He was finally in peace. The Tok'ra gathering around him were not all his friends and allies; some had arrived to pay their respects despite the differences in politics, some had turned up because it looked good. Either way, Jacob was glad when they left him alone.

Truly alone, at that. It had been a long time since he'd been alone with his thoughts, and he didn't like it anymore. Not after six years of –

The door opened, interrupting his thoughts. Good.

"Jack," he said, acknowledging the other general. General. That sounded odd.

"Jacob."

Jack had his hands in his pockets, rocking back onto his heels looking like the boy he hadn't been for a lot of years. He'd aged. Hadn't they all? thought Jacob ruefully, supplying two halves of an internal conversation he'd never have again.

"I've got Tok'ra roaming round my base, Jacob," Jack said. No complaint in there, just comment. "I thought they didn't like you."

"They've changed their mind now I'm dying," Jacob said wryly.

"I preferred you when you were stealing stuff for us." Avoiding the topic.

"How about a helping hand in the final defeat of the Goa'uld, freedom for the Jaffa and an alliance between them and the Tau'ri?"

Jack wandered over, sat on the stool next to the bed. "Not much of a bargaining chip when you've done it already, Jake."

"It's all I've got in me, Jack."

The younger man – and he was young and struggling – stared at his hands for a moment. "Yeah," he said, soft enough that Jacob barely caught it.

There weren't any words of comfort to be said, here. Sam and Mark's mother, well, she'd been the love of Jacob's life. But Selmak had been there, always, knowing his thoughts better than he did because she heard them too. Had shaped him, that damn snake; shaped him to what she needed him to be and what he needed him to be. And had allowed herself to be shaped in return because she was a hell of a lot smarter than Jacob had ever been. And it would be a relief to follow her, in a way, because Jacob didn't know how much longer he could take this silence. That was why the Tok'ra surrounded him constantly; a ward against the silence they couldn't hope to fill.

Not that Jack could hope to understand any of that.

Not that Jack would want to.

"There's one thing I need you to know," he said, finally.

Jack looked up, meeting Jacob's eyes for the first time. Serious. Score one for the Tok'ra.

"Screw up this alliance that I've stayed alive for, and I'll come back from whatever afterlife there is and haunt your ass from here until your grave. Understood?"

A twitch around the mouth. Those stars hadn't cut out his sense of humour, then. "Understood."

Another pause, but this time more comfortable.

"I have to go," Jack said after checking his watch. "Got a meeting."

"The High Council?"

Jack grimaced. "Yeah."

"Jack…." Jacob hesitated. "Try working out what you want, and start from that."

Jack's gaze shot up to him for the second time, looking at him for a long moment before either storing what Jacob had said or dismissing it entirely.

He stood and walked to the door, then stopped. Turning, looking every inch the correct military officer, he saluted Jacob. "It was an honour serving with you, sir."

"And you've been a pain in the ass," Jacob responded, knowing that he'd said all he had to say. "But you've been fun to have around."