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Sam sighed as she read the morning paper. Jack looked up at her over his bowl of cereal. "What wrong in the world today?" he asked.
She looked up briefly before responding. "Nobel Peace Prize recipient went missing," she said quietly, reading from the article. "Her plane disappeared over the Atlantic after she left Morocco. She was going to see her kids for the first time in almost a year. The half-Iranian, half-American has spent the last thirty years working in aid camps around the world, mostly in the Middle East."
He looked up startled. "Not Peta Guerin?" he demanded, worry thick in his voice.
She looked up at him, clearly shocked. "I forgot you knew her!" she exclaimed. "I'm so sorry, Jack. I don't know what to say."
Jack stood up from the table quickly and retreated down the corridor to the sanctuary of his office. Sam watched him going, wanting to stop him , but not know what to say or what good it would do.
He was still in his office, sitting in the dark, when Gen, Hammond knocked on the door two hours later. "Colonel?" he asked as he opened the door.
"I'm here," he said quietly, rubbing a few tears out of his eyes.
"Maj. Carter just informed me of what happened," he said slowly. "I'm very sorry."
He nodded once. "Thank you, sir."
"If you'd like to attend the memorial service, Teal'c has gone to Chulak for a few days while you're on leave."
He nodded again. "Thank you, sir... again."
He paused. "I'm sure Maj. Carter would accompany you. She mentioned that she briefly met Dr. Guerin in the Gulf?"
Jack nodded slowly. "It's possible. Peta met a lot of people working at medical aid camps all over the Middle East. Especially during the Gulf."
Gen. Hammond nodded. "Well, just let me know when you finally decide," he said before exiting the room.
~~~~~~
Jack and Sam arrived at the memorial service in their dress blues, and impressive sight even to Peta's colleagues who frowned on the militaristic actions of governments. They waited in the back of the hall where the service was being held. An older woman approached them quietly. "Jack, I'm glad you made it," she said quietly.
He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, hugging her gently. "Hey, Mom. Mom, this is Maj. Samantha Carter. Carter, Claudia O'Neill."
Sam shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. O'Neill."
She nodded once. "I didn't know if you'd gotten my message," she commented quietly.
He looked down at his mother. "I didn't actually," he said, just as quietly. "Carter read about it in the paper. We were given the day to come out."
Claudia smiled sadly. "Well, Mahin will be glad to see you." She sighed. "Those poor children. Can you imagine, just as Peta was going to move back to the States to be with them, she's lost in a plane crash?"
Sam looked over to where the rest of Peta's family was sitting. There was a young woman sitting between an older woman who must have been Peta's mother and two younger teenaged twins. Her reddish-brown hair fell in a perfectly straight curtain across her face as she bowed her head in thought. When she straightened up, there was something familiar about her eyes that took Sam by surprise. She looked at the twins again and noticed they both had chestnut brown hair, the girl's curled down past her shoulders.
Claudia's voice broke into her thoughts. "Will you be able to come back to Mahin's after?" she asked as the service ended. "I know she really wants to see you. She would have called you, but..."
Jack nodded. "I think we have time for that."
Sam hung back with Claudia for a moment as they made their way out to the car. "Were the kids up in front Peta's?" she asked quietly.
Claudia nodded. "Alia Grace and Jude are the twins. Leila is the older one. They're all very intelligent, just like Peta. Mahin's made sure they attend the best schools."
"What's going to happen to them now?"
"They'll go on like they have their whole lives," Claudia said, a little too easily. "Peta always tried to be there for her kids, but she was driven by a higher power to take care of all the people how had no one else. Mahin will make sure they do their mother proud." Claudia smiled gently, touching Sam's arm lightly as she was called away to speak with another guest.
~~~~~
Mahin Guerin a spectacularly elegant older woman. Most people found her usually stern demeanor off-setting, but those who knew her knew that she was just a giving and selfless as her daughter. Jack walked right to the older woman, and hugged her as he had his own mother. "Jack O'Neill," she said reprovingly. "You've been avoiding my family for too long."
"Mahin, you never liked me hanging around," he countered teasingly. "You said I always messed up your clean floors."
"And you did," she said, wagging her figure in his face. "But Panteha always stood up for you. She said the jinn where just playing a joke on me."
"When really I just purposely walked through the mud before coming over."
"You really should have come over more," she said seriously. "Or you could have visited your mother and waved from one of the windows."
He looked slightly offended. "I always called!" He turned to Sam who was giving him a funny smile. "Oh, Mahin. This is Maj. Samantha Carter. She's my second in command at the base. Carter, this is Mahin Guerin, Peta's mother."
Mahin nodded, smiling slightly. "Ah! Of course, Samantha," she said warmly. "It is lovely to meet you."
Sam smiled in return. "It's nice to meet you as well. I'm very sorry about your daughter." Mahin nodded slightly, a strange look passing over her face.
The young woman walked up behind them. "Grandma, Gracie's... well, let's just say, she's upsetting some of Mama's colleagues." Mahin nodded knowingly and went off to find her granddaughter.
Sam looked from the young woman to Jack, suddenly feeling the need to leave them alone. "If you'll excuse me, I need something to drink," she said politely before crossing the room.
Jack watched the young woman for a moment. "You're Leila," he said when she gave him a questioning look.
"And you're Jack," she said, nodding lightly. She looked almost... nervous.
They stood for a moment, unable to think of anything to say to each other. "Mahin tells me you're studying archaeology at the University of Chicago. A friend of mine went there as well."
"Anyone I'd know?"
He nodded sadly. "Possibly. Dr. Daniel Jackson."
"Oh!" she said, more than mildly impressed. "I've heard of him on a number of occasions. I'm in grad school, so I've gone over some of his papers many times."
"But... you're only twenty."
She shook her head. "No. I'm twenty-three. But I'm in one of those programs that skips the Masters and get me right to my doctorate, so it's still slightly impressive," she said, a strange smile on her lips. "Only one year left."
He laughed slightly, shaking his head. "You're so much like your mother."
She smiled in return. "Mama always said I was like my father. Gracie, too. Not so much Jude, though. He's mostly Mahin."
He suddenly looked down at his watch. "I'm afraid I have to catch a plane back to the base," he said as Sam made her way back across the room. "I'm very sorry about your mother."
She smiled, nodding slightly. "It's alright. She's jinn now. She's watching over us."
Leila nodded and left him just as Mahin made her way back to Jack. "I'm sorry. Gracie seems to believe in the jinn as much as Panteha did. She's been telling people her mother didn't die but instead became one of the jinn and now protects all of the people she couldn't before. I'm afraid my little Alia Grace has her mother's beliefs."
Jack gave her an odd look as Sam appeared at his side. "That's alright. Um... I'm afraid Carter and I have to be getting back."
Mahin smiled and gave them both friendly hugs. "It was lovely to make your acquaintance, Samantha," she said politely. "And don't forget to call, Jonathan O'Neill. I may not be your mother, but I fed you enough when you were younger to mean something."
"Yes, ma'am," he said smiling, making his way out. He turned back just as he got to the door. "How old are Gracie and Jude?"
Mahin smiled slightly. "Almost thirteen." Jack nodded and closed the door behind himself.
~~~~~~
"You know some very interesting people," Sam commented as they made their way to the airport.
Jack shook his head. "I knew hardly anyone there," he commented lightly. "They were Charlie's friends."
She gave him an odd look. "What?"
"Peta," he said. "Real name, Panteha, but most people called her Peta. I usually just called her Charlie. She went missing in Lebanon in the Beirut Wars... Sara and I named Charlie after her. I thought she was dead until I saw her in Saudi Arabia in '90. And that's classified. As a matter of fact, I wasn't there."
"Got it," Sam said quickly.
They were silent for a moment. "Sir, if I might ask..." Sam trailed off breaking the silence. "What did Mahin say about the jinn? Aren't jinn supposed to be like... spirits that sometimes help and sometimes hurt humans?" Jack nodded slightly. "And she said that Peta... is jinn now?"
He snorted. "You mean you noticed it too?"
"It might be a coincidence, but she could have Ascended," Sam nodded.
"Most people thought she was crazy for believing in jinn," Jack said quietly. "A now, we know they probably do exist."
There were quite for another minute. "Have you ever met them before? Peta's children?"
"Leila once. Just after Charlie was born. Mahin had them in boarding schools, so there usually weren't there when I visited."
"She has you eyes," Sam commented quietly. Jack gave her a sideways glance and started laughing quietly. "What?" she demanded. "What's so funny?"
"Sara said the exact same thing."
~~~~~~
Jack arrived back home and went right to the answering machine. Sure enough, there was a message from exactly one week before.
"Jack, sweetheart, it's Mom. Listen... God, I shouldn't say this in a message, but I don't know when you'll get this. Jack, Peta died. Her plane went down somewhere between Morocco and New York. Please, if you get this in time, come to the memorial service on Wednesday. I love you. Please call when you get this."
His finger hesitated as he hit erase.
A second best friend gone is as many months.
*******
Author's Note: Just a intimate look on Jack. He doesn't really get any good moments in any of my stories and this called out to be written. This is just a one-shot- Peta's not gonna come back like Daniel did.
Sam sighed as she read the morning paper. Jack looked up at her over his bowl of cereal. "What wrong in the world today?" he asked.
She looked up briefly before responding. "Nobel Peace Prize recipient went missing," she said quietly, reading from the article. "Her plane disappeared over the Atlantic after she left Morocco. She was going to see her kids for the first time in almost a year. The half-Iranian, half-American has spent the last thirty years working in aid camps around the world, mostly in the Middle East."
He looked up startled. "Not Peta Guerin?" he demanded, worry thick in his voice.
She looked up at him, clearly shocked. "I forgot you knew her!" she exclaimed. "I'm so sorry, Jack. I don't know what to say."
Jack stood up from the table quickly and retreated down the corridor to the sanctuary of his office. Sam watched him going, wanting to stop him , but not know what to say or what good it would do.
He was still in his office, sitting in the dark, when Gen, Hammond knocked on the door two hours later. "Colonel?" he asked as he opened the door.
"I'm here," he said quietly, rubbing a few tears out of his eyes.
"Maj. Carter just informed me of what happened," he said slowly. "I'm very sorry."
He nodded once. "Thank you, sir."
"If you'd like to attend the memorial service, Teal'c has gone to Chulak for a few days while you're on leave."
He nodded again. "Thank you, sir... again."
He paused. "I'm sure Maj. Carter would accompany you. She mentioned that she briefly met Dr. Guerin in the Gulf?"
Jack nodded slowly. "It's possible. Peta met a lot of people working at medical aid camps all over the Middle East. Especially during the Gulf."
Gen. Hammond nodded. "Well, just let me know when you finally decide," he said before exiting the room.
~~~~~~
Jack and Sam arrived at the memorial service in their dress blues, and impressive sight even to Peta's colleagues who frowned on the militaristic actions of governments. They waited in the back of the hall where the service was being held. An older woman approached them quietly. "Jack, I'm glad you made it," she said quietly.
He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, hugging her gently. "Hey, Mom. Mom, this is Maj. Samantha Carter. Carter, Claudia O'Neill."
Sam shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. O'Neill."
She nodded once. "I didn't know if you'd gotten my message," she commented quietly.
He looked down at his mother. "I didn't actually," he said, just as quietly. "Carter read about it in the paper. We were given the day to come out."
Claudia smiled sadly. "Well, Mahin will be glad to see you." She sighed. "Those poor children. Can you imagine, just as Peta was going to move back to the States to be with them, she's lost in a plane crash?"
Sam looked over to where the rest of Peta's family was sitting. There was a young woman sitting between an older woman who must have been Peta's mother and two younger teenaged twins. Her reddish-brown hair fell in a perfectly straight curtain across her face as she bowed her head in thought. When she straightened up, there was something familiar about her eyes that took Sam by surprise. She looked at the twins again and noticed they both had chestnut brown hair, the girl's curled down past her shoulders.
Claudia's voice broke into her thoughts. "Will you be able to come back to Mahin's after?" she asked as the service ended. "I know she really wants to see you. She would have called you, but..."
Jack nodded. "I think we have time for that."
Sam hung back with Claudia for a moment as they made their way out to the car. "Were the kids up in front Peta's?" she asked quietly.
Claudia nodded. "Alia Grace and Jude are the twins. Leila is the older one. They're all very intelligent, just like Peta. Mahin's made sure they attend the best schools."
"What's going to happen to them now?"
"They'll go on like they have their whole lives," Claudia said, a little too easily. "Peta always tried to be there for her kids, but she was driven by a higher power to take care of all the people how had no one else. Mahin will make sure they do their mother proud." Claudia smiled gently, touching Sam's arm lightly as she was called away to speak with another guest.
~~~~~
Mahin Guerin a spectacularly elegant older woman. Most people found her usually stern demeanor off-setting, but those who knew her knew that she was just a giving and selfless as her daughter. Jack walked right to the older woman, and hugged her as he had his own mother. "Jack O'Neill," she said reprovingly. "You've been avoiding my family for too long."
"Mahin, you never liked me hanging around," he countered teasingly. "You said I always messed up your clean floors."
"And you did," she said, wagging her figure in his face. "But Panteha always stood up for you. She said the jinn where just playing a joke on me."
"When really I just purposely walked through the mud before coming over."
"You really should have come over more," she said seriously. "Or you could have visited your mother and waved from one of the windows."
He looked slightly offended. "I always called!" He turned to Sam who was giving him a funny smile. "Oh, Mahin. This is Maj. Samantha Carter. She's my second in command at the base. Carter, this is Mahin Guerin, Peta's mother."
Mahin nodded, smiling slightly. "Ah! Of course, Samantha," she said warmly. "It is lovely to meet you."
Sam smiled in return. "It's nice to meet you as well. I'm very sorry about your daughter." Mahin nodded slightly, a strange look passing over her face.
The young woman walked up behind them. "Grandma, Gracie's... well, let's just say, she's upsetting some of Mama's colleagues." Mahin nodded knowingly and went off to find her granddaughter.
Sam looked from the young woman to Jack, suddenly feeling the need to leave them alone. "If you'll excuse me, I need something to drink," she said politely before crossing the room.
Jack watched the young woman for a moment. "You're Leila," he said when she gave him a questioning look.
"And you're Jack," she said, nodding lightly. She looked almost... nervous.
They stood for a moment, unable to think of anything to say to each other. "Mahin tells me you're studying archaeology at the University of Chicago. A friend of mine went there as well."
"Anyone I'd know?"
He nodded sadly. "Possibly. Dr. Daniel Jackson."
"Oh!" she said, more than mildly impressed. "I've heard of him on a number of occasions. I'm in grad school, so I've gone over some of his papers many times."
"But... you're only twenty."
She shook her head. "No. I'm twenty-three. But I'm in one of those programs that skips the Masters and get me right to my doctorate, so it's still slightly impressive," she said, a strange smile on her lips. "Only one year left."
He laughed slightly, shaking his head. "You're so much like your mother."
She smiled in return. "Mama always said I was like my father. Gracie, too. Not so much Jude, though. He's mostly Mahin."
He suddenly looked down at his watch. "I'm afraid I have to catch a plane back to the base," he said as Sam made her way back across the room. "I'm very sorry about your mother."
She smiled, nodding slightly. "It's alright. She's jinn now. She's watching over us."
Leila nodded and left him just as Mahin made her way back to Jack. "I'm sorry. Gracie seems to believe in the jinn as much as Panteha did. She's been telling people her mother didn't die but instead became one of the jinn and now protects all of the people she couldn't before. I'm afraid my little Alia Grace has her mother's beliefs."
Jack gave her an odd look as Sam appeared at his side. "That's alright. Um... I'm afraid Carter and I have to be getting back."
Mahin smiled and gave them both friendly hugs. "It was lovely to make your acquaintance, Samantha," she said politely. "And don't forget to call, Jonathan O'Neill. I may not be your mother, but I fed you enough when you were younger to mean something."
"Yes, ma'am," he said smiling, making his way out. He turned back just as he got to the door. "How old are Gracie and Jude?"
Mahin smiled slightly. "Almost thirteen." Jack nodded and closed the door behind himself.
~~~~~~
"You know some very interesting people," Sam commented as they made their way to the airport.
Jack shook his head. "I knew hardly anyone there," he commented lightly. "They were Charlie's friends."
She gave him an odd look. "What?"
"Peta," he said. "Real name, Panteha, but most people called her Peta. I usually just called her Charlie. She went missing in Lebanon in the Beirut Wars... Sara and I named Charlie after her. I thought she was dead until I saw her in Saudi Arabia in '90. And that's classified. As a matter of fact, I wasn't there."
"Got it," Sam said quickly.
They were silent for a moment. "Sir, if I might ask..." Sam trailed off breaking the silence. "What did Mahin say about the jinn? Aren't jinn supposed to be like... spirits that sometimes help and sometimes hurt humans?" Jack nodded slightly. "And she said that Peta... is jinn now?"
He snorted. "You mean you noticed it too?"
"It might be a coincidence, but she could have Ascended," Sam nodded.
"Most people thought she was crazy for believing in jinn," Jack said quietly. "A now, we know they probably do exist."
There were quite for another minute. "Have you ever met them before? Peta's children?"
"Leila once. Just after Charlie was born. Mahin had them in boarding schools, so there usually weren't there when I visited."
"She has you eyes," Sam commented quietly. Jack gave her a sideways glance and started laughing quietly. "What?" she demanded. "What's so funny?"
"Sara said the exact same thing."
~~~~~~
Jack arrived back home and went right to the answering machine. Sure enough, there was a message from exactly one week before.
"Jack, sweetheart, it's Mom. Listen... God, I shouldn't say this in a message, but I don't know when you'll get this. Jack, Peta died. Her plane went down somewhere between Morocco and New York. Please, if you get this in time, come to the memorial service on Wednesday. I love you. Please call when you get this."
His finger hesitated as he hit erase.
A second best friend gone is as many months.
*******
Author's Note: Just a intimate look on Jack. He doesn't really get any good moments in any of my stories and this called out to be written. This is just a one-shot- Peta's not gonna come back like Daniel did.