Consequences
Part Two
Daniel Jackson looked worriedly at Major Carter as they came down the ramp in the SGC Gate room. She seemed pale but composed to Teal'c. There was an aura of serenity about her, undiminished by the news of O'Neill's fatherhood. It had clung to her all day, a purity that cleansed her in a manner he couldn't describe.
O'Neill glanced at her once as he walked down to greet General Hammond.
"SG-1, what news from Edora?"
He looked from face to face, seeing the tension written there, until O'Neill said at last, "A private briefing might be in order, sir."
If the General was surprised by the request, he did not display it openly. "Very well. SG-1, report to Dr. Fraiser in the infirmary, then I'd like to see Colonel O'Neill in my office at eighteen-hundred hours."
They filed up to the corridor to the elevator in silence.
Teal'c sensed there was much that wanted to be said – much that needed to be said; yet nobody spoke. His three friends faced the front of the lift, Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter retaining their more formal expressions, a crease marking Daniel Jackson's brow.
"So the child is yours?" Daniel Jackson asked.
O'Neill twitched, glancing behind him at the younger man. "Yes."
In her corner, Major Carter neither moved nor responded to the interchange between the two men.
While O'Neill had spent the time with the Edoran woman and his daughter, the rest of SG-1 had involved themselves in activity around the research station. Daniel Jackson had been dragged out to the hills by the younger children of the village who wished to show him their hidey-holes in the caves. Major Carter had engrossed herself in discussion with the scientists working at the station regarding the naquadah tests they'd been performing. Teal'c had found himself sparring with one of the Lieutenants in a grassy clearing in the woods. It had been a good contest – while Teal'c had the reach of the wiry woman, she possessed lightning-swift reflexes that would have been the envy of even Bra'tac. At the conclusion of the match, they discovered they had an audience - a ring of awed adolescents watching them.
O'Neill returned to the research station as his team was preparing to leave later that afternoon. They asked no questions then, and received no answers. Only now had Daniel Jackson asked the question and received the affirmation from their team-mate.
Things would be changing.
Little was said as they endured the brief post-gate inspection. A cursory blood test, and not much else. Edora was a known planet, holding little danger of infection. Dr. Fraiser murmured something to Major Carter in the cubicle beyond, and Major Carter replied softly enough that the reply was indeterminable.
When they reached the locker rooms, Major Carter was already finished and gone. The door stood open, wisps of steam uncurling from the doorway.
As they stripped off their clothing, picked their pockets clear of the knick-knacks they took off-world with them, and reached for towels, Teal'c chose that moment to speak. "Congratulations, O'Neill, on being a father again."
Daniel Jackson wrapped his towel around his waist, snapped his glasses shut and put them on the ledge in his locker, and made for the showers.
The support evidently made O'Neill uncomfortable, for he winced gently. Ill at ease with the news, and yet also exultant. Glancing up, he gave his friend a brief smile, "Thanks, Teal'c." Then he looked back down and continued the perusal of his pockets, lost in his own thoughts.
Teal'c let him be.
Later, he found Daniel Jackson in his office. In the corner, Major Carter sat on a stool, listing to lean against the wall with a compassionate expression as Daniel Jackson grumbled about this and that.
Nothing of, which the archaeologist spoke had anything to do with O'Neill and the discovery of his parenthood, yet Teal'c sensed that the topic lay very close to the surface of Daniel Jackson's thoughts.
During a lapse in his friend's ramblings, Teal'c asked: "Daniel Jackson, does it disturb you that O'Neill should have fathered this child on Laira of Edora?" He observed Major Carter's faint grimace, and made a silent apology to her. He knew of the feeling between his friends – he had been witness to their 'confessions'. This would disturb and distress the Major, and Teal'c would make every effort to provide her with the support she required in such a difficult time. Love and the emotions it engendered were rarely straightforward, and this 'love triangle' was more complex than most.
Daniel Jackson fell silent, staring at his work. Then he looked up at Teal'c. "It's not the child, Teal'c – it's what she represents."
Teal'c arched one eyebrow, and stated his confusion: "I do not understand."
"When Jack got stuck on Edora two years ago, he gave up the hope of going home." Something in Daniel Jackson tensed. "He didn't believe we would try to get him back, whatever the cost. In thinking we would give up on him, he gave up on us!"
And Teal'c understood. It hurt Daniel Jackson to be dismissed so lightly by O'Neill, and the child was a symbol of O'Neill's lack of faith in his friends.
"O'Neill has been left behind before."
"But not by us!" Daniel Jackson reminded them. His glasses didn't leaven the intensity of his expression one bit. "If we left him behind we either returned to get him or fully intended to return for him!"
"Daniel." Major Carter's voice cut through their friend's words. "Whatever the Colonel forgot while he was stuck on Edora, he has a daughter there, now." Her voice was steady, if sad. "He'll want to be a part of her life as she grows up."
"He can't just give this up, Sam!"
"I think that for the sake of his daughter, he could," she said. "You know how much his son meant to him – how much he loved Charlie. Do you think he'd give up a second chance to be a father now it's been presented to him?"
"This would be an opportunity for O'Neill to regain that, which he has lost." Much as he would miss his friend, Teal'c understood what might lead O'Neill to give up this fight. He did not agree with O'Neill's reasoning – after all, Teal'c's own son was growing up without his father there to teach him and train him as sons should be taught – but he could comprehend his friend's decision, and respect the choice that was made.
"He can't..." Daniel Jackson protested, but was gently cut off.
"Daniel." Major Carter held his gaze, blue eyes to blue eyes. "It's not up to us."
----
This time, the 'welcoming committee' consisted only of Captain Forrester and Laira, standing in the dappled sunlight of the woods. Laira's daughter – Daniel couldn't think of the child as Jack's, not yet – squirmed in her arms.
If Daniel stood a little closer to Sam than was necessary, well, that was his own choice. Besides, it looked like Sam could do with a little moral support – she was looking decidedly peaky in the sunlight, as if sleep had eluded her.
Truthfully, sleep had eluded Daniel, as well.
We're going to lose him, aren't we, Sam?
SG-1 had been Daniel's family for the last five years. They'd laughed and grieved, pushed each other away and forced themselves past each other's barriers. They'd supported each other and been there for each other, and hugged and teased and joked and comforted and...
...and because of Jack's stupid assumption that his friends wouldn't come back for him, Daniel was going to lose the completeness of that family. Oh, they'd still be friends – but Jack would have his own family who'd demand his time and his energy – and SG-1 would come second to that.
Jack went down the steps to his daughter and her mother, and took the girl from Laira's arms, saying something softly to the Edoran woman. As he turned back to his team, he missed the flash of possessive love in the mother's eyes as she looked upon him. Daniel grimaced. Whatever Laira had meant to Jack O'Neill during those three months, Jack had meant infinitely more to her.
"Guys," Jack said with a small smile, rapt in the child. "This is Mia..."
They remained where they stood, causing Laira to shift uncomfortably, and an expression of irritation to cross Jack's face.
Then, Sam moved. She walked as though through molasses, descending the stairs to stand before her CO and his daughter. One finger brushed past the baby's cheek. "Hey there, Mia."
A relieved expression crossed Jack's face. "This is Major Samantha Carter," he told the toddler, who gurgled and wrapped a hand firmly around Sam's proffered finger. "But I think she'll let you call her 'Sam'." A smile touched his lips and he glanced at his 2IC, who was looking down at the child. "If you've got any sense, you'll grow up as smart and... intelligent as she is."
"She's beautiful, sir."
"Well, of course she is, Carter," he replied, grinning. "She's my daughter."
They exchanged a glance of amusement before Teal'c came to stand before the child. The girl reached her free hand out to tug at the Jaffa's nose. Teal'c's expression was not visible from the Stargate steps, but Daniel could imagine the smile on the big man's face.
"She's your daughter all right, sir!" Sam murmured, softly to Jack, then glanced up at the fourth member of SG-1 who came down the stairs, but didn't approach the trio. Her eyes implored him to forgive and forget the issues that stood between him and Jack. Daniel ignored her.
Jack shifted so he could see Daniel, and Teal'c moved out of the way, leaving the space between the two men free for conversation – or argument. A shadow passed over Jack's face. "Daniel..."
"What, Jack?" Daniel wasn't giving an inch. The child might not be to blame for her father's sins, but Daniel doubted he'd ever be able to look at Mia and not think of how much it had hurt to know Jack didn't know Daniel as well as Daniel thought he had. A living, breathing reminder that Jack had forgotten his team. That Jack had forgotten Daniel.
"Daniel..."
"Yes?" Lifting his eyebrows in stubborn question, Daniel stood his ground, withholding his approval of the child and everything she represented.
"For crying out loud..."
"You betrayed us, Jack." In all of two years, he'd never said this to his friend. He'd never let Jack know just how much the Edoran incident had hurt. The words were bald and blunt, tinged with the bitterness of his emotions after Jack's return, when Daniel realised that his friend didn't think as much of his team as they thought of him. The memory made him harsh and ruthless. "You forgot the golden rule of our team. You forgot we don't leave our people behind, Colonel."
"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c rumbled. "Should this not..."
"No, Teal'c," Daniel said, ignoring their eyes on him. "This should be said now."
"Now, as compared to two years ago when I got back from Edora?" Jack rapped out harshly. "Why didn't you give me a piece of your mind then, Dr. Jackson?"
So they were back to titles again: the brusque politeness of two men with nothing in common.
"When you got back from Edora, you were too busy playing 'I Spy' with Maybourne and Makepeace to be bothered listening to anything I said." That time was hard on them all. On top of dealing with Jack's lack of faith in them, SG-1 had been forced to cope with believing him 'gone rogue'. "Besides, which, you were too busy casting our friendship or lack of it ..."
"C'mon Daniel, you know that was a blind to throw Maybourne off the scent!" Jack hardly noticed as Sam extracted Mia from his arms. Laira hovered anxiously to one side, but Sam threw her a reassuring smile and juggled child and P-90 around until they were both comfortable.
"After that, I wasn't about to give you more ammunition with, which to shoot me down the next time you decided to infiltrate a smuggling ring, was I?"
Daniel knew he was being petty and small-minded. He could see the shock in Sam's face, the surprise in Teal'c's expression. They thought of him as so big-hearted, so open-minded, always the one to find the peaceful solution, the compromise. This open bitterness unleashed on Jack was not usual for him. But Daniel knew he needed to have this out between him and Jack at last – and so he held tight to his anger and his resentment as a child clutches his favourite toys.
Sam jiggled Mia in her arms and quietly interrupted whatever Jack had been about to say, "Laira, Mia, and I will be down in the village when you're done, Colonel, Daniel." The look she gave Teal'c indicated she expected him to mediate between the two angry men, and Daniel received a troubled glance before she turned her back on them and started on the path down to the village.
Daniel felt the anger drain from him in the face of her departure.
Of all of them, surely Sam had the greatest right to resent Mia? A child who represented not only her CO's lack of trust, but also everything she could not have of Jack O'Neill, and now would never have. Yet she could stand there and tell Jack his daughter was beautiful, take the child from him when the infant began to cry, and return to the village where he had forgotten his team mates and friends in the arms of a local woman.
I'm sorry, Sam...
Except that now Jack was spoiling for an argument, angry at the accusations Daniel had levelled at him. And Daniel no longer wanted a fight.
Daniel grimaced.
He'd dug his own grave.
Guess it was time to see if Jack was going to bury him in it.
End of Part Two