Hey guys! A new chapter- as promised. I think this has been my quickest update yet! And it's all thanks to your fabulous reviews! Thank you everyone who has reviewed and/or added me to your Author/Story alerts… it really does inspire me to write more knowing that there are people out there following this story. Thanks again – and keep those reviews comin'!


Anise had Sam strapped into the chair with the band wrapped around her forehead, reminding Jack of another time when he had to watch he being questioned by the Tok'ra. The revelations of that little experiment were enough to make his head spin.

"Please state your title." Anise began.

"I am called Ilithyia." Sam's distorted voice sounded. Freya/Anise made a note on her pad as she gauged the machine for changes.

"And to whom are you loyal?" Came Freya's next question.

"I am loyal to my brothers and sister's of the Tok'ra. The offspring of the great Queen Egeria." The men observing the testing watched as Freya/Anise monitored the screen in front of her.

"And what of Major Samantha Carter?" Ilithyia's head dropped and Sam took over.

"I am here, Anise. Ilithyia has been implanted within my body since I was captured off-world by Heru-ur." Sam's voice was on the verge of pleading with the woman.

"And what of your intentions? You claim to have sought the Tok'ra before today, yet you were unsuccessful… why?" Anise clipped, short and to the point.

"I…' Sam began then rethought her wording "We escaped from the mother ship and used a stolen Tel'tak to reach the Tok'ra home world. When it was obvious that it had been evacuated months before as I found no traces of anything, I then proceeded to the next known location, only to find the same results. It was then, my companion, Bayra, a slave girl who had been taken from her world by Heru-ur, who had helped me escape from Cronos's mother ship, offered me a place on her home world. She told me I would be welcome there to wait until the birth…" Sam broke off, looking up nervously at her father. "…The birth of my daughter."

She could practically see her fathers gasp as she saw him rounding to the two men in the observation room. No words were spoken, however, but she was sure the glare they were receiving would be burning holes into their foreheads.

Anise's surprise was quickly covered as she continued with the questioning.

"And, your daughter?"

"She was taken. We believe by Ba'al." Sam said, her voice breaking slightly as she tried to maintain her composure.

"She is currently in the hands of the system lord Ba'al?" Anise clarified. Sam bit her lip as tears stung her eyes.

"Yes." her voice was small and timid as she waited for the next question.

It was then that her father interjected and motioned to Anise. Anise nodded her head to Jacob and said "She is telling the truth. The symbiote within is indeed a Tok'ra."

Sam began removing the band from her forehead as Teal'c dropped his zat and moved to assist her out of her restraints.

"Major Carter. I must apologise for our reactions on the planet Tyan. You must understand our..." she cut him off.

"It's okay Teal'c. I understand. I would be exactly the same if it was one of you guys." she returned with a small smile which quickly faltered as she watched her father enter the room. His mood was impenetrable and stoic - she could tell he was mad.

"Ilithyia, Can we ask how you came to be?" Daniel cut in, knowing that Jacob was having an internal debate on how to approach the subject of Sam's Daughter.

"Rest assured my history is a detailed and lengthy story, one in which I would be happy to share once we return from rescuing the child." Ilithyia stated emphatically.

"We aren't going anywhere until you tell us more about why Baal wants the kid." Jack spat back. Knowing she was Tok'ra was somewhat of a relief, but it also left many questions unanswered.

"Can you no longer trust the judgement of one you would call friend." She reiterated, challenging the Colonel.

"Well her judgement's been a little off lately, what with a snake in her head and all."

"Which actually begs the question- how did Sam have a child when she was blended with a symbiote?" Daniel piped up, asking a question that had been weighing on his kind since they had discovered Sam's passenger. It also served to abate the sudden tension in the room, however briefly, and allowed the irate Colonel time to cool off a touch.

"When Sha're was pregnant with the child of Apophis she believed that Amonet being active would cause her to miscarry." Daniel continued.

"I was ordered by Heru-ur to lay dormant for the duration of Samantha's pregnancy." the tinny voice of Ilithyia put in. Anxious to get to the crux of the matter in order to go after Grace as fast as they were able.

"Heru-ur obviously thought he had something to gain by allowing the pregnancy to go ahead." Jacob began.

"A Goa'uld would hardly be so compassionate if it weren't in their best interest." Teal'c put in.

"Unless it was his intention all along to impregnate Sam to use the child as a host." Daniel asked.

"Then why go to the trouble of putting a snake in her?" Jack added

"The child would be more special if it were the product of two Goa'uld hosts." Jacob added.

"God! Would you all stop talking about me as if I'm not even here!?" Sam suddenly voiced. Anger and frustration seeping from her body as she wished she didn't have the restraint holding her back from hitting each and every one of them.

Jack, Daniel, Teal'c and Jacob all looked back at Sam in shock. Their insensitivity had completely elapsed them.

The fact that they were dealing with Sam and the reality that she may have been an unwilling participant in the conception of her daughter suddenly struck Jacob like a tonne of bricks and his heart bled for his little girl.

"Can I speak with my daughter? Privately." Jacob asked the other two as he indicated slightly with his head towards the door.

"Of course." Daniel agreed and began moving towards the exit. Jack however hesitated briefly, meeting Sam's tear-filled eyes before looking away and moving out of the room.

"Sammie..." Jacob began, not knowing where to begin. He and Selmack had been witness to many Goa'uld atrocities in their time together, and memories buried deep within Selmack had given Jacob insight into the life as a Goa'uld concubine, remembering a time when a past host to Selmack was given the role to gain closer insights while remaining undercover, a thought that was met with a shudder through his spine.

Selmack shrugged it off, counting it down to duty and obligation, but Jacob knew that it still haunted even his usual unflappable companion. To think that Sam had had to endure the same from one as vile and evil as Heru-ur gave him further cause to want to rip each and every Goa'uld limb from limb.

"Daddy..." her voice was barely a whisper and for a moment Jacob was transported back to when the beautiful woman before him was a small and delicate child, counting on him and only him for her safety and it made his heart break. His baby was now a mother. She had a baby of her own and she was hurting.

"Tell me baby. What did he do to you?" Jacob pleaded with her to share, knowing that he didn't want to hear it; but hoping to ease her pain in any way he could.

"No, dad it wasn't like that." She began, almost pleading with her father.

"I don't understand "

"When Heru-ur blended me with Ilithyia. I was already pregnant. It was she who recognized that I was carrying a child and she told Heru-ur of its genetic makeup." she began.

"He told her to remain inactive so that the baby wouldn't be stillborn. He said he had plans for her."

So the baby had been conceived before her ill-fated mission, a fact that eased Jacob's mind somewhat. But it begged the question, who was the father?

"I wasn't aware that you were seeing anyone." He put in tactlessly. He was only in contact with earth on the odd occasion, and it was more often than not in circumstances of life and death matters. There wasn't really time for general catching up. She could have had a whole slew of boyfriends that he didn't know about. Not that he thought she would have had men left, right and centre... she wasn't like that. Not his Sammie.

"I'm not- wasn't, I mean... I wasn't dating or anything." she fumbled, wondering why, even at her age, could her father make her feel as though she was twelve.

"One night stand?" Sam looked at her father incredulously. As if he could ever suggest a thing like that? He simply chuckled and said:

"Sam, you're a grown woman. And as much as I would like to think that your my pure little baby girl, I know that's not the case. You're a human being. With needs just like any other person." she cringed at her father discerning about needs.

"It's not like that dad," she began. God it would be so much simpler if it were. How was she to tell him that her daughter was the biological daughter of her commanding officer? That she was impregnated whilst technically on-duty serving her country? She hesitated before she began:

"You have to understand. We didn't know who we were. We didn't know

that we couldn't. It wasn't like we simply disregarded everything and didn't think about the consequences." Sure, it made sense in her mind – but it came out in a wild jumble of nonsense, more than likely confusing her father even more.

"Sam, what are you trying to tell me?" Jacob steadied her by placing his hands on her shoulders. She hadn't even known she was trembling.

"The reason Baal took Grace, the reason I didn't go home after escaping from the Goa'uld... She has the ancient gene. She is what the Goa'uld believe to be the next stage in human evolution. Colonel O'Neill has the gene... He is... Jack is her father."

She waited for the world to end. For the explosion that was sure to come from her father would be somewhat like the complete implosion of the galaxy. She waited.

And waited.

Nothing.

She chanced a glance at her father.

If Jacob had a hairline to speak of his eyebrows would have definitely been lost in it. As it were his eyes had bulged almost to the point of being out of their sockets and his jaw had dropped and lay hanging slack.

To say that Jacob was shocked was an understatement. Shocked, angered

Wanting to rip Jack O'Neill's head from the rest of his body and not simply because he was her commanding officer, but because he had caused his little girl pain.

She could see his temples turning red as the anger rushed through his body.

"Dad." Sam began, warningly. Knowing he was about to fly off the handle.

He appeared to be having an internal debate with Selmack as his eyes closed and Sam could almost see the thoughts going through his mind.

"Selmack?" she tried tentatively.

"Samantha. Your father is having a little... Shall we say... Trouble digesting this information."

"I don't blame him." She replied simply and waited.

"How long?" Jacob had regained control and demanded, anger resonating from his every pore.

Sam stumbled a little, not quite knowing what her father was asking. He noticed her look of apprehension and confusion and clarified.

"How long have the two of you been engaging in an inappropriate relationship?" Sounding more like her father the General than simply her father.

"Dad…" She began, not quite knowing how to explain all the concepts to him.

"I'm just asking so I know exactly how hard to pummel the bastard for ruining your career, Hell, for getting you pregnant then leading you on a dangerous mission through the Stargate on which you were KILLED!" Her father ranted rising from his stool and pacing in front of her.

It reminded her too much of the time she had been fifteen and was caught on the back of Davie Frenchman's motorcycle as he dropped her home. Her dad had been home early from god knows where and had had a fit and then lectured her on all the safety hazards of motorcycles and road rules and dating older boys who are after one thing, and his stance and posture now twenty years later was still the same as when he was scolding his little girl.

"Dad…It wasn't like that. We are not and have not been in an inappropriate relationship and..." she began, her eyes pleading with him.

"I'm going to kill him!" Jacob made a move toward the exit where she knew the remaining members of her team would be patiently waiting for her fathers little 'chat' to end.

"You can't say anything. Please! It's not his fault." She tried. This only seemed to make him angrier.

"Oh, so you got pregnant all on your own then?" Jacob retorted.

"Dad!" she chastised, snapping at him for being so crude.

"Does he have any idea what this would do to your career, your reputation? The frat regs are there for a good reason, Samantha." Jacob scowled at his daughter.

He was sure his face was a deep shade of purple right about now, as the heat and anger resonated around his body. He could feel Selmack inside doing her best to calm him down, to no avail.

Sam looked up at her father again, this time with more malice than he had ever seen on her face.

"My daughter- your Granddaughter, who is barely three weeks old has been kidnapped by what you Tok'ra consider to be the most evil of the system lords, and all you can do is spout out the UCMJ!?" She yelled.

"Never mind what the thought of this is doing to me, to my heart. All you care about is whether or not I get my next promotion?" She scowled at her father, rage hitting her deep in her chest, mixing with the fear and grief already present within her.

This though seemed to clam Jacob down a bit, but still she continued to yell at him. Carters were passionate people. Passionate and outspoken – more often than not landing themselves in trouble for it.

"I have no idea what is happening to my baby, let alone whether she is still alive, and I... And I..." she hiccupped, trying to continue her angry tirade, but getting nothing but grief coming out in great ragged breathy sobs. She had admitted defeat and all she could do is let the tears fall.

"I didn't know I was pregnant. Trust me, if I had known…" she left the sentence hanging. "Well, I don't know where I would be… but at least she would be safe." her eyes welled with tears and Jacob's heart broke.

"Oh baby. Come here." And he reached forward and took her into his arms. She clung to his solid frame and sought comfort she had so desperately needed for some time. Jacob pulled away and swiped at his daughter's tears with his thumbs.

She allowed herself to be comforted by her father, revelling in the feel of his solid strength around her. Marvelling at how no matter how strong and independent she thought she was, underneath it all she still craved the safety and comfort of her father's arms. She would always be her Daddy's little girl. Sadly, this only brought her to thoughts of her own little girl and her father. Would her daughter have this same yearning for approval in the eyes of her father? Her ragged sobs slowly dissipated and she eventually calmed down so that all that was left were a few shaky tears. She breathed in a sigh and continued in a quiet voice.

"It was on out last mission, before we went to Juna- where I was killed. We had our memories wiped; we were slaves in this underground boiler room along with hundreds of others. At first we were drawn together somehow. He protected me – Thera- that was my name down there- when I was attacked by another man. He saved me from…" She stopped, thinking of what could have been if he hadn't stepped in when she had been pinned beneath the girth of the large brute, his rancid breath washing over her, making her stomach churn in fear and revulsion.

"Jonah and Thera became fast friends and suddenly we were remembering feelings. Deep seated feelings that we couldn't explain and didn't know how to control. They were in love. We were in love. And the regulations weren't an issue." Tears fell from her eyes as she remembered just how deep their love had been.


~*~*~FLASHBACK~*~*~*~

"I remember... Feelings." He stated uncomfortably, knowing that whoever and whatever he was he was never a man to find it easy when divulging his deepest emotions.

"For me?" she inquired cheekily. Her heart fluttered at his words.

"No, for Tor." he joked glancing up to gauge her reaction. Her blue eyes sparkled with mirth as he watched as she laid her head on his shoulder.

She smelled sweet. Unbelievably so, considering the conditions of their accommodations. Bathing down here was scarce, water being so precious, but Jonah could tell that today Thera had allowed to wash away some of the grime of their days from her body as he lay a gentle kiss in her soft and still-damp hair. He paused briefly to see how she would react and was pleasantly surprised when she swivelled her body closer to his side and lifted her eyes to meet his.

What he found there was more than welcome, as her crystal blue eyes were heavy lidded with desire, passion and a little apprehension. He moved his index finger under her chin and his thumb caressed the side of her face as he drew her lips to his and laid a gentle kiss on them.

The kiss was chaste and sweet, but as he pulled away he felt her hands on his face pulling him down for another.

The second kiss was very little like the first. What started out as another caress of lips quickly turned to more as he heard her sigh and open her mouth to his.

When the kiss ended, only for want of air, their foreheads remained touching as he softly kissed her cheeks, her nose and her forehead, encircling his arms around her body and drawing her closer, content to simply sit with her in his embrace. Thera however, had other ideas and was letting her intentions be known with her fingers delicately caressing the hair at the nape of his neck and she placed sweet open mouthed kisses along his jaw line.

She wanted him.

Here in their solitary corner of the underworld they called home. In amongst the humming of machinery and the heat of the boilers she wanted him. To kiss her. To caress her. To bring her to the heights of passion and desire.

To love her.

And love her he did.

~*~*~END FLASHBACK~*~*~*~


She trembled as she recalled some of the more vivid aspects of that night, taking a moment simply to lose herself in the memory before continuing.

"When we finally remembered who we were, we both never mentioned our time as Jonah and Thera again. We knew we couldn't continue to fight side by side and be with one another. We were needed on SG1 to fight the Goa'uld. God, it hurt, but we did it." She continued her story, never believing that she would ever open up to her father so willingly, but she needed him to know. She needed him to know all the details, no matter how sordid so that he would understand and so that he could help.

"I didn't ever tell you this, because it wasn't an issue at the time- but after my encounter with Jolinar, the markers she left in my body. Janet said that it would more than likely be impossible for me to ever have children, so I didn't think I would have needed to discuss anything with him in that regard. Turns out I was wrong." And she let go of a few tears that had been pooling in her eyes.

"Oh, Sammie." Jacob sighed heavily. Trying to come up with the most appropriate thing to say was always a struggle for Jacob Carter. The no-nonsense military man in him was often crass and to the point and more often than not tended to put his foot in it when dealing with 'feelings'. The last few years with Selmack's counsel, he had gotten better at these encounters, but in when it came to his baby girl, all he wanted to do was wrap her in his arms and hide her from the big bad world. When he finally spoke he spoke quietly.

"Sam, correct me if I'm wrong… But Jack doesn't seem entirely too concerned that it's his daughter being held by Ba'al." Sam pulled completely out of his grasp and averted her eyes before sighing heavily in resignation.

"He doesn't trust me… well he doesn't trust Ilithyia and by extension – me. He also doesn't know that Grace is his. I haven't told him. I don't know how." Jacob took her by the shoulders and softly spoke to her.

"Sam, I won't deny that I'm angry about this – at both you and Jack. But I do understand that a field unit such as yourselves on SG1 you would form bonds closer than you would normally see in the air force. That being said – Honey, he has a right to know." She sighed and another tear dropped from her eyes.

"I know, dad, believe me. It's killing me not knowing what to say to him, or even how to bring it up."

"I know Honey, and I cant tell you what to do or say, as much as I would like to think I still have that power over you." he chuckled. "But you have to remember, you're not at fault here. Neither is he."

"I don't think he'll see it that way. He'll think I hid it from him on purpose. And knowing what little I know about Jack O'Neill… He'll probably think I didn't trust him… or doubted him in some way… and it's not true."

"What do you mean?" Jacob queried softly, and Sam resigned herself to having to tell her father what she knew about Jack's past.

"You know that Jack was married and had a son before he joined the SGC, right? Well, how much do you know?"

"A little – he lost his son in an accident of some kind and it broke up his marriage… am I close." She sighed.

"Yeah, close. Jack's son, Charlie, accidentally shot himself with Jack's personal handgun. Jack told me once that he had kept his gun locked up at all times, and Charlie knew all about gun safety and stuff… but he was just a kid. And he was curious." Jacob breathed a small intake of breath in shock and felt immeasurable sympathy for the man.

"Jack's never forgiven himself. And probably never will. I just don't want him to think that that was the reason I didn't go home."

"Was it?" Jacob asked honestly.

"No!" she replied vehemently. "Not at all. I just… I couldn't. I couldn't face it. The heartache, the impending courts martial, the fact that I was in love with the one man I know I couldn't have. Then there was the issue of Ilithyia. If I had followed protocol and gated to Cimmeria, she would be dead. And I didn't know what Thor's hammer would have done to my unborn child. I remember when Teal'c was caught in it and it didn't exactly look like a walk in the park." She stated.

"I Guess I can understand that. But honey, when it comes down to it - you need to tell Jack the truth."

"I'm scared. Scared that he'll decide he doesn't want any part of it. Scared he won't want to be her father. The first time around was so hard on him, I don't even know whether he would want another child. It's not like we were in a committed relationship and had a chance to talk about this kind of stuff." she chuckled depreciatively.

"Scared that maybe he won't want you by extension?" Jacob guessed. The look of shock and pain that fluttered across her face was more than enough confirmation for him.

"Yes." she answered in a whisper. Her shoulders drooped in defeat. She couldn't lie to her father, he always saw straight through her.

Jacob took her hands in his and reassuringly began:

"Sammie, baby, If Jack O'Neill doesn't want you, then he is the one who will miss out. You are amazing, you're beautiful and funny and smart and I'm not just saying that because I'm your dad." they both chuckled at that.

"Having said that, I saw the man mourn you. I saw his grief at having lost you. Clouded by my own grief I still managed to see that there was clearly more than platonic camaraderie behind his pain. I have a feeling that Jack not wanting you is not something you will have to worry about."

Sam looked into the eyes of her father, trusting that he was telling the truth.

"What about Grace?" She asked timidly.

"Being a father, in my mind, is a gift. A blessing that I thank god and your mother for every day. Knowing the kind of man Jack O'Neill is, I'm sure he'd have pretty similar thoughts."

"Yeah?" she asked, a small smile tilting the corners of her mouth.

"Yeah." Jacob agreed. Then added.

"Besides, you'd be surprised at the hold little girls have on their daddies."

~*~*~


Okay… So who guessed it? Come on people, as if you didn't know that Jack was Grace's father. Lol. But at least now you have confirmation. And I couldn't resist the Jacob/Sam scene. I love Jake – I was so bummed when they killed him off (no matter how sweet it was with Jack and Sam in "Threads" and no matter how much of a wake up call it was to Sam to get rid of certain 'things' in her life that were 'preventing herself from finding true happiness')

Anyways – Next chapter may be a little longer in coming – Uni is killing me at the moment (well, Uni combined with my full-time job, home business and volunteer commitments) so I'm sorry if it takes a little while longer. But I am open to anyone's thoughts/ideas on this story and where I should take it as I haven't got much of an idea myself (aside from basic plotlines) and am happy to take anyone's ideas on board for the betterment of this story.

~ Starla d

P.s. – I've just done the spell check on this chapter and realised I had a few different variations of Jacob's symbiote name. If anyone has the right spelling for Selmak/Selmack/Selmac please let me know, as I seem to drift between the three!