A/N: A new record for me! This chapter is mostly fluff, but it gets me from point A to point B, so it works. Besides, the mood needed a bit of lightening. Enjoy, and please review!
When Sam woke up she felt better rested than she had in years. She stretched and sat up, aware once more of the presence inside her head. 'Good morning, Samantha,' Selmak greeted her. 'You are feeling much better today. Do you feel like having visitors?' the symbiote asked politely.
Sam didn't have to ask which visitor Selmak wanted to see. She could feel the Tok'ra's longing to see Jacob; Selmak missed him badly, and was not ashamed of the fact. 'I don't want to see my father,' she replied abruptly. Noticing the BDU's that had been placed on a chair by her bedside, she quickly got dressed.
'I know why you have so many negative feelings about him right now, and they are completely unfounded,' Selmak informed her coolly.
Sam ran her fingers through her hair and grimaced. 'Maybe, but he has never given me the slightest reason to doubt those feelings. No excuse, no apology, nothing. He was always so cold after that,' she replied, tracking down Janet. "Janet, do you mind if I go to the commissary? I'll come right back when I'm done, if you want me to," she suggested.
Janet smiled. "If you have a minute, I'm sure there's someone here who would be happy to join you," she replied smoothly. At Sam's puzzled look she added, "Daniel is just finishing his post-mission check-up. SG-5 came back a short while ago."
Almost on cue, Daniel exited one of the curtains. "I'm all clear… Sam!" he exclaimed, running up to her and giving her a big hug. "How do you feel? I'm sorry I haven't seen you in a while, but General Hammond…"
He was cut off by Janet tapping his shoulder. "Daniel, let her breathe!" she told him, smiling.
Daniel quickly released her and, sure enough, Sam gasped. "Wow, Daniel. I didn't think you'd be that excited to see me!" she replied with a grin. "See you later, Janet!" she called out over her shoulder as she and Daniel headed towards the commissary.
When they had settled in with their trays at a table, Daniel looked up at her. "So what happened? I heard you were brought here by ambulance," he stated, concerned for her health.
Sam thought back, but couldn't remember an ambulance ride. "I know I hit my head, but it's all kind of fuzzy after that. And then I woke up in the SGC. I guess there must have been an ambulance involved," she conceded, continuing to eat.
"And just like that, you're fine again?" he asked, confused.
Sam looked up at him, puzzled what he meant by that. "Of course. I mean, the whole snake in the head thing sucks, but I feel much better," she replied.
Daniel nearly choked on his food when she said that. "What?!" he asked, shocked.
"No one told you?" she asked, surprised. News, especially something as sensational as this, usually spread like wildfire among personnel. When Daniel shook his head, she grimaced. "Long story short, my dad made Selmak save me," she explained.
'He made me do nothing. I care enough about him to want him to be happy,' Selmak amended to Sam.
Daniel looked intrigued by the idea. "So you have all of your dad's memories in your head?" he asked, fascinated.
Sam's eyes widened. She had seen flashes of memories from Selmak and her other hosts, as well as Jolinar's, but she had seen nothing of her father's. 'You're somehow keeping me from seeing them, aren't you?' she asked Selmak.
'Yes. Just as I have attempted to see as few of your memories as possible. It is both difficult and tiring, but I do not want the situation between you and Jacob to become more strained once I am returned to Jacob's body,' Selmak explained.
Sam looked troubled. "What's wrong?" Daniel asked quietly. He wasn't used to the distant look in her eyes that she got when 'conversing' with Selmak.
She shook herself slightly. "Talking to Selmak. She's keeping me from seeing most of them so things aren't awkward," Sam explained. 'What could possibly make things more awkward than they already are?' she wondered to herself. Suddenly her mind was assaulted with an image.
///Panic rising in his chest, he looked between he wife's legs again. "Sweetie, the baby's coming, hospital or no hospital," he told his wife, worry evident in his voice.
She panted and groaned. "There's no doctor!" she cried in the grips of another contraction.
"You need to push, sweetie. I can't drive with you like this, and we can get to the hospital once you've delivered the baby," he told her, trying to be calm.
She shook her sweat-covered forehead. "Can't… Jacob, I can't…" she groaned, but bore down anyway.
He grinned. "The head's out," he told her, checking around the neck for the cord. "Okay, one more hard push," he told her. Her scream tore through the car as she pushed one last time. He caught the baby in a blanket from her overnight bag and quickly wrapped the newborn up in it. "It's a girl!" he exclaimed, placing the baby on his love's chest. He watched with contentment as she smiled down on the little bundle. "Hello, Samantha" she greeted the newborn. He had never been happier in his life. ///
"Oh, yuck!" she exclaimed, blinking a few times.
"What?" Daniel asked, thoroughly confused. Sam had spaced out for a moment, a strange look on her face, and now was disgusted.
"Well, Selmak can't keep all of my dad's memories out of my head. I just… I just saw myself get born. As in, Discovery Channel, Miracle of Life, full close-up, saw. That's just… eww," she told him. 'Please don't make me see that again,' she pleaded with Selmak.
'I apologize. I did not mean for you to see that,' she replied.
Daniel grimaced. "Yeah, that's an unpleasant mental image. Glad I never saw… those parts… of my mother," he replied, blushing slightly. "So what does Jack think of this?"
"Think of what? Having Selmak in my head? He hasn't said much directly, but I don't think he's impressed by it. He apologized for it, even though he had no idea that dad was going to do that," she replied.
'You're in love with him,' Selmak said with a smug tone. 'Jacob didn't believe me when I told him there was more between you two, but I was right!' She had noticed the longing looks they sent to each other when they wouldn't be seen, and had noticed the way that the two were happier when the other was around.
Sam bristled at the interjection. 'Am not!' she retorted quickly, blood rushing to her face.
If Selmak had been in control of the body they shared, she would have laughed. 'Samantha, you can't lie to me: I'm inside your head. I know what you're thinking, and what you're feeling. Your heart rate rises when he is mentioned; your pupils dilate when he walks in a room. Even when I had no access to your thoughts, I presumed that you had feelings for him,' she replied.
A familiar tingle ran through them, indicating another symbiote was present, and she turned towards the door. Martouf entered, in close conversation with Jacob. "I've got to go," she mumbled to Daniel, dropping her head.
Daniel noticed who she had seen, and surprised her by grabbing her wrist. "Don't you think that this is the perfect time to work things out between you two? I mean, Selmak has all of his memories and might be willing to play referee. You can't do this forever, Sam," he told her intensely.
'He is quite an astute boy. Attractive, too,' Selmak noted, sounding almost playful at the end. More than a few of her previous hosts would have been quite enamoured by Daniel. One in particular…
"Selmak!" she hissed out loud, making the symbiote pause in her thoughts. 'That's just gross!' she added mentally. She sighed, noting the apologetic feelings coming from Selmak. "Sorry, she got lost in an inappropriate train of thought," she told Daniel, who had been quite startled by her outburst.
"She does that sometimes. Usually at the worst moments," she heard her father say behind her. "Mind if we sit down?"
"Go ahead," Daniel answered with a smile. "The more the merrier!" The glare he got from Sam told him that she was not happy about this. Martouf sat next to Sam, while Jacob took the spot across from her.
Sam sat staring at her food for a long while before anything else was said. "I'm glad you're feeling better," Jacob said quietly.
Sam glared at him. "I don't want to talk to you," she replied coldly. Jacob's eyes dropped to the table. Inside her, Selmak seemed despondent. She had never been unable to speak with Jacob since she had met him, and she missed the Tau'ri greatly. Sam squirmed slightly, feeling Selmak's discomfort. "Dad," she began unsteadily, Jacob's eyes lifting hopefully, "Selmak misses you. I'm going to let you two talk for a while, okay?"
Without waiting for a response her head nodded, then a grin broke out on her face. "Jacob! I have missed you!" Selmak told him, quickly taking the coffee from Sam's tray and placing it away from her.
"Same here. It's so quiet in my head without you there!" he responded with a sad smile. "So how are you doing in there?" he asked.
She smiled. "We still have our differences, but I think that we are gaining an understanding of each other." She paused for a moment before adding, "It's nice to have breasts again."
'Selmak!' Sam shouted, mortified by the comment.
Martouf, by virtue of Tok'ra-enhanced reflexes, narrowly missed the coffee that sprayed out of Daniel's mouth. Jacob turned several shades of red. "Please, never refer to those parts of my daughter… never!" he told her, embarrassed by the comment.
She paused, noticing that Daniel was mopping up the coffee he had spat out and apologizing profusely, realizing belatedly the effect that her comment would have had. "I'm sorry. You are the first male host I have had, and while it was an interesting change, I am far more accustomed to female anatomy," she told him.
It was Lantash who spoke next. "I have had a similar experience. It is quite odd to be in a host whose gender differs from your usual preference. Not to mention the awkwardness if you have a mate. Jolinar was much put out when I returned from a mission in a female host," he noted in a conversational tone.
Daniel, finally finished with his clean-up, looked puzzled. "So what happens between mates if that situation comes up?" he asked.
"We let the hosts decide if they are comfortable with the idea of pursuing a romantic relationship," Lantash replied. "If the hosts are not amenable, a close friendship usually replaces the romance," he added.
Jacob's interest seemed piqued. "So what did Jolinar do?" he asked. It was unusual for Martouf/Lantash to bring her up, and he felt that it would be good for them to keep talking. Not to mention, it was an interesting topic.
"She and her host agreed, but mine did not," he informed the group. "It was both a sad and happy day when circumstances allowed Jolinar and I to be together again," he said, a wistful smile on his face. Glancing at Daniel, the blond man's head nodded. "Before you ask, that is a tale for another time," Martouf told him sombrely.
"Jacob, can we speak privately?" Selmak asked quietly. Jacob nodded and the two headed out of the commissary. "I wish to 'butt heads' with your daughter regarding you. May I show her what you showed me in the infirmary?" she asked, getting straight to the point.
Jacob was stunned. "I… I don't know, Selmak. The Air Force might not like it; it's classified," he told her. He wanted Sam to know, but didn't want her to get into any trouble for it.
"Perhaps we should discuss the matter with General Hammond," Selmak suggested. "He can be quite wise in such matters."
Jacob nodded. "And he knows exactly which strings to pull, if he needs to. Yeah, let's go see George," he agreed, and they began heading towards General Hammond's office.
A/N: I'm considering doing a side piece about Lantash and Jolinar, based on the conversation earlier in the chapter. Let me know what you think! points to little button on left