Spend
all your time waiting for that second chance
For the break that
will make it ok
There's always some reason to feel not good
enough
And it's hard at the end of the day
I need some
distraction oh beautiful release
Memories seep from my veins
They
may be empty and weightless and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight
"In the Arms of the Angel" Sarah McLaughlin
Story: The Untold True Life Adventures of Jacob Carter, The Very Model of a Modern Major General – Part 12
Rating: PG-13 Jake and Sel do curse a bit, and two souls get rather friendly.
Synopsis:
Jake Carter and Janet Frasier's relationship is being redefined. George Hammond is dealing with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Harry Maybourne and the NID while the Gate is about to spit out a few Tok'Ra to add to his migraine. Some days, George truly believes that he'd be better off still being a Colonel - because at least then he could have some fun.
? Bold Italics ? Is when Selmak is thinking to Jacob so he can hear her.Jake pulled Janet , but gently, by her hand, while she giggled and skipped behind him. She was giddy and he was laughing because they were acting like school kids. Then the two of them deliberately ran across the street, uncaring that they were crossing against the red light. Upon reaching the safety of the sidewalk, the two of them kissed, before breaking apart and laughing.
"Jacob, I never would guess that you were so…." Janet laughed.
"I can't even say that this is my second chance. This is my third chance, Janet, I can't waste a single moment," he explained. "Let's go to my car. I think I know a nice hotel around here."
Little did they realize that their escapade was being watched intently by a non-descript man in a black Blazer.
"Sir," Davis' voice seemed a tad bit timid.
"Yes?" Hammond snapped, as Davis being apprehensive meant that something was really wrong. Walt had seen alien abductions by the score, pissed off Goa'ulds storming into the Gateroom and assorted other catastrophes and hadn't blinked so much as an eye.
Shit. It must be Maybourne, George growled.
"Colonel Maybourne is at the gate, Sir. The MPs say that he's here to escort General Carter back to DC for a debriefing," Davis explained.
"Have him cool his heels in one of the suites," Hammond decided. "Inform him that I'm in a meeting and that I'll see him ASAP. Remind him that under no condition is he to leave the room, and have guards stationed at the door. Keep O'Neill away from him, and once Maybourne's left, I want that room gone over with a fine tooth comb to confirm that he hasn't left anything behind."
"Yes, Sir, " Davis answered quickly.
"Dismissed," Hammond informed him, succeeding at hiding his grin at how fast Davis ran from the room.
Naturally, Colonel Maybourne decided that he was unhappy with being sent to his quarters without any supper, so he showed up in Hammond's office, demanding Jacob Carter. Needless to say, he was less than thrilled when he realized that his prey had escaped, and he began to loudly demand an answer on who was the miscreant that had let Jake out of the mountain.
Vidrine began arguing with Maybourne, and then the chevrons on the gate began to light up.
It's the Tok'Ra, Hammond thought, as his hangover returned full force.
"Unauthorized Off-World Activation," Davis enunciated as though he was reading his CO's thoughts.
One of these days, he was going to get Davis tested to find out if the man was telepathic or just damn lucky in his guesses.
George got out of his chair, and ignored Vidrine and Maybourne's sputters of protest.
"It's the Tok'Ra," he snapped.
Meanwhile, at an undisclosed location, Jacob Carter was sitting in a very nice couch, and his bare feet were resting on a sofa table. He was having second, third and fourth thoughts about his upcoming assignation, and his right hand was rubbing his left ring finger.
Assignation, God what a cold word for such a delicate, tender moment, but he was an old man, raised in a different century it seemed. He had lived though the sixties, barely, and Jake had no idea what the current term was.
Making love? Hopelessly old-fashion.
Rabid bunny, bed-slat breaking sex? Eeek.
But there were more important problems on hand. In fact, on his ring finger.
Jake couldn't remove his damn wedding ring.
The arthritis in his hands had swollen the joints in his fingers, and so Jake had never bothered with removing the ring, because the only way he could have removed it prior to Selmak was to have it cut off. Jake would have sooner cut his arm off than have his ring from Annie cut off his finger. And once he had blended with Selmak, even though Selmak had cured his arthritis, he had never removed the ring as that simple gold band had represented the woman he had loved, and would love for eternity. And when he died, his love for Annie would have continued to live on in Selmak.
While he was far too steely eyed and pragmatic to ever be considered even the slightest bit poetic, he had thought that would be a fitting memorial for Annie.
Now, sometime during the evening, he must had whacked his ringer finger accidentally, and far harder than he had realized, as his finger was swollen, and he and Janet were… possibly… if he didn't lose his nerve… and he couldn't remove the ring from his finger.
That was really insulting… to both Janet and Annie.
Throw a case of performance anxiety on top of everything else, and he was quite willing to have a mock heart attack or something, just to get out of this.
For a moment, he felt Selmak give him a mental thwack with her little symbiotic flippers. Right upside the cerebellum, it felt like. Jake felt dizzy and he closed his eyes. Instinctively, he tried to take slow, deep breaths to calm himself for meditation and then he heard a familiar voice.
"Trance down, Jake! That's it, Jake! Meditate! Get in touch with your inner Head Snake!"
Sel? He questioned.
"Well, parts of me! Trance down, Jake! You'd think I'd leave you alone and unattended?"
Well, yes. You didn't tell me that part of you'd be left behind.
"I think I've been insulted! I left a few pieces of me here and there inside of you, so I could keep an eye on you. Now… with regards to the wedding ring, just explain it to Janet. She'll understand it, though I don't understand why it's not coming off your finger, because I made sure everything was fixed before I vacated my nice penthouse apartment in your brain. And don't worry about the other thing… you'll do just fine… what's that old Earth saying? Just because there's snow on the roof, doesn't mean the fire's out."
He was fuchsia, Jake knew, especially when Selmak giggled and yelled "Woo hoooo!"
"But I don't know if that was a good analogy as well, your thatched roof is looking pretty bare, there, Big Guy," Selmak teased.
Then he got really red, as she began singing Wild Blue Yonder with an almost obscene slant to it.
Off
they go into the wild blue yonder,
Making love under the
sun;
There Janet goes, zooming to meet Jake's thunder,
At
'er boy, Give 'er your gun!
Down they dive, spouting their flame
from under,
Off with one helluva roar!
We live in fame or go
down in flame. Hey!
Nothing'll stop our Gen Jacob Carter!
That last line didn't rhyme though, so I'll have to work on it.
SELMAK! YOU STOP THAT RIGHT NOW, YOUNG LADY!
"Seriously, I think she's a little nervous too," Selmak advised him. "So, keep your sense of humor about this, and give it the old Air Force try. Trust me; she'll be grinning ear to ear tomorrow."
"You sure?" Jake questioned, though as always, he was slightly disconcerted by Selmak's female, giddy single-mindedness on this particular subject.
"Yes, and Jake…" Selmak paused as though she was gathering her courage and she then blurted out something he didn't expect. "Annie would approve of Janet, I know she would."
"You sure?" That reassurance was vitally important to Jake, even though he knew that Selmak really wasn't there.
"Yes! I'm still here! And yes, I know Annie would approve, because I do, and you always secretly thought Annie and I were far too analogous in certain things. Jake, you've been alone for most of your life, and you know Annie always thought you were too introverted for your own good. You really are, you know. Now I better go! Love you, Carter."
"Love you, Selmak."
Jake relaxed then, and he smiled. To his surprise, he felt Janet begin to rub the stubble on his head. Annie had always rubbed her hands against his newly shorn stubble, and he relaxed still further.
"What are you smirking about, General?" Janet purred.
Trust her! He heard Selmak faintly say.
"Sometimes, I think Selmak's left part of herself in me. I hear these little mental asides that I know I didn't make, as they're without a doubt, distinctively, unforgivably and sarcastically Selmak," Jake admitted slowly.
Janet stopped rubbing the back of his head, and he opened his eyes, looking up at her, wondering if that thought had turned her off. Instead, Janet was smiling a wicked little grin, and her eyes were amused.
"And what, pray tell is Selmak saying? Should I ask? Or will it embarrass you again? You were blushing a few moments ago," teased Janet.
Janet laughed and Jake did also.
"You saw me?" Jake questioned, even as he rubbed his jawbone, trying to hide his embarrassment.
She nodded her head, before walking around the sofa, and sitting next to him. She curled her feet underneath her, and leaned toward him. They kissed for a bit, and then Janet pulled back, with a stern look on her face.
"So what did Selmak talk about just now?" Janet questioned, before putting her hand on his face. "Don't be embarrassed, I'm just curious."
He paused, and then he decided to follow Selmak's advice.
"I can't get my wedding ring off," Jake explained in a rather discomfited tone of voice. He held up his hand, and he tugged at it to demonstrate his inability to remove his ring. "I can't get it over my knuckle, and I was worried you might take offense."
Janet smiled at him and then kissed him.
"Why would I take offense?" Janet questioned. "I know how you feel about her still. I'm not jealous, Jake."
"Thank you," he softly replied before kissing her again.
Janet pulled away from him for just a second, before smiling at him.
"And I'm not jealous of Selmak either," she assured him.
He pulled away from her, uncertain of how to respond to that, and Janet understood his unease. She put her hands on his face to pull him towards her and then she gave him a longer, slower kiss that meant business. When he had to catch his breath, she put her finger over his mouth.
"I know you still love Anne, and I know you love Selmak, Jacob. They're part of who you are, Jacob, and I respect that," Janet informed him. Then her devilish smile returned, and she curled up still closer to him, and the two of them kissed some more. "And what else did that Sassy Symbiote say?"
"She realized that I'm a little nervous, so she sang, loudly and off-key, I might add, The Air Force Theme with a distinct Selmak slant to it. I don't think I'll ever be able to listen to anyone sing "Wild Blue Yonder" again without having a facial twitch…" he admitted.
"What did she do to it?" Janet laughed after kissing him again. "You're blushing again, General. I thought General's never blushed."
"Off they go into the wild blue yonder, making love under the sun; There Janet goes, zooming to meet Jake's thunder, At 'er boy, Give 'er your gun! Down they dive, spouting their flame from under, Off with one helluva roar! We live in fame or go down in flame. Hey! Nothing'll stop our Gen Jacob Carter!" He sang softly.
Janet laughed loudly and he laughed also.
"She says she has to work on the last line as it didn't rhyme," he explained.
"She's a pig, isn't she?" Janet questioned after still more kissing.
That's not nice! I'm a free spirit! Sel retorted.
"No, she just views things differently as she's a forty thousand billion year old head snake," Jake explained, mentally awaiting the disgusted thwack from Selmak that never came. "Though I guess I should be glad that she's not here right now."
"And why's that Carter?" Janet questioned.
"I think Selmak would kill the mood as she thinks stuff loudly… like what would have happened if Saroosh had met George when she was little younger and healthier."
"What?" Janet said, laughing. "Wait, just a second, let me get a little more comfortable."
Janet then unbuttoned his shirt, and snuggled closer.
"Better?" He questioned, his voice a little rough with emotion.
"Much, yet I'd feel much more comfortable with your arm around me," Janet hinted. "So what did Selmak think about dear old George."
"Saroosh would have banged him on the ramp in the Gate room the very first chance she got."
Jake flinched at that thought, and he fiercely glared at Janet when she started laughing hard.
"It's not FUNNY, Janet. He's one of my closest friends, and Selmak was always thinking these thoughts! The very thought of Saroosh and George just leaves me cold, I have to admit," he protested. "George and Saroosh on the ramp? In front of people."
"I thought Kaydia was Selmak's host with the exhibitionist tendencies," Janet questioned, as she began unbuttoning his sleeves. "But let me warm you up if you're still thinking about George and Saroosh on the ramp."
Jake gave her an amused smile, and nodded his head, "Kaydia was, but let's stop talking about George…"
"Agreed," Janet whispered after a very long, very slow kiss.
For a moment, George debated about closing the iris on the Tok'Ra. It would be like… what was it? Insects on a dashboard window.
Splat! Splat! SPLAT!
"Open the iris," he instructed. "Get a team of Security personnel down there. I'll meet them, if anything happens to me…"
"Colonel O'Neill will be in charge of the base," Davis answered easily.
"And God help us all if that happens," George said, perhaps too loudly, as Davis was trying hard not to smile. "You repeat that, Davis, you'll be an Airman again. In Antarctica."
"No, no, Sir!" Davis assured him.
"Time to meet the Tok'ra," George sighed.
Martouf gave him a megatooth smile, and George wondered inanely if Martouf's smile was naturally that gleaming, blindingly bright, or did his symbiote handle dental issues also? God knows the USAF didn't have that good a dental plan, though George wasn't sure what would be worse, dealing with an alien like Selmak fulltime or having root canal.
Withouth drugs.
Mentally, George gave himself a slap across the face. He was hung over, tired, and cranky plus dealing with three people he didn't want to, and as he glanced at his watch secretly, he realized he hadn't had lunch and it was now almost seven o'clock at night.
"General Hammond, thank you," Martouf beamed.
Good Lord, his teeth are blinding, George thought to himself, as he rubbed his tongue over his own teeth.
"The Tok'Ra hoped that you would allow us to ensure Selmak's comfort," Martouf explained.
"And they only sent you?" George questioned.
"We were uncertain of our welcome here," the young Tok'Ra delicately explained.
"So you're the sacrificial lamb, I take it?" George snapped.
"I know not that term, General," Martouf answered.
"Never mind, speaking out loud," the General explained. "Come join the rest of the group."
Maybourne was staring in ravenous glee at Selmak.
"An adult symbiote with no host," Maybourne shook his head. "What we'd do to get our hands on it. We'd learn so much if we had it in our possession."
Vidrine appeared annoyed, Martouf was horrified and naturally Colonel O'Neill stopped in to watch the free carnival show.
Perfect, all we needed was Siler to come into the room wearing a tutu and riding a pony. Maybe he'd do tricks, too, Hammond growled mentally.
"No, Maybourne, you're not getting the symbiote," Vidrine stated. "It's going back in General Carter tomorrow."
"Selmak does not wish that," Martouf inserted.
George began talking to Martouf assuring him that Selmak was not in any danger of being man...err symbiote handled by Maybourne when O'Neill snapped, "Put it down, Maybourne. You break it, you bought it."
There was a hum, and then George heard a male voice say, "You are not Jacob."
GREAT! The Ghosts of Tok'Ra Hosts Past had just shown up.
"I know you," said the center figure who was an older gentleman who wore an archaic Air Force Uniform. He walked over to Maybourne, and pointed his hook in Maybourne's face. "You are the Maybourne. Jacob believes that you would pimp your mother to the highest bidder."
The figure turned and glared at Vidrine.
"You are the Vidrine," he said. "I should have guessed that Jacob's military would not let him go so easily."
The figure that wore Colonel Sorrentino's uniform, then neatly pivoted on his right foot and faced Martouf.
"Garshaw had to get involved, didn't she?"
Then Selmak glared at Hammond and O'Neill, and sighed.
"Jana, Norak, Jeralt – Vidrine. Kaydia- Maybourne, Taryn, Nadie – Martouf," Selmak snapped before waving his hook in the air. "Soran, Mara, – Hammond."
"And what will I do?" said the only figure that hadn't been given an assignment. She looked vaguely familiar to O'Neill, as though he had met her once before.
"Saroosh – you may flit and float about, and bring happiness to all," Selmak growled. "Or at least, keep O'Neill from talking too much, as I am tired of his voice."
"Would, if that were only possible," sighed a female voice.
George attempted not to laugh, but he did, and he noticed that Selmak was trying not to smile.
"Jake?" Janet questioned. "You're a little warm."
The two of them were lying together in bed, spoon fashion, slightly bemused and quite cozy after a wondrous time. As Jake was a gentleman, he pulled up the covers a little higher so Janet was warm. He was playing with her hair, and giving her small kisses every so often.
"I just had the workout of my life, Janet, naturally I'm a little warm," he teased. "Everything worked…"
"Quite well," Janet inserted. "You passed your physical, but I'll want to run a few more hands on tests."
"I was worried; I've been on the shelf for what… twenty years?" Jake confessed. "You are a wildcat, young lady."
Janet said something truly obscene, and Jake laughed.
"Give me a chance to catch my breath, and we'll discuss that in a bit, but I never thought you had a dirty mind. No wonder you and Selmak got along," he joked. "But no, you and I won't be having sex on the ramp of the Gateroom. My back's a little too sore to even think about that."
Janet gave him a mock pout, and he laughed.
"Ok, ok… I think I caught my breath," he chuckled.
George Hammond stared at Soran and Mara, and the two ladies stared back. Behind him, O'Neill was being firmly talked to by Saroosh, Vidrine was getting an earful from Jeralt, Jana and Norak and wonders of wonders, Harry Maybourne was looking a little bit uneasy by Kaydia's bold character.
He did a double take at Maybourne, even as Mara sighed.
"Yes, she has a knife to his throat," Mara sighed. "I think Maybourne made a comment about her outfit."
"It is rather low-cut," George said quietly. Actually, if he had been a betting man, he would have wagered that Kaydia would have a wardrobe malfunction and flash the entire room.
And the Oriental woman would have been quite proud of it, as George rapidly realized that she was from a culture that had absolutely no sense of shame. Kaydia used her body as a weapon, and she probably would have killed him easily.
But what a way to go, he thought with a very tired leer.
Bad George! Bad! BAD! BAD! NO BISCUIT!
"Let the children misbehave, General," Mara suggested. "You and Selmak need to talk, the other hosts, they are here simply to seed dissension and create distractions and chaos among those that would not understand why Selmak is doing this."
George looked at the room, and then Kaydia pulled her Ace Card out of her sleeve.
"Selmak knows what you did in Tokyo," Kaydia announced in the unexpectedly quiet room. "You wish to pay Jacob back for your humiliation, and we will not tolerate that. If you touch the symbiote, Selmak will inform the one known as Vidrine of what you were accused."
"He had no proof," Maybourne shot back. "None."
"The reprimand is on your file though, Maybourne," Kaydia snapped. "Unless your friends in high places succeeded in getting it removed."
Colonel Sorrentino left the room, unnoticed by all, and Soran motioned for George to follow Sorrentino.
Hammond and Sorrentino-Selmak stood in the Command Center, while Davis tried to appear busy.
"Jacob is not on the base?" Sorrentino… Selmak… questioned.
"No, he's escaped," Hammond growled.
"Perchance, did he run off with Janet?" Selmak questioned, strangely intense.
"Yes, they're in Denver," George informed Selmak. "Vidrine has people following them. Jake has a meeting tomorrow morning with Vidrine."
"He'll be back for the meeting, but more than likely, he'll be late. I know he will be late," Selmak said easily. "So, he left with Janet. Strange is it not, that at the very end, he actually listened to my suggestions?"
George thought that Selmak was talking to himself, so he didn't answer.
Selmak smiled beatifically, and he continued staring at the Stargate. "He's being followed, you said?"
"Yes," and then George gave a brief rundown of the current situation.
"I hope that Maybourne's people have the same sense of decorum that Vidrine's people do," Selmak questioned in a very quiet voice. "He might claim that he didn't know Jake wasn't on the base, but he's lying. You can tell by those soulless eyes of his. He's just trying to get you on the defensive."
"Maybourne? I didn't say anything about Maybourne having him followed," Hammond disagreed.
"Harry and Jacob go back a few years. There is bad blood between them, regarding an incident in Japan. I believe Maybourne has been waiting for his chance to pay Jacob back for what happened," Selmak informed him. "I do hope that they don't barge in on Jacob and Janet."
"What happened in Japan?" Hammond questioned intently.
"It is as you say, Classified," Selmak informed him.
Selmak continued to stare at the 'Gate, and then he smiled as his thoughts turned inward.
Jacob is loving her, Selmak thought, at last he's allowing himself to be human. I hope, my dearest friend that they don't barge in on the two of you in the state of dishabille, because no doubt you'd shoot them all.
Selmak laughed merrily and turned to face Hammond.
"I made the only morally correct decision, General," Selmak informed him. "I ask a boon of you, will you keep an eye on my Jacob? I know that Janet will do so, but it would helpful if you continued your watchful gaze on him."
"Selmak, Jake's not talking to me," George reminded him. "He's very angry because I told him what you were doing."
"You don't understand Jacob, do you?" Selmak questioned Hammond. "Of all the people in the world, I thought you would comprehend him."
"I know he's madder than a rattler that's been stepped on by an elephant," George retorted.
"Jacob is envious of you, General," the hologram stated.
"No… he's not… he's pissed off at me," snapped the General.
"Jacob has always been jealous of you. You made friends easier than he ever did. You had friends; he had people he flew with. You and your wife had an easy relationship, everything he said to Anne, he worried and fretted that he hadn't said the right thing. You had a great relationship with your parents. He hated his parents even while he desperately wanted their approval. You had a support system while you worked up the food chain, he had two teenagers who hated his guts and wished he was dead instead of their mother. You are involved in your grandchildren's lives… Mark hasn't even sent him a recent picture of his kids to his father," Selmak explained, counting off on his fingers with Sorrentino's hook.
George swallowed a few times and looked away from Selmak.
"Secretly, Jacob believes that if you had blended with me, none of this would have happened. That you and I would have been perfectly happy together and the Tok'Ra would have accepted you with open arms," Selmak continued. "So he's angry because he thinks he completely fucked everything up, and that you wouldn't have."
"That's not true," George protested.
Selmak put his hand on George's face and stared into his eyes.
"You know what he's most jealous about?" Selmak questioned. "What pains him more than anything?"
"I don't know if I want to know," George confessed. "I don't think I'm strong enough to hear more of this."
"Secretly, in the depths of his soul, where he won't admit it to anyone, not even to me, he's jealous because you got to say goodbye to your Tess, and his final words to Annie were ones of anger. You were there when your wife died, he wasn't there when Annie died," Selmak said to George quietly.
"You have to help him, General. I won't be here to help him," Selmak reminded him.
"He's going to blame himself forever, Selmak," George protested. "You know he will."
Selmak gave George a bright smile.
"In time, he will realize that I did the right thing," Selmak said easily.
O'Neill was being glared at by Saroosh, who was in fact, not the sweet old lady he once thought she was. She was a bit of a harridan. In fact Saroosh was a nasty old curmudgeon; she also had one of his ears in a death grip and she was twisting it.
"What is going on? I trusted your people with Selmak! I thought Jake could handle this! What is Jacob's problem?" Saroosh growled.
"Your best friend didn't come with an instructional manual," O'Neill stated sardonically. "OWWW! Will you let go of my ear?"
"NO! What happened?" Saroosh demanded. "I know that Selmak and Jacob are very angry with you. What did you do? This is YOUR fault!"
"Me? I didn't do anything," O'Neill protested in a faux innocent voice. "Maybe I teased Jake once too often…"
Saroosh's eyes narrowed even further while she glared daggers at him, and he put his hands up in defense.
"Jacob had a very hard time dealing with your little snake friend," Jack snapped.
"Call her that again, and I will be angrier than anyone you've ever met in your life," Saroosh threatened.
"I don't know, the old lady snake seemed pretty annoyed with me," Jack informed Saroosh.
"WILL YOU LET GO OF MY EAR!" O'Neill yelled as Saroosh twisted it even harder.
Meanwhile, Martouf was being hammered by both Nadie and Taryn. Nadie was a fiery redhead who was delighting in making mincemeat out of Martouf and Lantesh.
"You can return home, and remind Garshaw that it is every symbiote's right to decide when to give up their life for their host," Nadie stated regally. "By the blessed womb of Egeria, Selmak has this right."
"We are not Goa'uld," Taryn inserted. "We do not force ourselves on unwilling and unknowing hosts."
Left verbally unsaid was what Martouf and Lantesh's symbiote mate Jolinar had done to Jacob Carter's daughter, though Taryn silently implied that she thought it was a great evil.
Lantesh took over, causing Martouf's eyes to flash, for he did not let anyone speak ill of Jolinar or Rosha, "Jolinar had information that she needed to get back to the Council."
"Fortunately, Selmak does not, so I fail to see the interest of the Council in Selmak's decision," Nadie retorted.
Taryn nodded her head in agreement.
"We wish to put Selmak in stasis until we can find Selmak a new host, a suitable host," Lantesh stated.
"Do you imply that Jacob was an unsuitable host?" questioned Nadie in a very icy tone.
"Yes!" Lantesh shouted. "I do! I said it before the Council, and I will say it NOW! Jacob has brought nothing but grief to the Tok'Ra in general and Selmak in particular."
"You are wrong, Lantesh. Selmak's concern for Jacob has brought Selmak from out of the tunnels and through the Chappa'ai. Their blending has restored Selmak to what she once was," Nadie spat.
"Selmak's life has come full circle. Selmak wishes to die, as Selmak grows weary of the fight. Let her go," Taryn argued. "It is time for Egeria's younger children to stand on their own, and be as Egeria wished you to be."
Lt. General Ignatius Vidrine, Iggy to no one except for Jake Carter, was not happy.
"I have to talk to you two?" He growled.
"Not really as there's actually three of us," said the blonde. "We're just supposed to distract you, so Selmak can talk to Hammond. Boy, I think Kaydia's really getting Maybourne flustered."
"That's because his eyes are on a level with her cleavage. I think his eyes will pop out of their sockets shortly," Norak stated.
"Oooh! She pulled the knife out," said the blonde woman. "I was wondering when she was going to do that."
"Where did she get the knife from?" Vidrine said. "I was watching her; she didn't pull it out of her…"
Jana laughed and then looked at her mate. The three Tok'ra laughed amongst themselves and then turned serious.
"General, inform us of what Jacob's government wants from Selmak."
"Well, if Jake doesn't take the symbiote back…"
"SELMAK…" growled the male.
"If he doesn't take Selmak back," Vidrine explained. "The NID wants Jacob for examination purposes."
"You mean, the Maybourne would acquire Jacob," the woman said.
"Yes," Vidrine.
"Explain further about the NID, please," the male requested.
And so Vidrine began to explain.
The hosts continued to argue with their victims, and Selmak found herself in the medical lab area. The hologram smiled when she saw herself in the tank.
"Truly, I am showing every year of my age, am I not?" She murmured out loud. "Fortunately, I was never vain about my appearance."
"Sorrentino?" Samantha questioned from a corner of the room. "Who are you?"
"I am Selmak," Selmak stated in response to the question. "Are you keeping an eye on me?"
"Yes, I know Dad wouldn't want you to be left alone," Samantha informed Selmak.
"Thank you," Selmak answered.
"Who's Mark Sorrentino?" Samantha questioned. "Was he an instructor of my father?"
"Captain Carter, you need to speak to father and learn why he is the man that he is," Selmak explained softly. "Mark is probably the only person besides your mother and George, that Jake ever listened to. Mark was your father's high school science teacher, and he molded Jacob into the man he is today."
"Dad never really talks about his childhood," Samantha explained.
"I know, but you need to ask him questions, especially about Mark and Celeste Sorrentino. Your mother and father named your brother after Mark."
"I'm worried about my father," admitted Jacob's daughter.
"Don't be, he's with Janet right now," Selmak tried not to smile too broadly, but she knew exactly what Jacob was doing with the doctor. "She'll keep her eyes on him, don't you worry."
And a few other body parts, Selmak refrained from adding, as she wasn't sure how Samantha would react to THAT tidbit. Better let Jake handle it.
"Selmak…" Samantha then paused, searching for the right words. "He'll be angry…"
"Do not tell him, as this is the only morally correct decision to make. Unlike others you have met, I will not keep an unwillingly and unhappy host. I am not Goa'uld," Selmak reminded Samantha. "Thank you for keeping an eye on me, I will take over the watch. I have much to ponder."
It was ten o'clock in the evening, and George was hungry. Around nine, he had grabbed a bottle of coke and then lost his money in the candy machine. He had smacked the machine a few times, venting his anger about the current on the situation onto the machine, but after a few minutes of pounding, he had decided to give up the BBQ Potato Chips as a lost cause.
He saw Jack in the cafeteria, and he decided to sit with him.
"Colonel?" he questioned.
Jack ignored him for a bit, and then Hammond cleared his throat.
"Oh, sorry, Sir, didn't see you, please sit down," Jack explained. He then crumbled up his potato chip bag, Hammond enviously noting that it was the same brand of BBQ Potato Chip that had sucked his money away. "Been thinking."
"About what?" Hammond questioned.
"The hologram Saroosh gave me a ration of shit," Jack said bluntly. "I thought perhaps that I shouldn't be taking that verbal abuse from a hologram, but I couldn't figure out how to turn it off. Then I decided that I really liked seeing Maybourne being threatened with castration by a pretty Oriental female, so I figured, what the hell - live and let live. If the holograms want to talk, let 'em. If they wanted to slice up Maybourne, more power to them! If Saroosh wants to yell at me and blame me for everything, then let the old shrew scream. When I left them; Martouf, Lantesh, Vidrine and Maybourne didn't look very pleased with their see through buddies. How was dear ole Sel?"
"Selmak and I had a long discussion," George rubbed his tired eyes and then stared blearily at his soda bottle. "Selmak's convinced me that what he's doing is the best thing for Jake."
"Jake is not going to like having Selmak's blood on his hands, Sir," Jack retorted.
Quirking an amused eyebrow at O'Neill, Hammond questioned Jack's change of attitude, "That's not quite what I expected you to say. I'd figured you'd be the one cheering the loudest for the separation."
"Jake and I don't get along because we're too much alike, Sir," Jack informed George.
"Color me unsurprised," Hammond sarcastically replied, before waving his hand. "My apologies, Colonel, it's been one hell of a day."
"If I were Jake, I'd never forgive myself," Jack snapped.
"And I'd never forgive myself if I forced Jake to become a Tok'Ra again," Hammond responded.
The two men sat quietly for a bit, and then George stood up.
"Tomorrow's another day, Colonel. I'm going home and get some shut eye. I suggest you do the same."
Jake woke up, and he realized he was cold, clammy, and soaking wet.
Night sweats? I'm having night sweats? I haven't had them since I blended with Sel.
He sat up, and mentally groaned. Janet Frasier was lying next to him, fortunately sleeping, but damn it, the sheets and the pillow cases were wet.
Why am I having night sweats? Damn it, damn it, damn it! First night with Janet, and I'm having night sweats? Damn it, this is embarrassing.
He got out of bed, surprised by how weak he felt.
Whoa. She's a real wild cat, if I'm this tired, he thought. I think there are some towels in the bedroom. I'll put them on the bed, and hopefully she doesn't get wet. This isn't a wet spot; this is an entirely wet side of the bed!
He grabbed a few towels from the bathroom, and he staggered back to bed. He was putting down the towels on his side of the bed when Janet woke up as he had started coughing.
"Whatcha doing, airman?" she teased in a very seductive voice.
"Knocked over a glass of water. Shouldn't have tried to drink it in bed," he lied.
"We can call room service and have them change the sheets," Janet said drowsily.
"No, this is fine," he assured her.
He got back into bed, and she put her arms around his neck, before giving him a long kiss.
"You're cold, I could warm you up," she purred.
"I'm really tired, Janet," Jake explained ruefully. "I'm sorry; I'm a lot older than you are."
Janet made a rude noise, before snuggling closer to him.
"Go to sleep, flyboy," she whispered.
Jake was sleeping silently next to her, and she hesitantly put her hand on his neck. She had felt something when she had kissed him… a swollen lymph node that hadn't been there earlier. Christ… it was there…and she palpated the swollen node carefully. Then she felt the other side of his neck, praying that there wasn't a matching one there.
Shit. There was a duplicate!
Let's see night sweats, exhaustion, swollen lymph nodes, coughing. Back Pain? He said his back hurt earlier.
If he woke up, she'd claim that she was getting frisky, but she continued to check his lymph nodes. Swollen lymph nodes on both sides of the diaphragm.
Damn it, damn it, you were clear. I checked them all! You can't be out of remission this quick, Jake!
She got out of bed, and walked to the bathroom, picking up her cell phone on the way. Entering the bathroom, she closed the door and sat on the sink before dialing a number she knew by heart.
"Maggie? It's Janet. I need you to do something for me. Pull all of General Jacob Carter's medical files. I want copies of everything he's had done, especially xrays and lab work. Now, I need to schedule the following tests, and I want you to John Doe them. Under no circumstances is anyone, including General Hammond or Captain Carter to find out who my patient is. I need complete blood work include an ESR rate, I want you to order a PET Scan. Diagnosis, back pain, rule out recurrent Lymphoma."
She hung up then, and she closed her eyes for just a moment.
Selmak, I thought you cured him.
And then Janet cried.
The next morning, Jake was shockingly weak. His color was off, and his jaunty grin wasn't as broad as it once was. It took a while for him to get dressed, and he was winded by the exertion. Then, to Janet's surprise, he handed her the car keys.
"Drive me to the base, Janet, please," he said in a very exhausted tone. "I think I want you to check me out when we get there. I really don't feel very well, and I don't think it's because of too much fun last night."
She had to half drag, half carry him to the car, and he gracelessly collapsed into the passenger's seat.
"I'm sorry, this is a lousy first date" the General whispered to her. "First I can't get my wedding ring off, and now this."
"Well, next time, it's going to be better," Janet said cheerily.
Jake smiled at her, grateful for her understanding, and she hoped that he didn't see the tears in her eyes.
The road was clear, the weather warm and Janet sped the entire way back to the base while Jake slept in the passenger's seat. Fortunately by the time they got there, far too early for George Hammond or Samantha Carter to be at the base, Jake had recovered his strength enough to walk to the infirmary.
He sat on the examination table, and he smirked when Janet threw two gowns at him.
"One on front, one on back, that way you don't flash anyone," she said. "I need to change. I'll be back."
Jake nodded, and then he sighed, "I'm out of remission, Janet. I can tell."
"No, don't say that, you're not a doctor," Janet retorted quickly.
"I wanted to try and patch things up with Mark, but I guess I don't have enough time now," he said. "Janet, how's Selmak?"
"She's doing well, Jake. Swimming laps in her tank, biting people that put their hands into the tank," Janet lied, as she had no idea how the symbiote was doing, but after dealing with the ramifications of Selmak biting Jack O'Neill, Janet was pretty confident that her lie sounded truthful.
"That's my girl," Jake sighed softly. "I think she's seen JAWS once too often, and secretly, she wants to be the Great White Symbiote."
His speech was slurring, and he closed his eyes, "I think you're going to need a bigger host, Sel."
Janet Frasier grew more and more concerned about the lab results.
Everything was wrong.
Completely wrong.
According to the chest xrays, the PET scans, the MRI and everything else, Jacob was in Stage 4BE NS Recurrent Hodgkin's Lymphoma. The disease was in spots that had been perfectly clear when he had been declared terminal.
The Xrays had been perfectly clear after Selmak had repudiated him! Clear! Spotless! The MRIs had look absolutely positively clear!
It must be the Naquadah in his blood. It's acting as a cancer accelerant? Or is because Selmak was fused in parts of Jacob's body and had to leave parts of herself behind? These cells are mutating wildly, and there's no control over them!
She drew several more vials of blood from Jake, flashing him a toothy. vampirish grin when he asserted that she was a vampire because she was draining him of his blood. Then she went to the lab, pulled the pathologist off the slides he was working on and had him look at Jake's blood under a microscope. Then she viewed it, and had the doctor review it again.
Dr. Ying, the pathologist, shook his head in disbelief. "There are three different structures in his blood, and they're fusing underneath the scope while I'm watching. And whatever those other two structures are in his blood, they're turning the lymphoma in Super Lymphoma. It's spreading like wildfire while I'm watching."
"The lymphoma appears to be reacting to the Naquadah in his system. It's fusing with that and Selmak's cells that she left behind in Jacob," she asked.
"You need to get a damn good hematologist-oncologist. Naquadah in the blood stream? That stuff can blow up if you expose it to the wrong chemicals," Dr. Ying reminded Janet.
Thinking back of the nightmare she had endured when they thought Cassandra was a living, breathing Naquadah bomb because of Nirrti, Janet still managed to smile, even though she was tempted to smack Dr. Ying upside his head with her files and scream, "I've lived through it once, thank you very much!"
Instead Janet thanked the Doctor, before composing herself, as she had to break the news to Jacob. No matter how long she had been a doctor, she never got comfortable with this part of the job.
Thank God.
The minute she got comfortable delivering this news was the time she needed to hang up her 'scope. Jacob was in bed and her arrival earned her a weak smile.
"Wanna play doctor, Doc?" Jake leered.
"Yes, I do," she said, as she put down the side rail. When she reached for his hand, he sighed.
"How much time?" He questioned.
"I don't know," Janet reluctantly answered.
"Guess…" Jake requested softly. "What's my staging numbers?"
Jake wanted to know his staging numbers, those strange, esoteric numbers which meant so much in cancer care. What seemed to be a mere jumble of numbers detailed where the cancer was, where it had spread, what organs were affected and so, so much more.
"Stage 4BE NS," Janet rattled the arcane numbers off slowly. "Jacob, you need to take Selmak back as your symbiote."
"No," he whispered. "She's getting a new host, and her new host will be the type of host she deserves. Not a cranky old man like me, but someone with a sense of humor who can tell her naughty jokes. I never knew any decent dirty jokes. I always was an officer and a gentleman with her."
He closed his eyes and sighed.
"She thought she cured me," Jake protested. "She'll be quite upset if she ever finds out the truth."
"It wasn't a clean repudiation, Jacob. Selmak did leave parts of herself in you," Janet explained.
"I know, I can still hear her sometimes," Jake said softly. "Do you want to know what she said last night while you were sleeping?"
"Jacob, don't change the subject," his lover protested.
"She yelled, 'Yeee Haaaa' and then she giggled," Jake said. "So, she was fused too deeply with me for a clean break? That means she's probably injured when she left me, Janet, so make sure she's healing ok, please. So the Selmak cells are fusing with the lymphoma cells and combined with the Naquadah, they're running amuck?"
"Yes," Janet said, as she squeezed his hands.
"Janet…" His voice was weak but authoritative. "Don't tell anyone about why it's happening, please. I think it's going to be soon. The way it's progressing, it probably will be sometime tonight."
Jake wet his lips and was silent. "Will you stay with me?"
"Yes," she promised.
"If Selmak's new host shows up, don't let her see me, ok? Just lie and tell Selmak that I went on vacation to Disneyland, Sel always wanted to go there," he explained. "Assure her that I'm going on Space Mountain for her. Tell her, I'll even buy a set of ears for her."
Long pause, as Janet wiped her tearing eyes.
"I think she wanted to wear them to a council meeting," Jake joshed. "Just to piss everyone off."
"Jacob, listen to me, there aren't any new hosts for Selmak. The Tok'Ra don't have any available," Janet informed him. "She's going to die in a few days, Jake, unless you take her back."
"One of the nurses said that Martouf and Lantesh are here," Jake retorted. "They'll take Selmak back with them, and she'll have her new host."
"Jacob, you're wrong," Janet explained again.
"Janet… can you give me something for the pain, please? Drug me up really well, as it hurts so bad, Janet," Jake requested. "Please, don't let Sam see me like this. I also want you to be my doctor, so don't protest, please."
He closed his eyes, and bit his lip. Jake then took several deep breaths, and then eased back onto the bed.
"It's happening so damn fast, Janet. That's a good thing, as I won't have that long, slow decline… I was worried about that the first time… you know…" He gasped again. "That I'd be circling that cosmic drain for ages until it was time."
"Jacob, I'm going to call the best specialists I can in, "Janet informed him. "I already have a phone call out to a couple doctors."
"George is my power of attorney and my health care proxy, you have that on file, I hope?" Jake questioned. "If the time comes, George makes the decisions, he knows… no extraordinary measures, and I want my death to be with dignity, Janet."
"Jacob…" Janet protested.
"And that means, a hell of a lot happy drugs, Janet," Jake ordered. "When I shuffle off this mortal coil, I want to be pain free."
The good doctor was getting teary eyed, and she tried to hide it by playing with her bangs.
"No tears, Janet. It's been a good life, and thanks to Selmak, I've made amends with my daughter, I got to experience things that I never did before. I got to see other words, I met a very nice head snake by the name of Selmak … and I got to enjoy your company. It's been worth it, dear." Jake then took her hands in his, and squeezed.
"You'll have to tell George and Sammy, ok? I don't know if George will actually care, after yesterday, but he might show up just to stick a stake in my heart to make sure I'm dead."
"Don't say that, Jacob," the doctor protested. "Now Jacob, we have to do one final test."
He pouted, and she laughed shakily.
"You're too old to sulk, Jake. The oncologist wants a bone marrow biopsy."
He sighed, and then he ordered, "I want good drugs, Janet."
"You'll have them."
Jack O'Neill couldn't sleep, as his dreams had been full of a stern and reprimanding Saroosh who kept telling him that it was ALL HIS FAULT, and so he was in work early. He changed into blue fatigues, and wondered if he should leave a note in Daniel's locker saying, "GREEN" – just so Daniel would wear the wrong color.
Naaah… while it would be amusing, it would probably piss George off, and he seemed to be having a very bad day yesterday.
"Well, maybe I'll go to the cafeteria, grab some coffee and work on some of my reports," O'Neill thought happily. "Or maybe I'll just get some coffee."
He was strolling down the hallway when he heard the beep beep beep of an IVAC pump and the squeaking wheels of a stretcher being wheeled down the hallway by various personnel. They were heading his way, and so he jumped out of the way and into an open door way.
Since he was Special Ops trained, nobody in the parade noticed that he was watching. Not even Janet Frasier who was walking down the hallway, clicking away in her high heels even as she was talking to her patient.
"When the biopsy's done, I'll talk to your daughter." She informed her patient.
There was a head bob from the patient, and then she made them stop the stretcher as she was fiddling around with a medication port. She quickly injected something into the port and asked the patient how he was feeling.
He mumbled something, and the doctor laughed. It was her "I'm trying to be upbeat even the prognosis is really bad" laugh, and Jack wondered who the patient was.
"Ok, gentleman, take good care of him. Don't let him stop for coffee on the way down and if he gets grouchy, ignore him."
A weak voice said, "I'm never grouchy… you got me confused with that other bald two star General. I'm an angel; George is the cranky one, especially if he doesn't have his morning coffee. I've seen him flip over a Jeep one time because they only had decaf."
Another laugh from Janet.
Shit! Her patient was Jake?
Jack peered out the doorway carefully, and he looked at Jake. The older man looked like he had been dragged down into the depths of hell by a horde of angry demons, chewed up and spit out. He had never seen Jake look that bad, even when he and Carter had dragged him through the gate to meet Selmak.
The stretcher continued one way, and Janet Frasier watched them leave. She gave her patient a little wave, and Jake returned it with a weak salute.
"Flatterer," she chuckled. "Blue skies."
"Blue skies," her patient answered.
Then after the stretcher was gone from view, Jack O'Neill realized that Janet Frasier was in tears.
"Damn it, I hate my job," she protested, as she stormed off down the hallway.
What was going on, Jack wondered. Naturally, nobody told him anything, so he'd have to find out.
