Spoilers: Season 2: Need, The Tokra

Takes place during the two-part episode The Tok'ra, when Carter suggests that her father Jacob Carter could become host of Selmac in order to cure his cancer.

Warning: mild language, nothing worse than the series.

Sir, Please

"I know this is what my father would want. Sir, please."

She's been doing that a lot lately. I don't think she realizes she's even doing it. It's so unlike her.

Sir, please.

She's begging, pleading, and she knows deep down that I can't say no to her. I almost hate her for that, for how much those soft blue eyes, rimmed with unshed tears and that slight tremor and crack in her voice can affect me.

I can't stand to see a woman cry. She knows that, and she's using me.

I let her do it. I don't know why. Maybe I've gone soft in my old age. Some men in a mid-life crisis buy expensive cars or realize they're gay or…whatever normal people do. Me, I fight evil aliens hell-bent on enslaving the entire galaxy and give my second-in-command everything her little heart desires.

It's kind of sad.

I tell myself it's because I trust her. After Daniel got addicted to that sarcophagus and nearly let us die on that godforsaken planet I still trusted him. The poor kid. It wasn't his fault, I know that.

"Jack, please."

Yeah, he does it too. Those heartfelt pleas that make me want to give them everything they need and want in life.

And I let them do it.

Because I trust them. I respect them. They've earned the right to give me their opinions and they've earned the right for me to actually listen to them.

I just wish they'd leave out that damn 'please.' Makes me not look impartial, like I'm a pushover for crying women and hurt archaeologists.

So what am I supposed to do?

Carter's father knows Earth. He knows our military strengths and weaknesses, not just the good old US of A, but all the major military powers.

These Tok'ra seem legit. The old woman, Selmac, I don't see a goa'uld staying in that host for that long. Goa'uld like them young and pretty. These Tok'ra seem to prefer wisdom and strength. That Marty kid has passion, I get the feeling he and Jolinar had some pretty serious history. I hope Carter can keep the two lives separate.

But is she being compromised by her feelings on this one? Jolinar's feelings, her father dying, the rest of us trapped here until they decide to move headquarters.

No, she's hardly impartial.

But is she right? She seems so sure, despite the tremor in her voice, the slight shaking in her hands that she's trying to hide.

She doesn't want to lose her father, and she's willing to do anything to save his life. She's desperate, and we both know it, but is this really the best thing to do for Earth? Her feelings are compromised, and for that, so are mine because I can't bear to see the hurt in her eyes.

She's using me.

We'd be handing over a Major General of the United States Air Force to an alien race that only Carter knows anything about. And Teal'c, a little, he seems to respect them as enemies of the goa'uld. But how am I supposed to explain to my superiors that I want to hand over a respectable General who's dying of cancer to a race of alien snakes that bear a remarkable resemblance to our mortal enemies? How does she expect me to do that?

"We may have a host for you."

I'll figure something out.