Te Amare

Disclaimer: Still not mine nor do I forsee that changing in the near future.

A/N: Same chapter, only betaed.

Chapter 11: Reunion

Sam stopped wiping her cheeks and stared at Jack a few seconds before asking, "Tell him the truth? The truth, truth?"

"Yes, Sam, the truth, truth? I mean, how many truths are there?" He asked with a cheeky grin.

"But, Jack . . ." Sam began, obviously flustered and not sure what to say. In her search for words she looked around the room and her gaze landed on Daniel, who had a similarly surprised expression on his face.

He apparently understood what Sam meant to say and interrupted, "What I think Sam means is: are we really going to tell him about the Stargate and everything about it?"

"Yes," Jack answered simply.

Daniel and Sam shared another look and it was once again Daniel who spoke up. "But can you just make that decision, just like that? By yourself?"

Jack looked at Daniel with serious eyes for a minute before smiling slightly and saying, "And just who else would make it, Daniel? I am the head of Homeworld Security, you know. This is the type of decisions I make on a daily basis."

Daniel shook his head slightly; he sometimes forgot just how powerful Jack had become. But, in his defense, it was kind of hard to remember that the guy who liked nothing more than to play practical jokes and followed the Simpsons as if they were a religion was the guy responsible for planetary security. And yet, at the same time, Daniel knew that there was no one better for the job. "I know that you're the head of HS, Jack, but don't you usually have to discuss these types of decisions with someone? The president, maybe?"

Jack shrugged and answered, "He usually takes my recommendation in situations like this, so I don't think this will be a problem. Besides, Carter has saved the world enough times that we owe her this."

Cameron and Vala shared a look and a smile; they still found it incredibly weird and funny that Jack would sometimes called Sam, his fiancé, by her last name. But what was even weirder was that no one thought it the least bit odd. Even Jonas took it all in stride, finding nothing wrong with it. What they didn't really understand was that that the others had been together for more than ten years and for most of those, Jack had called Sam 'Carter' – for them that was normal. In fact, it had taken them all quite a bit of time to get used to him calling her 'Sam'.

After a few seconds of silence during which Jack leaned in and kissed Sam on the cheek, he said, "Well, I better go and look for Hank. I have to explain what's going on. And let him know that he'll have visitors in a little while."

"How little of a while?" Sam asked him. She couldn't wait to see her dad again.

"Well, that depends on us. He's ready to come over but I had to tell you about it first and then square it with Hank. But I guess he could come in about an hour, tops." Jack explained.

Sam nodded and hesitated for a minute but then decided to just ask what had been bothering her, "Jack, do you think it was a good idea to leave him out of this meeting?"

Jack sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. "Maybe it wasn't the smartest idea, but what else could I do? You needed – no, you deserved to hear it first and with family around so you could react as you needed to. I'm sure once he knows what's going on, Hank will understand." He took a few steps back to where Sam was standing and put a finger under her chin, tipped her head back and kissed her nose. "It'll be all right. Don't worry about it, ok?"

Sam looked into his eyes and saw all the love she could possibly want reflected there. Seeing her emotions reflected in his eyes and feeling him so close, so solid and real, made it impossible for her to really worry. "Ok, go and talk to General Landry." Sam said and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"I'll be right back. If you want, call your brother and invite him to visit." Jack said as he walked out of the office.

"Well," said Daniel after having caught the look Jack and Vala shared. "I think I'll go and work on some translations while we're waiting. Jonas, you want to come and help me?"

Jonas who had also caught the look, nodded and said, "Yes, I've been meaning to talk to you about the artifact SG7 brought back last week. I want to see if you see what I think I'm seeing." He started to explain what he thought and the two left the office already immersed in their own little world. Whether it had been an excuse or not, it was clear that they were now hip deep in their work.

Cameron looked at Teal'c and suggested that they go and have something to eat. He hadn't actually noticed the look between Jack and Vala but figured that there must be a reason why everyone else was leaving. Teal'c, who had caught the look, readily agreed with Cameron to go for a snack. But to be fair, Teal'c would have agreed whether he'd caught the look or not – it had, after all, been about an hour since he'd eaten anything and he was getting quite hungry.

So it was that less than a minute and a half after Jack had left, Sam found herself alone in Landry's office with Vala. "Not very subtle, are they?" Sam asked Vala as she sat down in the chair Daniel had vacated less than fifteen minutes ago.

"No, they are not," Vala answered, as she closed the door and came to sit next to Sam.

"But they mean well."

"Yes, of course they do." Sam agreed with a sigh as she leaned back in the chair. "And Jack was right, I needed them," she paused and looking at Vala, corrected herself, "all of you around me when he told me." She shook her head, "I wouldn't have been able to really react if Landry had been in here."

Vala nodded, "Your military training wouldn't have allowed you to react as a person, huh?"

"No, I guess not." Sam agreed.

"So, how are you doing?" Vala asked after a few moments of silence. "It's just us girls here, so tell me what's really going on in your mind."

Sam rolled her head on the back of the chair where it was resting and went from looking at the ceiling to looking at Vala who was sitting on the chair next her. "Honestly?" She asked.

"It's the only way to talk," Vala answered.

Sam smiled at the typical Vala answer but sobered almost instantly and she went back to looking at the ceiling. "Well," she said with a deep sigh, "I honestly don't know how I'm feeling. I'm happy – no I'm ecstatic that my dad is alive and will be able to give me away at my wedding. But I'm also sad at all the time we've missed and all the happy moments I wasn't able to share with him. And I'm angry – dammed angry and mad, that the damn Tok'ra thought that they had the right to make life and death decisions about my dad without consulting me – without even letting me know that there were decisions to be made. And I'm hurt that it took my dad months before he contacted us to let us know he was alive. And I'm worried about explaining all of this to Mark. I know that Jack said we'd tell him the truth, but how are we going to do that exactly?

"And how the hell is he going to take it? I mean we'll be telling him that we've been lying for ten years! I doubt he'll take it very good. And what about the kids? How are we going to explain that grandpa, who'd we all told them had gone to heaven, is back safe and sound. We can't tell them the truth; they're too young. But how are we going to explain it otherwise? How the hell are they going to react when I don't know how to react? I have all the facts and I understand them all and I still can't take it all in – I still don't know how the hell to deal with it." But the time Sam had finished, she was pacing around the office and raking her fingers through her hair repeatedly.

"Well," Vala after she was sure Sam was finished going over how she felt. "I guess you're feeling a lot of things, huh?"

"You think?" Sam said with a small smile as she once again went to the chair and flopped down onto it.

"You, my friend, have been spending way too much time with Jack," Vala said making Sam laugh. That was a complaint Sam and Daniel used all the time and of which Vala had commented but one she had never used before.

"Yes, I have and it's been great." Sam said with a small laugh. After she calmed down, she looked at Vala and said, "Thanks."

Vala nodded her head and then asked, "Are you going to call your brother?"

Sam thought about it for a few seconds and then said, "Yes, but not right now. I have too much in my head that I need to get straight before talking to him."

Vala once again nodded her head and kept her silence, showing that she really understood that Sam needed some space to just think.

Almost an hour later, after Hank had been briefed, they were all sitting around the briefing room table waiting for Jacob's arrival. Daniel and Jonas were still immersed in their talks about the instrument SG7 had brought. Cameron and Teal'c were arguing with Vala about the merits of basketball versus hockey – both Cameron and Teal'c argued that hockey was the better sport while Vala argued that basketball was better because the uniform displayed the athlete's bodies better than the hockey uniforms. Jack and Hank were quietly going over some SGC business and Sam sat quietly next to Jack absorbed in her own thoughts.

Suddenly the klaxon alarm went off and everyone stiffened in their chairs even thought they had all been waiting for it. Jack was the first to get up from his chair and turned to Hank but before he could say anything, Hank forestalled him. "Go ahead. We'll wait here."

Jack nodded his thanks and escorted Sam out of the room and down the stairs. They stopped by the control room to make certain that it was Jacob that was arriving and Jack took the opportunity to quietly tell Walter to put down the blaster window.

By the time they made it down to the embarkation room, the blaster window was already down. When Sam saw it, she turned to smile her thanks at Jack and found that he had dismissed all of the guards that had been in the embarkation room. Within seconds, the embarkation room was empty but for the two of them and with the blaster window down and with all the cameras turned off, something Sam noticed when she saw the red light was off, they were as alone as they had ever been in the SGC. Sam could only be grateful for it and the foresight that both Jack and Hank had.

But then all thoughts of gratitude flew out of her head as the even horizon fluctuated and she saw a figured emerge, one she had thought never to see emerge again.

Jack had taken a step back to give father and daughter some space but still be close by in case Sam needed him. He silently observed as Jacob came off the railing and came to a stop in front of Sam, all without taking his eyes off her. They stared at one another in complete silence for a few moments and then, Jack was never sure who made the first move, but all of a sudden Sam was in Jacob's arms and it seemed like neither had any intention of letting go any time soon.

Some time later, they finally let go of each other enough to get a look at each other.

"You look great, Sammy," Jacob said, with a smile as he dried the tears on Sam's cheeks.

"Thanks, Dad." Sam said smiling as she too wiped the tears from Jacob's face. "You're looking great too." And with another sniffle, she threw her arms around him once more.

"For someone who's supposedly dead," With that reminder, she pushed herself from his arms and glared at him.

Jack saw the glare and muttered an 'oh-oh', knowing that a Carter lecture was imminent. He thought about heading it off to save Jacob from it but decided to let her go ahead. She needed to get that off her chest. And it was infinitely better to see her glare than to see her cry – so, Jacob would just have to deal.

"How could you, Dad! Two years, TWO! I thought you were dead for two years. I mourned you and missed you and regretted all the time we couldn't spend together; and all that time you were alive. Going through God knows what, but alive! And you didn't bother to let me know. What? You didn't think I'd be interested? Or maybe you thought I didn't have a right to know?"

"Now, Sam," Jacob began with a soothing tone, hoping to placate her. "You know it wasn't like that."

"No? Then how was it, huh, Dad?"

"Sam," Jacob began as he looked around to see if Jack would help him, but he found Jack smirking and holding up his hands to signify that he was not getting in the middle of that.

Taking a deep breath, Jacob continued. "Sam, at first I didn't tell you because I was out of it. And when I first came out of it, I didn't know what the hell was going on. When I was finally aware enough to understand it, more than a year had already gone by. By that point, I decided that it would just be as well to wait until I recovered."

"Just as well!" Sam yelled. "Just as well? I thought you were dead and instead to let me know you weren't as soon as you were able, you decided it was just as well to wait!"

"Sam, please. Maybe it wasn't the best decision,"

"You think?" Sam interrupted.

"But," Jacob continued undaunted, noticing that Jack had taken a step forward and was now directly behind Sam, but had made no move to intervene. "I was a mess, Sam. We weren't even sure we were really out of the woods yet. I didn't want you to see me like that and if the worse were to happen," Jacob shrugged. "Well, you had already mourned me, I saw no reason to drag you through all that when there was a very good chance that I wouldn't make it and you would have to mourn all over again."

"Maybe, but it was my right to know and be there with you – be there for you. I'm your daughter."

"And I'm your father. It is my right to protect you and keep you from harm. I did what I thought was right." Jacob insisted.

"Dad," Sam began only to be stopped by Jack's hand on her shoulder.

"Sam," Jack said, speaking up for the first time since Jacob arrived. "You're right, he should have told you. But," he continued when Sam turned back to Jacob to continue her lecture. "so is Jacob."

"What?" incredulous, Sam turned to stare at Jack.

"As a parent, you always want to protect your kids. Frankly, I think I would have done the same."

"But," Sam began, "You're the one that said they should have let us know."

"Yes, the Tok'ra should have let us know. But, Jacob made the best decision he could under the circumstances."

Sam opened her mouth to protest but something in his eyes stopped her and she just said

"Ok," and let it go at that.

Jacob noted the exchange and turning to Jack said, "Jack, long time, no see."

"Jacob," Jack said extending his hand. "It's great to see you again." They shook and then they pulled each other into a great, manly hug.

Sam watched them hug and couldn't prevent the tears that still fell from her eyes. She hadn't thought to see her father and fiancé hug ever again.

A few moments later, they let go of each other and Jacob said, "I hear congratulations are in order, both on your engagement and on your promotion."

"Thanks," Jack said, as he stepped next to Sam and put his arms around her shoulders.

"We're very happy. I don't know what I did to deserve her, but I promise I'll make her happy." Jack said seriously and Jacob nodded, seeing the promise in the other man's eyes.

Sam just rolled her eyes at this display of macho routine. "He didn't have to do anything, being himself was enough. I'm very lucky to have him. I'm also incredibly proud of him and of his achievements." Sam said, smiling up at Jack, who just made a face – as always downplaying his accomplishments.

"As you should be," Jacob agreed, enjoying Jack's discomfort. "Getting a second star a year after the first one is a real accomplishment. Not to mention being promoted to head the whole department."

"Yeah, well," Jack shrugged. "There probably was no one else crazy enough to accept it. And anyway, Sam agreeing to marry me was a much better accomplishment that getting a second star."

Sam just shook her head at that pronouncement; it was nice to hear but she knew what it meant to receive that second star – very few people ever did and it was an incredible honor.

"Well, I'm glad to see you have your priorities right." Jacob said and then he burst out laughing and slapped Jack's shoulders. "Oh, it's great to see you haven't changed a bit, Jack."

"He'll never change, dad." Sam said with a grin.

"And that's what you love about him, right, Sam?" Jacob countered with a grin of his own.

Sam just shrugged and Jack said, "Shall we go to the conference room? They're waiting for us." He waited for their nods and then started walking towards the door.

Sam and Jacob walked a few steps behind him arm in arm. "So Sam, how's Mark and the family?"

"They're fine, Dad. I'll call Mark later today and ask him to come so you can see him."

"Have you thought how are we going to explain my being alive after all?" Jacob asked surprised. He had thought that he wouldn't get to see his son and grandchildren again because explaining his sudden reappearance wouldn't be easy; in fact, he thought it would have been impossible.

"Well, Jack says we're just going to tell him the truth." Sam explained, nodding towards Jack.

"Really?" Jacob asked. "He just decided that, did he?"

"Yes, Jacob. I did." Jack answered from his position a few steps ahead of them.

"And you can make that type of decision yourself?"

"Well, as you said, I am the head of Homeworld Security." Jack answered with a smirk.

"Yeah, I know. But don't you have to consult with the President or at least the Joint Chiefs?"

"Nah," Jack said, waving a hand in dismissal. "Not really necessary. They leave these types of decisions up to me. I'll of course notify them about it in due time."

"Ah," was all Jacob could think to say. So, things may not have changed that much, but they sure had changed. Jack had always been on the arrogant side – but his utter ease in his new post was unexpected. Jacob had never seen Jack so at ease in his skin before.

"Well," Jack's voice, as they entered the conference room, drew him from his thoughts.

"Here we are."

"Jacob," Daniel was the first up off his chair and coming around to hug him. "It's great to see you again."

"Daniel," Jacob said as he returned the hug. "Great to see you too."

Teal'c had also stood up and was now standing in front of Jacob. "Jacob Carter," he said with a nod of his head. "It is indeed a pleasure to see you again."

"Likewise, Teal'c." Jacob said, with a nod of his head.

"Jacob," Jack said as he walked further into to the room. "This is General Landry, the CO of the SGC. And this is Colonel Mitchell, the newest member of SG1."

"A pleasure to meet you both," Jacob said, as he shook hands with both men.

"The honor is ours," answered Landry and Mitchell just nodded his head.

"Well, shall we sit?" Jack asked, as he pulled Sam's chair out.

Jacob moved to a chair and as he sat down, his head went down, when it came back up, it was Selmak that was speaking. "General Landry, Colonel Mitchell, a pleasure to meet you." He said with a nod of his head. He then turned to Sam and the guys and said, "Sam, General O'Neill, Dr. Jackson and Teal'c, it is a pleasure to see you all again."

"Oh! Selmak," Sam exclaimed with a chagrin look on her face. "I'm so sorry. With the emotion of seeing Dad again, I forgot to ask about you." She started to apologized, but Selmak stopped her by putting a hand up.

"Please, Sam. There's no need to apologize. It is only understandable that your first concern was your father."

"Yeah, but after all the time you've been blended with Dad you've become a part of my family. I'm very glad you're Ok. You are Ok, right?"

"Thank you, Sam." Selmak said with a soft smile. "You have also become part of my family. And yes, I am fine."

"I'm glad," Sam said with a smile. "So am I," Jack said and when everyone turned to stare at him in surprise, he said, "What? He's the only snake I actually like and trust! Can you blame me if I'm glad he's ok?"

"To be fair," Selmak said with a smirk. "I also am the only Tok'ra to actually like General O'Neill."

"Ouch," Jack said feigning a hurt face while everyone else in the table laughed.

"Ok," Landry said when the laughter died down. "I think we're all glad that Jacob and Selmak are ok. And I know that they probably want to get out of this mountain as soon as possible and spend some time with family. So, why don't we get this de-briefing started and ended?"

As everyone nodded around the table, he started the de-briefing.

luli, shouldn't it be de-briefing? you know, de-brief Jacob and selmak? just wondering