The Touched

Part 11

She was leaving him. It didn't matter how she said it; she was still leaving him. She felt safer and more at home with a bunch of snakeheads that she did with him. Okay, so that wasn't entirely true, and to be fair, one of those snakeheads was her father. But it still felt like she was leaving him.

Jack sighed and pushed away from his desk. He knew he'd hurt her with what he'd said about the baby. But the truth was, he was scared. He'd lost one child already and he'd never forgiven himself for it…what if it happened again? That was all he'd been able to think. But now, she was leaving. Taking the unborn child with her and leaving him, and all he wanted was his child and the woman he loved.

Heading for the surface, he stopped momentarily at her lab. He glanced inside, praying that she'd be there, playing with some do-hickey that he'd never understand the function of, never mind the mechanics of. But her lab was empty, cleared of anything but a few of the said machines. She was really leaving him. She'd rather be half way across the galaxy with…

He hit the doorframe, almost without thinking, and not caring that there was now a large splinter of wood in his hand. Martouf. If he was honest with himself, which he usually wasn't, then he could safely say that was his biggest fear. That she'd decide that she'd rather raise this child with Martouf. That she'd rather raise his child with the snakehead.

*Over my dead body*

He sighed and winced, suddenly noticing the splinter. He pulled it out and began to walk to the surface. Regardless of his problems with Martouf, he needed to trust Sam…needed to trust that she'd come back to him. Besides, he could always beat the crap out of Martouf later if he tried anything.

~x~x~x~x~x~

"Take care, Sam,"

"I will Daniel, I promise, I will." She smiled as he finally let her go, a goofy grin on his face as he looked at her stomach once more.

Sam was going to be a mother…to Jack's child. Wow. He got to be Uncle Danny. Jack had to be a little annoyed that they hadn't even been allowed to do the…well, action that usually went with it. Actually, knowing Jack, he'd be more than a little annoyed, Daniel thought with a grin.

"Good bye, Major Carter."

"Goodbye Teal'c." Sam said. Before she could even react, the large man had enveloped her (literally) in a quick hug. Shocked beyond thinking, all she could do was smile as the Stargate activated behind them. Turning, she smiled, waiting to be greeted by her father.

*Keep thinking great big smiles,* she said to herself, *And don't tell him about the baby till later…and don't tell him who the father is until he's at least a couple of thousand light years away from his target.*

Shaking herself out of her reverie, her smile faltered as a completely different man than she had expected, entered the base. He smiled at her and walked down the ramp towards her.

"Samantha," he smiled, reaching out his hands and grasping hers, "It is wonderful to see you."

"Thanks, Martouf, it's, eh, it's great to see you, too." She slowly pulled her hands from his, somehow feeling awkward. "Not that it's not great to see you Martouf, but where's my father?"

"Ah, Jacob and Selmac are on a mission at the moment. We expect their return within the next few days. Needless to say, we were confused by your request to join us for a while, but we understand that you wish to spend some time with your father. The High Council has agreed to your stay, on the grounds that your only contact will be when you wish to leave us."

"I…eh, I guess I can understand that." She smiled a little before turning to say goodbye to them one last time, her gaze lingering on the door a little longer than was necessary. He wasn't coming. She'd known he wouldn't be, but still she'd hoped. This was the longest she'd gone without seeing him since the incident, and although she knew it was odd and very unlikely, she almost felt like a part of her was in mourning for his loss. Her stomach seemed to ache for his contact.

Shrugging off her thoughts, she waved and headed up the ramp after Martouf. He was carrying her bags for her, an act that, although sweet and caring, really pissed her off. Sighing, she turned for one last look at her friends, noting only the absence of one man. Turning, she entered the wormhole, oblivious to the man staring at her from the control room, watching as the mother of his child left him.

~x~x~x~x~x~

It had been less than a week and already Jack was pissing off the entire base. He'd gone from becoming a hermit, to being overzealous and annoyingly cheerful. He seemed to relish in turning his new found lease for life on Daniel and Teal'c, who were putting up with him only because they knew that, deep down, he was in pain.

He missed her. Any fool could see that, he was terrible at trying to hide it. The betting pool had hit an all time record, with people placing money on him snapping any time soon. Of course, most of it was just wishful thinking. They wanted rid of this cheerful annoying man in their Colonel's body. They wanted their sarcastic Colonel, who would beat the shit out of them for betting on him and his 2IC, back.

~x~x~x~x~x~

Jack ran to the control room as the warning klaxons ran throughout the base. He didn't know how he knew, but he did. Something was wrong with Sam and the baby, and this was them…he knew it. He skidded into the room, almost knocking into Daniel as he headed for the General.

"Sir, get a medical team here now."

"Excuse me?" Hammond turned to him, eyebrows raised.

"Sir, it's Sam. There's something wrong with the baby."

Confused - and willing to let the fact that the Colonel had called his 2IC, Sam, slip by - he ordered a med. team to the gate room. He knew his teams well, and he knew Colonel O'Neill. If the man said something was wrong, then he wasn't about to second-guess a gut instinct that had saved the lives of many in the past.

"It's the Tok'Ra, Sir."

Taking this as a sign that he was, indeed, correct, Jack, Daniel, Teal'c and the General made their way to the 'gate room, praying that he wasn't. The wormhole opened and Teal'c warily watched Jack, prepared to hold him back if need be, but he didn't get the chance. The moment that Jacob entered the room, carrying Sam in his arms, Teal'c was running alongside him.

Sam was crying in agony, clutching at her stomach and shuddering as ice cold pains pierced her stomach. Jack met them half way up the ramp and, without noting the glare in Jacob's eye, he pulled Sam into his arms. The moment she was in his embrace, she silenced. Frowning, she opened her watery eyes and stared at him, disbelieving.

"It stopped." She whispered, but the silence in the room allowed everyone to hear her. "The pain stopped."

"Would someone care to explain?" Jacob asked, breaking the awkward silence that followed, and Jack gulped. Jacob didn't look happy…and he was looking at him.

~x~x~x~x~x~

End Part 11

Sorry it's short, but, hey, all these parts are short. Just the right size to piss you off when you want to know what's going on! ;) Or so Laura tells me!

Just to remind you, this is set after Seth, that's why Martouf is in it.