The Grandfather Paradox Part III

Synopsis: What would happen if Samantha Carter had met her own father back in August 1969

Rating: PG-13

Daniel Jackson

Jacob just called Samantha, Samantha Anne Carter, and had instructed her to eat her peas in a tone of concerned fatherly censure. Hell, if Jacob had been my dad, I would have asked for seconds. As it was, it had taken every ounce of self control to prevent me from spitting the peas out from my mouth ala Linda Blair. Jake gave the four of us a once over, and the bastard looked quite smug at finding all of looking stunned.

How the HELL did he figure it out? He was sleeping in the bus!

"Jacob," Sam said slowly, trying in vain, to appear cool, calm and collected, yet distinctly puzzled by Jake's behavior. "I don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about. My name is June, not Samantha..."

"Samantha Anne Carter, now you're lying to me. Bad enough that I raised a Biter, which I will excuse as you were only two years old at the time, but I will not have it said that any child of mine is a liar," Jacob thundered.

"June," Sam insisted.

"Samantha..." Her father replied.

"JUNE!" Sam repeated louder.

"SAMANTHA!"

"JUNE!" Sam said, shaking her head in her anxiety.

"Did you change your name? You never told me that you didn't like the name Samantha," Jake reprimanded as he shook his right hand at her, with his index finger extended as though to prove his point. "It's a good decent family name; we named you after your grandmother."

"I like the name..." Sam paused... "But it isn't mine."

I was watching the verbal tennis match between the two Carters, my eyes following the verbal volleys back and forth across the top of the diner table. Even Jack's eyes were going back and forth so quickly that I was surprised that his eyes didn't pop out of his head.

So far, it was 30-love, Jake Carter's favor. Naturally, that's when Jake spiked it over the net with a backhanded serve.

"Captain Carter, I've spoken with someone you may know. Lieutenant George Hammond, I believe you might know him better as GENERAL George Hammond. I'm supposed to help you, but if you refuse to admit your real name to me, how am I supposed to trust you?"

Jake's eyebrows conveyed stern, paternal disapproval, and I felt like I was three again.

I could just imagine how Sam felt.

Then Jacob dropped the real bomb, "By the way, who's Selmak the snake?"

Teal'c

Jacob Carter had correctly realized that Samantha Carter was his daughter, and had spoken to General Hammond. General Hammond had trusted Jacob Carter with our situation and he had instructed Jacob Carter to assist.

Therefore, there was nothing to be done, except accept General Hammond's decision.

"Jacob Carter," I interrupted the silence. "You are correct."

O'Neill, Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson all flinched.

"General Hammond has informed you of the situation, therefore I must agree with his decision. We can not talk here though."

I nodded my head once, in acknowledgement of the respect I had for both General Hammond and Jacob Carter. While that respect would be earned numerous years in the future, I believed that they still possessed those traits that I had found admirable.

Jacob Carter nodded his head once, and then he suggested that because of the bad weather for this evening, that we rent hotel rooms for the night.

"We can talk there," Jacob Carter decided, before looking at his daughter. "Don't you agree, Samantha?"

"Yes, Dad, I do," Samantha admitted.

"Now that is settled, does anyone want dessert?" Jacob Carter questioned.

Sometimes, I fail to understand the Tau'Ri. This was one such occasion, though I must admit that I did enjoy the cherry pie ala mode.

Samantha Carter

Naturally, I had to share a hotel room with my father. Both Michael and Jenny were giving each other glances, as they knew my father was married, but Dad was being pragmatic. Why pay for four hotel rooms when you could get by with three - Michael and Jenny, Dad and me, and the boys in another room?

"I'm not going to sleep with him, Jenny," I hissed as she looked disapproving! "If he tries anything, I'll break his jaw."

She was a hippie! Wasn't the sixties the era of Free Love?

"Michael will stay with him, and you can stay with me," Jenny offered.

"No, I know we've been cramping your style, so don't worry about me. I've got a good left hook. My dad taught me how to defend myself," I said loudly.

Dad's eyes flickered toward me, and he looked startled, "Did your mother ask him to?"

"No," I said shortly, as Dad had taught me how to defend myself during my senior year in high school, as though he had some how secretly known that I was applying for the Air Force Academy. I had never mentioned it to him, yet he had seemed completely unsurprised when I had informed him of my acceptance to the academy. One of his technical sergeants, a short Scandinavian, had taught me how to fight dirty. Apparently, Stella had a choice, teach me how to fight dirty or end up in the brig for starting too many fights. Mom hadn't requested it of him, because.... Mom was already dead by then.

Please, God, don't let him ask me about Mom or Mark. What could I say? Mom was dead, Mark and he hadn't spoken in years, and for the longest time our relationship had been extremely rocky?

The room assignments settled, Jenny and Mike went to their room, and the rest of us ended up in my room. Dad didn't pull any punches. All he wanted to know what he had to do to help us get home, and I was amazed at how easily he became a member of the 'team'. Occasionally, he would put his hand up in silent protest, a gesture that wordlessly said that we were telling him far too much.

Finally, my father stood up from the table, and looked at each of us, "You're going places I don't need to know. I don't want to affect the time line anymore than it has been by this unexpected temporal jaunt of yours. Your game plan is to go to New York, meet someone, and then go from there. If you need my help in anyway, let me know. That's all I'm requesting. Agreed?"

Colonel O'Neill, Daniel and Teal'c all nodded their heads, and then Dad wished them good night. The three of them left the room, and then my father sat down next to me on the couch.

"How are doing, Sammy? You look a little wild-eyed," my father asked.

"I'm a little shaky," I admitted with a wobbly grin, annoyed that my voice had cracked.

"You look like you need a hug," my father said. "Come on."

I'm ashamed to admit that I wept on his shoulder when my father hugged me. It was nice to pretend for a little while that this was nothing more than a bad dream, that I was a little girl, and that my dad would slay the monsters and make everything right again.

"Sammy, Sammy, let it out, kid, let it out," my father repeated softly.

When I was done crying, my father gave me a very odd smile. It was crooked, as though he was smirking.

"What?" I questioned, while I wiped my eyes. "I must look like a mess, I know. I must look rather blotchy."

"You look so much like your mother, Sammy. She must be so proud of how you turned out," the younger version of my father insisted softly. "Wait, I know, I shouldn't say anything or ask any questions, but I look at you, and I realize that you turned out good, kid. Forget your mother, I must be so proud. No doubt, I harass George non-stop about you. Does he even take my calls? Or does he palm them off on his secretary. Good God, Sammy, General Hammond. When I think of the stunts that he pulled..."

My father laughed and shook his head.

"He won't admit to any," I told him.

"No doubt the statue of limitations hasn't expired," my father laughed dryly. "Do we talk like this, thirty years from now?"

I smiled, unsure how to answer.

"Wait, I know," my father grimaced. "You can't say, can you? If you told me, you'd have to kill me, and wouldn't that screw everything up?"

"I can tell you, Dad, that we had some difficult times when I was a teenager, and you never gave up on me," I confessed.

"And I hope you never gave up on me," my father teased. "Now go to bed, Sammy, it's late."

"Good night, dad," I paused for just a second. "I love you."

My father looked startled yet pleased. "That's the first time you've ever told me that. I love you too, Sammy, even if you bite me, scream at me and even deny your name."

"I'm only five now," I teased.

"No, you're not. I know exactly how old you are, right now, young lady. At least, the Sam that's supposed to be here, not this grown up," my father teased back.

Jack O'Neill

Carter and Daniel were talking to Catherine, and I was nervous. My pacing seemed to annoy Carter, Senior.

"Must you?" Jacob questioned, as he took a long drag on his cigarette. He was contentedly reading the paper while sitting on a park bench. Teal'c was sitting next to Jacob, admiring the summer weather.

I guess that they don't have parks on Chulak?

"Shouldn't smoke, Dad, that stuff will kill you," I mockingly told him.

"Dad?" Carter Senior questioned, as he threw his half-finished cigarette into the trash can. "You're not married to my little girl, are you, old man? You better not be, as I'll have to kill you."

"That's Colonel Old Man, Lieutenant," I reminded him.

Jacob Carter stood up, got in my face and smiled, "That's thirty years from now, and don't forget, my buddy General Hammond can bounce your ass to airman."

There was a look in his dark brown eyes that plainly said that he would enjoy beating the crap out of me if I had done anything with his daughter. All these time I thought Selmak had made Jacob such a pain in the ass, now I know he was always like this... er... that...

"No! Never!" I protested, "Besides, George loves me. I'm his 2IC."

For that answer, I was rewarded with a cocked eyebrow and a long stare from Carter, Senior.

"So are you?" Jacob questioned in a very intense voice.

"If I tell you, I'd have to kill you," I answered easily. "And I'd hate to do that to you... Dad..."

Fortunately before I had to beat Jacob up... ok... before he went after my bad knee, Daniel and Samantha joined us. They looked... elated and defeated.

"We've got to go to Washington," Samantha blurted.

"It's on an airbase," Daniel explained. "I don't know how we'll get in."

Jake coughed, and gave us a bright smile when we turned to face him, "Which one?"

Jacob Carter

It was almost painfully easy getting into the base. A wire cutter or two, an Allan wrench and a shot from their... ray gun, and they were inside.

"Jacob, you've got to go now. Forget this ever happened to you," Jack reminded me.

"I'll remember, don't you worry, especially if I see you again," I informed him, leaving unsaid, "Especially if you're marrying my daughter, as I will kill you then."

Jack being a smart man, heard what I didn't say, and his bright smile faded. Then he turned his back on me, and started walking toward Daniel. It was time to say goodbye to Sam and I wasn't looking forward to it.

"We'll talk about this, later, when we can," I insisted. "After we make sure the time line is secure."

She nodded her head, and the two of us hugged tightly.

"Thanks, Dad," she whispered in my ear.

"Sammy, one question. You're not married to him, are you?" I couldn't help asking.

"NO! Dad! Who told you that?" Samantha protested.

"Just wanted to make sure," I confessed before letting her go.

Jack O'Neill

"Incoming!" I growled, hating to break up the Father-Daughter send-off. "We've got guards!"

A whole mess of them. I grabbed my handy Zat, and I made quick work of them. Then regretfully, I looked at Teal'c. He nodded once, as he understood what I had to do next.

"I so hope I'm not making a habit of this," I sighed. "This could be career limiting if I keep shooting my superior officers with a Zat. JACOB!"

Jacob looked at me, and then I nailed him with one zat shot. He looked pissed, and then he collapsed on the ground, his body seizing slightly from the discharge of the zat.

"Colonel!" Samantha protested.

"I'm doing it for his career. Those guards saw him, and this way, he can claim that the space aliens mind-wiped him into helping," I explained.

Teal'c nodded his approval once again, and Daniel shook his head.

"For your sake, I hope George and Jacob never find out that you Zatted both of them. They'll come up with something really evil for retribution," Daniel said cheerfully. "Well, least I don't have to worry about that."

"Nor I, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c stated solemnly.

"Dad wouldn't do anything to me, and well, General Hammond likes me," Samantha stated in a very jolly tone of voice.

My team was deserting me, leaving me to the clutches of two, two star generals and a Snake! Selmak, no doubt, would delight in helping Jacob come up with something truly remarkable as my punishment.

"Aren't you coming, Jack?" Daniel asked as he walked toward the warehouse.

"No, I think I'll stay here. It's much safer here," I protested.