AN-Late update but finally getting around to doing it. Need more hours in the day.

Sam sat up and rested her head on the wall, her emotions so close to the surface she was fighting to keep them tempered. Now she had started a conversation about her dad and the Tok'ra she knew she should finish it. Looking down she saw Jack was still lying down but had turned on his side and shifted closer to her, his head propped up on his hand. Instead of speaking she patted her lap and looked at him. She knew he would understand, and as he settled his head in her lap she smiled. They both knew that the contact of Jack's head in her lap would be enough to keep her grounded when she spoke, yet not too much to get her distracted from her conversation.

Sam placed one hand on Jack's head, letting her fingers stroke through his hair. Jack reached over and took her other hand in his as she took a deep breath.

"When I saw dad at the ceremony, I wasn't sure if I wanted him there or not. As you know dad always thought I wanted to get into NASA. Even at the medal presentation he just couldn't let it lie. You heard for yourself what an arrogant and selfish man he was, what would look good for him, that was all he cared about. I went from being crazy mad with him to all out devastated in nought point three seconds. No matter how much I resented him after my mother died he was my dad. He stood there so sure of himself and told me he had cancer then just swept it away. The man was insufferable, no wonder Mark cut all ties. As he walked out the door he made me feel like I was in the wrong, just because I didn't wanted to join NASA and keep him happy. I couldn't even begin to explain what I did, you heard him having his wise cracks about it. He did say we needed a better cover story for whatever it was we actually did, and thinking back it did sound lame." Her finger still gliding over Jack's head as her voice went up and down and fluctuated with her emotions.

"After he left and we got back to the base, I stood there and watched as we got pinned and I wasn't sure if I was happy or sad about it. In some ways, I wanted my dad to see, yet in other ways, I didn't. I never invited him in the first place so it wasn't that much of a hardship him not being there. All that mattered was the fact that the man pinning it on me had faith in me and so did the man beside me." Jack turning his head a little so he could look at her, a small smile starting on the corner of his mouth. "After my vision, or should I say Jolinar's vision, we went to meet the Tok'ra. I tried to contact dad before I left, tell him I was going to be out of town for a few days but dad being dad, just brushed me off. I knew I would be divided in my thoughts but this was what we did and I had to go, even when the then general Hammond offered to have me sit it out." Feeling Jack squeeze her hand as her fingers stilled their movements on his head.

"I thought by going I could not only help but answer some of my own questions about what happened? I ended up with more problems and memories to deal with than I went with. Seeing Martouf was like," stopping as she searched for the words to explain the conflicting emotions she had when she first meet Martouf as herself and not Jolinar.

"A gut punch from where I sat. Daniel told me what happened, or more so what he saw when he interrupted you on the sand dune. He said you were getting a little close to Marty." Looking up at Sam as he spoke. "We weren't that close then but there was just something about that guy that made me dislike him." Turning so he faced Sam but still not moving his head from her lap.

"Other than his symbiont?" Sam added in, just a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"No, yes, both. It was his instant pull towards you that freaked me out. Your own willingness to trust him so blindly. I was glad when the council called us back and said they would meet, it meant you had to come back in." Sitting up as he didn't even attempt to hide how he felt at the time.

"We found out in the end that he was one of the good guys, so were most of the Tok'ra we met." Trying to deflect the conversation from Martouf.

"They were that good I weeded out two spies before we even left the base, smooth set up they had going there. They were that nice they said no to being allies as we didn't want to be snakeheads, where the hell was the logic in that?" Jack's temper rising at Sam's constant defence of the Tok'ra.

"Is that how you see me? I was a snakehead, not through choice but I was still one. What about my dad? He is a snakehead." Her temper simmering as she turned and stared at Jack.

"No, you had no say in what happened. At least yours was sort of friendly. Your dad is...well, he's just dad. What made you think of getting your dad to become a Tok'ra? One minute you were sat there all doom and gloom and the next thing you're suggesting your dad as a host. That has got to go down as one of the more weird ass conversations changes." Stretching his legs out and wiggling his toes.

"I was sat there playing over the offer of staying behind, wondering if I would ever get the chance to say goodbye to my dad, then it hit me. The one thing the Tok'ra wanted was hosts, and I wanted my dad to live. Put them both together and I had a solution. I knew if I got clearance dad would agree, I was glad it was you that they allowed me to come back with. Dad wouldn't have been so accepting if it had been Daniel. He didn't want me to see how weak he was, you should have seen him when he saw me at the hospital. He sat there and said he had told general Hammond not to recall me, that hurt more than the damn cancer." Reaching up and swiping at the tear that was falling down her cheek.

"When you went to get your dad and bring him back, I just sat on base staring across the briefing room table. I had no idea how your dad would take the whole secret, alien, planet hopping thing. My main concern was what the hell we would do if he said no. You would be devastated and then there was still are people on the planet. You had near enough promised them a host, them agreeing to let us go, and the rest of our people, if we came back with one. I won't lie, when I saw you and dad I was relieved, everyone would get what they wanted. You got to keep your dad and we got the rest of the team back. Going back to the planet and finding it under attack, I thought that was it, we had travelled all that way for nothing. I had to leave you to deal with your dad while we helped out. When you said you were staying with dad when the base was under attack I was mad as hell. I wanted to pull rank and order you home, yet deep down, I knew I couldn't. You wouldn't have come and you would have hated me for it. I had to walk away and leave you. Stood at the bottom of the ramp with the gate still open was like waiting a lifetime. I am surprised you made it, I am sure the thirty-eight minutes were nearly up. When it came over the system that they had received an SG-1 code I swear I was able to breathe again." Pulling Sam against his side, her head turning and hiding in his shoulder.

Sam was glad when Jack pulled her into his side. Even though her dad had lived the thought of losing him had still cut deep. She wasn't actually sure if it was the thought of him dying or the way his cancer had played out. She was lucky that the cancer had brought them closer than they had ever been. Well, it wasn't the cancer as such, but the Tok'ra and Selmack that had done that, the cancer being the catalyst. She had been given back her father, something she had sorely missed after her mother's death. Just before he was joined he had stepped up to her and told her he was proud of her, no matter what's she did. She had never shared that conversation with anyone, it was a special memory, one she would maybe share one day with Jack. She didn't get to see her dad much, but she had always taken comfort in the fact he was out there, somewhere, doing what he did to help not only his cause but also hers. It was good talking to Jack, sharing how she felt about her dad and the Tok'ra. Turning more into Jack she draped an arm over his waist as she yawned against his neck.

"You want to nap? We can phone Spacemonkey when we get back up." Kissing her head as she yawned again.

"You stopping?" Shifting to sit up so she could move to lie down.

"Nowhere else I would rather be." Smiling as he watched her lie down, lying down behind her and spooning her to his chest.

"Thank you, Jack." She managed to yawn out as her eyes sliding shut.

"What for?" Jack said as his breath blew her hair on the top of her head.

"Being here, listening." Her eyes growing heavy as her words slurred.

"Of course, I will be here whenever you need me. Now shhh." Letting his eyes close as sleep overcame them both.