Chapter 6
As the group entered the control room, the General was total business. "Have we received a signal yet Sergeant?"
"Negative sir"
"Close the iris." General Hammond then reached for the mike. "All defense teams, stand ready."
Harm and Mac were taken aback by the number of Marines and Airmen that flowed into the room in front of them. Everyone waiting quietly until the sergeant finally spoke, "Receiving IDC code sir. It's the Tok'Ra."
General Hammond quickly responded. "Open the iris. All defense teams, stand down." He the turned to SG-1 and the two guests, "Lets go welcome our visitors, shall we?"
The group silently made their way into the embarkation room. Harm and Mac were standing in awe of the bright shimmering pool of 'water' in front of them that they failed to see the sole traveler emerge from the gate. After a short moment, the gate disengaged and the traveler approached. Major Carter was the first to step forward and embraced her father.
"Hi dad, its good to see you."
"You to baby," Jacob Carter responded.
All through the exchange of greetings, Harm and Mac had hung back behind the members of SG-1 not wanting to interrupt this private reunion. It wasn't until General Hammond called for them did they step forward.
"Jacob, we have a couple of guests I would like to introduce you to. Colonel MacKenzie, Commander Rabb, let me introduce you to General Jacob Carter USAF, and now of the Tok'Ra."
As the two officers stepped forward for the introductions, no one could have expected what happened next.
"Uncle Matt?" Mac stated with a confused look on her face.
"Sarah! What are you doing here?" responded Jacob.
"I believe I asked you first. And why the hell are they calling you Jacob Carter?"
O'Neill and Sam exchanged confused looks.
Jack stepped forward, "Uh, I take it you two know each other?"
Colonel MacKenzie was the first to respond. "Of course we know each other. This is my uncle, Colonel Matthew O'Hara USMC."
Now it was time for Sam to step in, "I beg to differ Colonel MacKenzie. This is my father, General Jacob Carter USAF retired. He is now a member of the Tok'Ra."
Both ladies turned to face Jacob/Matt for an explanation of what was going on here.
"Well," started Jacob. "I guess I have a lot of explaining to do. And to answer your questions, yes I am General Jacob Carter and I am also Colonel Matthew O'Hara. And before either one of you kill me, how about we move this to the conference room for a little more privacy."
Both ladies nodded silently and the group proceeded back to the conference room to hear this story. Once everyone had assumed their seats, Jacob began his explanation.
"Okay, to start this off simply, I came into this world as Matthew O'Hara. I had a younger sister, Deanne. Deanne, of course, is your mother, Sarah. When I was 18 years old I joined the marines. My superiors quickly realized I was great for black ops work. The problem was that sometimes my services were needed as more than just a Marine. I was given equal rank in the Air Force as well as a new identity. Hence, the introduction of Jacob Carter. Now normally, to become an officer in the military requires a college degree. I was granted special dispensation however and was made an officer before I completed the said degree. I then rose through the ranks and eventually settled into my life as Jacob Carter. There were just more opportunities for me in the intelligence world as an Air Force officer than there were as a Marine. Not to mention the fact that I had met your mother by then, Samantha, and she had only ever known me as Jacob Carter. Therefore, the life of Matt O'Hara was pushed to the side for the most part. Of course, when I visited you Sarah, I reassumed the role, but for all intents and purposes, I was now Jacob Carter."
Harm quickly jumped in here. "Excuse me for interrupting Colo.I mean General, but how is it you were able to get out of Leavenworth. As far as I know you are still suppose to be there."
Jacob smiled at Harm knowing that Sarah was thinking the same thing. "The truth is Commander Rabb, I was on a mission for the CIA. At the time, they had thought I went rogue and that is why they sent you and Sarah to retrieve me. After I returned to headquarters and was questioned by Webb, it was realized that I had never gone rogue and the agency returned me to active status. Of course, by then I was not really up to the job anymore. It was about this same time that I found I had cancer and didn't have much time to live. I wanted to live out my days in peace. So I returned to my life as Jacob Carter and moved to Colorado Springs to.well, to die. I figured that I would let the ruse of Matt O'Hara continue and when Jacob Carter died, so would Matt O'Hara, albeit unexpectedly. I really never meant to hurt you Samantha, or you Sarah, but there was no conceivable way to bring the two personifications together without spending the rest of my days trying to explain the truth. I figured I would die and leave each of you with a memory to live on with. Of course, then Sam came to me with an offer to live on and I decided it was too good to pass up. And here we are all are."
The silence in the room stretched on. No one knew for sure what to say and therefore opted to just not say anything. Mac was doing her best to keep her tears at bay from the ultimate betrayal she felt and Sam was just trying to wrap her head around another twist to her family history. Finally, being the voice of reason, Harm decided to take charge of the situation as best as possible.
"Uh, I think maybe we should all leave General Carter, Sam, and Mac alone for a few minutes. I think it goes without saying that they have a lot to talk about."
Everyone quietly nodded their agreement and quickly vacated the conference room in lieu of what was probably going to be the biggest family brawl in history. Once they were all alone, Jacob took his place at the head of the table and let out a long sigh. He really did not have any idea on how he was going to fix this. It was strange, when it came to Sam, he had hurt her badly over the years and only in the recent few had he been able to recover some semblance of family. Now he had to wonder if the past 20 minutes had ruined that. On the other hand, Sarah never really saw any of her uncle's faults, except for maybe the Declaration of Independence incident. And even that had a reasonable explanation to restore his marred relationship with his niece. Now he wasn't so sure there was anything he could say or do to reasonably explain this all to her. One look in those deep brown eyes of Sarah MacKenzie told him she was devastated. 'Oh well Jacob, you screwed this up, now you have to fix it.'
"I know that right now both of you are very upset with me and I am not going to offer any excuse for my behavior. I will say this though; Sam, I love you and your brother very much and I loved your mother more than anything in this world. I had to keep this a secret, at first for the job, and later because it was a lie so engrained in my psyche that it was like the truth to me. I was Jacob Carter and I was also Matt O'Hara. And Sarah, I love you so much and would have done everything I could to be there for you just like I was in Arizona all of those years ago. You are my niece and I will always be there for you sweetheart."
Mac was the first to respond. "You son of a bitch. In all of my life there are only two people I have ever been able to trust when my life turns to shit and you were one of them for the longest time. Now there is only one person left in my life that I can truly say that I trust without question; and you, Uncle Matt, or should I say Uncle Jacob, are no longer that person!" By now Mac was nearly in tears. Sam watched on quietly, her heart going out to this woman whose heart was breaking right here in this room.
Jacob tried to respond, "Sarah, honey."
"Don't you honey me you bastard! You know the worst part of all of this? Remember back in Arizona, when I was getting dried out? Do you remember what I told you then? I said that all I ever really wanted was a family that would love me and one where there was no hitting and drinking and leaving. I just wanted someone that loved me unconditionally, not like that asshole Joe MacKenzie who loved to refer to me as his little whore daughter. And not like that coward of a sister of yours who walked out and left a 15 year old girl in the hands of an abusive drunk. All I wanted was a family who loved me. And now I find out that I have a family. A family that would have probably loved me and you kept them from me. You know, Joe MacKenzie may have abused me emotionally and Deanne may have left me in his hands, but you Matt O'Hara, or Jacob Carter, or whoever the hell you are; you are worse than them. You are a liar. You took the trust I placed in you and you destroyed it. I hope you're happy. I will never forgive you for this; never." In tears, Mac left the room leaving a stunned Jacob Carter and a very puzzled Samantha Carter to sit and stare at each other. For what seemed like hours, but was most likely only a few minutes, the silence drug on. Finally Jacob turned slowly to his daughter.
"I guess I should expect the same hatred from you right now too, huh?"
Sam met his eyes and said quietly, "I don't hate you Dad but I do think you have screwed up. I won't pretend to know what relationship you have with Colonel MacKenzie.I guess I can call her Sarah since she is my cousin, huh? Anyway, I won't even fathom a guess at how much she idolizes you, but I will say that you have a lot of work to do to rebuild that relationship with her."
"I don't think so Sam. I think Sarah made it abundantly clear how she feels about me."
Sam shook her head, "No Dad, I don't think you know what she is thinking right now. I think right now she is understandably upset at you and maybe you did just get knocked down a few levels in her eyes. But if you go to her and just let her know you love her and apologize for being an ass, well, I think she will forgive you even though she claimed otherwise. Dad, you have to give her some time to get her emotions under control and then face her. Just don't make excuses because in all honesty, there are none."
Jacob let a small smile slip through as he looked at his daughter. "Maybe I am looking a gift horse in the mouth here, but you don't seem as upset."
"Oh, I'm pissed, but I don't hate you. Truth be told Dad, I can't really talk. I mean, look at my life. I am as screwed up as you. Hell, my brother doesn't even know what I do every day. The degree of your lie is bigger, but mine is no less hurtful. Let's just say, I understand."
"Thank you sweetie."
"Don't think I am letting you off that easy. You still owe me and I will collect. But for right now, you need to check on Colo.Sarah."
Jacob Carter rose from his chair and engulfed his daughter in a hug. "Thank you for your support here Sam. I will do what I can to help Sarah through this."
"Your welcome Dad. Now I think you need to give Colonel MacKenzie some time to collect her thoughts and emotions. In the meantime, why don't you join me and the rest of the team in the commissary for lunch?"
"Sounds like a plan." The two Carters turned to leave as Jacob continued their normal banter, "So Sammie, how's Jack?"
"Oh God, Dad please don't start."
"What?"
As the group entered the control room, the General was total business. "Have we received a signal yet Sergeant?"
"Negative sir"
"Close the iris." General Hammond then reached for the mike. "All defense teams, stand ready."
Harm and Mac were taken aback by the number of Marines and Airmen that flowed into the room in front of them. Everyone waiting quietly until the sergeant finally spoke, "Receiving IDC code sir. It's the Tok'Ra."
General Hammond quickly responded. "Open the iris. All defense teams, stand down." He the turned to SG-1 and the two guests, "Lets go welcome our visitors, shall we?"
The group silently made their way into the embarkation room. Harm and Mac were standing in awe of the bright shimmering pool of 'water' in front of them that they failed to see the sole traveler emerge from the gate. After a short moment, the gate disengaged and the traveler approached. Major Carter was the first to step forward and embraced her father.
"Hi dad, its good to see you."
"You to baby," Jacob Carter responded.
All through the exchange of greetings, Harm and Mac had hung back behind the members of SG-1 not wanting to interrupt this private reunion. It wasn't until General Hammond called for them did they step forward.
"Jacob, we have a couple of guests I would like to introduce you to. Colonel MacKenzie, Commander Rabb, let me introduce you to General Jacob Carter USAF, and now of the Tok'Ra."
As the two officers stepped forward for the introductions, no one could have expected what happened next.
"Uncle Matt?" Mac stated with a confused look on her face.
"Sarah! What are you doing here?" responded Jacob.
"I believe I asked you first. And why the hell are they calling you Jacob Carter?"
O'Neill and Sam exchanged confused looks.
Jack stepped forward, "Uh, I take it you two know each other?"
Colonel MacKenzie was the first to respond. "Of course we know each other. This is my uncle, Colonel Matthew O'Hara USMC."
Now it was time for Sam to step in, "I beg to differ Colonel MacKenzie. This is my father, General Jacob Carter USAF retired. He is now a member of the Tok'Ra."
Both ladies turned to face Jacob/Matt for an explanation of what was going on here.
"Well," started Jacob. "I guess I have a lot of explaining to do. And to answer your questions, yes I am General Jacob Carter and I am also Colonel Matthew O'Hara. And before either one of you kill me, how about we move this to the conference room for a little more privacy."
Both ladies nodded silently and the group proceeded back to the conference room to hear this story. Once everyone had assumed their seats, Jacob began his explanation.
"Okay, to start this off simply, I came into this world as Matthew O'Hara. I had a younger sister, Deanne. Deanne, of course, is your mother, Sarah. When I was 18 years old I joined the marines. My superiors quickly realized I was great for black ops work. The problem was that sometimes my services were needed as more than just a Marine. I was given equal rank in the Air Force as well as a new identity. Hence, the introduction of Jacob Carter. Now normally, to become an officer in the military requires a college degree. I was granted special dispensation however and was made an officer before I completed the said degree. I then rose through the ranks and eventually settled into my life as Jacob Carter. There were just more opportunities for me in the intelligence world as an Air Force officer than there were as a Marine. Not to mention the fact that I had met your mother by then, Samantha, and she had only ever known me as Jacob Carter. Therefore, the life of Matt O'Hara was pushed to the side for the most part. Of course, when I visited you Sarah, I reassumed the role, but for all intents and purposes, I was now Jacob Carter."
Harm quickly jumped in here. "Excuse me for interrupting Colo.I mean General, but how is it you were able to get out of Leavenworth. As far as I know you are still suppose to be there."
Jacob smiled at Harm knowing that Sarah was thinking the same thing. "The truth is Commander Rabb, I was on a mission for the CIA. At the time, they had thought I went rogue and that is why they sent you and Sarah to retrieve me. After I returned to headquarters and was questioned by Webb, it was realized that I had never gone rogue and the agency returned me to active status. Of course, by then I was not really up to the job anymore. It was about this same time that I found I had cancer and didn't have much time to live. I wanted to live out my days in peace. So I returned to my life as Jacob Carter and moved to Colorado Springs to.well, to die. I figured that I would let the ruse of Matt O'Hara continue and when Jacob Carter died, so would Matt O'Hara, albeit unexpectedly. I really never meant to hurt you Samantha, or you Sarah, but there was no conceivable way to bring the two personifications together without spending the rest of my days trying to explain the truth. I figured I would die and leave each of you with a memory to live on with. Of course, then Sam came to me with an offer to live on and I decided it was too good to pass up. And here we are all are."
The silence in the room stretched on. No one knew for sure what to say and therefore opted to just not say anything. Mac was doing her best to keep her tears at bay from the ultimate betrayal she felt and Sam was just trying to wrap her head around another twist to her family history. Finally, being the voice of reason, Harm decided to take charge of the situation as best as possible.
"Uh, I think maybe we should all leave General Carter, Sam, and Mac alone for a few minutes. I think it goes without saying that they have a lot to talk about."
Everyone quietly nodded their agreement and quickly vacated the conference room in lieu of what was probably going to be the biggest family brawl in history. Once they were all alone, Jacob took his place at the head of the table and let out a long sigh. He really did not have any idea on how he was going to fix this. It was strange, when it came to Sam, he had hurt her badly over the years and only in the recent few had he been able to recover some semblance of family. Now he had to wonder if the past 20 minutes had ruined that. On the other hand, Sarah never really saw any of her uncle's faults, except for maybe the Declaration of Independence incident. And even that had a reasonable explanation to restore his marred relationship with his niece. Now he wasn't so sure there was anything he could say or do to reasonably explain this all to her. One look in those deep brown eyes of Sarah MacKenzie told him she was devastated. 'Oh well Jacob, you screwed this up, now you have to fix it.'
"I know that right now both of you are very upset with me and I am not going to offer any excuse for my behavior. I will say this though; Sam, I love you and your brother very much and I loved your mother more than anything in this world. I had to keep this a secret, at first for the job, and later because it was a lie so engrained in my psyche that it was like the truth to me. I was Jacob Carter and I was also Matt O'Hara. And Sarah, I love you so much and would have done everything I could to be there for you just like I was in Arizona all of those years ago. You are my niece and I will always be there for you sweetheart."
Mac was the first to respond. "You son of a bitch. In all of my life there are only two people I have ever been able to trust when my life turns to shit and you were one of them for the longest time. Now there is only one person left in my life that I can truly say that I trust without question; and you, Uncle Matt, or should I say Uncle Jacob, are no longer that person!" By now Mac was nearly in tears. Sam watched on quietly, her heart going out to this woman whose heart was breaking right here in this room.
Jacob tried to respond, "Sarah, honey."
"Don't you honey me you bastard! You know the worst part of all of this? Remember back in Arizona, when I was getting dried out? Do you remember what I told you then? I said that all I ever really wanted was a family that would love me and one where there was no hitting and drinking and leaving. I just wanted someone that loved me unconditionally, not like that asshole Joe MacKenzie who loved to refer to me as his little whore daughter. And not like that coward of a sister of yours who walked out and left a 15 year old girl in the hands of an abusive drunk. All I wanted was a family who loved me. And now I find out that I have a family. A family that would have probably loved me and you kept them from me. You know, Joe MacKenzie may have abused me emotionally and Deanne may have left me in his hands, but you Matt O'Hara, or Jacob Carter, or whoever the hell you are; you are worse than them. You are a liar. You took the trust I placed in you and you destroyed it. I hope you're happy. I will never forgive you for this; never." In tears, Mac left the room leaving a stunned Jacob Carter and a very puzzled Samantha Carter to sit and stare at each other. For what seemed like hours, but was most likely only a few minutes, the silence drug on. Finally Jacob turned slowly to his daughter.
"I guess I should expect the same hatred from you right now too, huh?"
Sam met his eyes and said quietly, "I don't hate you Dad but I do think you have screwed up. I won't pretend to know what relationship you have with Colonel MacKenzie.I guess I can call her Sarah since she is my cousin, huh? Anyway, I won't even fathom a guess at how much she idolizes you, but I will say that you have a lot of work to do to rebuild that relationship with her."
"I don't think so Sam. I think Sarah made it abundantly clear how she feels about me."
Sam shook her head, "No Dad, I don't think you know what she is thinking right now. I think right now she is understandably upset at you and maybe you did just get knocked down a few levels in her eyes. But if you go to her and just let her know you love her and apologize for being an ass, well, I think she will forgive you even though she claimed otherwise. Dad, you have to give her some time to get her emotions under control and then face her. Just don't make excuses because in all honesty, there are none."
Jacob let a small smile slip through as he looked at his daughter. "Maybe I am looking a gift horse in the mouth here, but you don't seem as upset."
"Oh, I'm pissed, but I don't hate you. Truth be told Dad, I can't really talk. I mean, look at my life. I am as screwed up as you. Hell, my brother doesn't even know what I do every day. The degree of your lie is bigger, but mine is no less hurtful. Let's just say, I understand."
"Thank you sweetie."
"Don't think I am letting you off that easy. You still owe me and I will collect. But for right now, you need to check on Colo.Sarah."
Jacob Carter rose from his chair and engulfed his daughter in a hug. "Thank you for your support here Sam. I will do what I can to help Sarah through this."
"Your welcome Dad. Now I think you need to give Colonel MacKenzie some time to collect her thoughts and emotions. In the meantime, why don't you join me and the rest of the team in the commissary for lunch?"
"Sounds like a plan." The two Carters turned to leave as Jacob continued their normal banter, "So Sammie, how's Jack?"
"Oh God, Dad please don't start."
"What?"