistent. "He seemed happy to hear it. He said he's looking forward to the visit."
"Yeah, right," Jacob said. "Every time I ever tried to talk to him before, I was treated like a mangy dog." The memory of his last unpleasant phone call raced through his mind. For the life of him, he couldn't even begin to understand what could have changed between then and now.
"Dad," Sam said, as she reached over the table to grab his hand. "I know that things were rough for us in the past, but you have to give Mark another chance." She smiled at him, then said, "You were all gung-ho about going to see him just the other day. What happened?"
"I don't know," Jacob replied honestly. "I guess I just remember the last time... He was so angry at me about some stupid thing." He looked up at his daughter and remembered that it wasn't so long ago when she hated him. If she could forgive him, maybe Mark could too. "It's just that I'm not so sure I can handle the rejection again."
There it was. His soul bared wide open. He was almost afraid to look her in the eye again. But he did, and was surprised to see amusement, almost as if she had a secret. "What?" he asked indignantly. "You laughing at me?"
"No, Dad," she said with a squeeze of her hand. "I was just remembering that Mark said almost the same thing when I talked to him the other day." She shook her head with exaggerated annoyance. "You two are so much alike."
"No we're not," he insisted, although he really did know better.
'We could spare a few days,' a deep resonating voice echoed in his head. Selmak decided to interfere once again. 'Go to your son. It is what you really want.'
Jacob knew then that he would go. He just had to conquer this fear and face it down. He nodded his head at Sam, who took it as a sign of giving in.
"Yes," she said with gusto and a happy smile. "It's about time you two let bygones be bygones."
"I guess," he told her, wishing he hadn't given in so easily. She always could twist him around her little finger. "The things we do for family."
"It's the right thing to do, Dad," she rushed to tell him. "And you know it!"
"Yeah, I guess you're right." She nodded, but Jacob was still worrying. Until he heard it straight from Mark that all was forgiven, the niggling feeling of dread lingered on. Still, it was time to put an end to this, and if what Sam told him is true, the time is now.
"So," he said with a renewed hope springing up in his heart. "When do we leave?"