Secrets and Shadows: Under Siege
Part Three
O'Neill seemed to feel no particular need to talk, merely to keep his troubles to himself and drink quietly. Teal'c was not averse to allowing his friend to sit in the silence he seemed to crave, however Daniel Jackson was not inclined the same way.
"I'm guessing that the talk with Sam didn't go well," Daniel murmured as he settled down with his light beer.
O'Neill didn't answer, and Daniel Jackson looked to Teal'c for support. He received none. Whatever transpired between O'Neill and Samantha Carter was their business and Teal'c saw no need to intervene.
"I'll take that as a 'no.'"
The bar wasn't terribly well-lit; O'Neill had chosen somewhere less-than-savoury to spend the evening, and although there were many people moving through the dim light, Teal'c distinguished most of them by the scent of their flesh than the set of their face.
Truly, the superior senses of a Jaffa were not always an asset when others did not share the same perception of the world around them.
Of course, he needed no heightened skills to identify the man who appeared at their mostly-silent table and sat down with them, uninvited.
"Hey guys." Detective Shanahan had the appearance of a man who was determined to be friendly. "How's it going?"
The most response he got was from Daniel Jackson. "What are you doing here?"
"Having a drink," the other man defended, indicating the beer he had placed on the table. Beyond him, in the darkness, Teal'c picked out the shadows of other men, watching. Presumably, Detective Shanahan was here with his friends for the evening, and had seen SG-1 here. "Celebrating being a dad."
Only Teal'c noticed the way O'Neill's fingers tightened briefly around his bottle. Daniel Jackson was too busy glaring at the detective, and Detective Shanahan was too busy watching Daniel back.
"Well," Daniel said, his voice light and sarcastic, "It certainly would have taken such a lot of effort to get a woman pregnant. I can see why you're celebrating."
If Teal'c had been a praying man, he would have prayed for patience. As it was, O'Neill merely warned, "Daniel."
"What, Jack? You don't think that it takes a bit more to be a dad than merely fathering the kid?"
"I think that you're out of line."
"And I think you've forgotten that I'm not like Sam. I don't have to jump into line when we're in non-combat situations."
"You rarely do when we are."
"See, that's a vicious libel," Daniel Jackson said, lightly. "But my point still stands. There's more to being a dad than thirty seconds of passion."
Teal'c considered the reference to the sexual act unnecessary. So, evidently, did O'Neill. Revulsion flashed across the worn face, and Teal'c reflected on the low probability of the three men walking out of this bar still as a viable team. Daniel Jackson was certainly achieving his goal - which appeared to be that of irking the detective; however, he was not endearing himself to his team-mates in the process.
"You don't think I'm good enough for Sam?" Detective Shanahan asked, his expression suddenly set in belligerent lines.
Daniel Jackson looked coolly back at him through his glasses. "Strangely enough, I don't."
The belligerent face turned to look around the table at the three men who probably represented his greatest allies - or his greatest enemies - in the war Detective Shanahan was waging against Samantha Carter. "And is that how all of you feel?"
Teal'c spoke before O'Neill could. His instincts suggested that while O'Neill's answer would closely resemble Teal'c's own, Detective Shanahan would be less likely to bridle at the subtle insult of it. "Our feelings are not of concern in this matter. Samantha makes her own decisions."
"But you guys are close to her, right?" Detective Shanahan was looking at O'Neill with a clear accusation in his eyes. "I'm pretty sure it's not usual for commanding officers to be visiting the homes of their former subordinates..."
O'Neill's gaze hardened as he returned Detective Shanahan's look, but all he said was, "You should be aware that things don't work the same in the mountain as out of it."
"Sure, sure. So," the detective said, lightly, "Got any tips for me, Colonel? I mean, you brought up your own son years ago, so you'd know a bit about parenting..."
Considering that O'Neill's son was over eight years dead, the request was not a little cruel. Was Detective Shanahan unaware of the pain he was inflicting upon the man who was 'close' to Samantha Carter, or was such a request calculated to hurt?
"Did you find that information out through Farretty, along with all the other information on my team, Detective?" O'Neill asked, and the edge in his voice could have cut through steel.
"I'm sure Sam mentioned it sometime while we were dating," Detective Shanahan said, off-handedly.
Teal'c frowned, unable to imagine Major Carter relating the circumstances of O'Neill's history to someone without his permission. She was very aware of the proprieties when it came to O'Neill, and to have divulged such information to someone of whom O'Neill had little respect...
It was unlikely.
Similarly, O'Neill and Daniel looked sceptical. "Carter wouldn't."
"Can you be so sure of that?"
"Sure enough," Daniel said. "And while you answered what you were doing here in the general sense of this establishment," he waved a hand at the bar around them, "You haven't answered the implicit question of what you are doing here at this table."
"I'm just being friendly," Shanahan told him, snidely. "Polite. Seeing as I'm the father of her child and all, I figured that I should make an effort..."
"Spare yourself," Daniel retorted, "And us."
His words spurred the other man into anger. He leaned across the table, into Daniel Jackson's space, staring him down, "Look," he hissed, his face going red. "You don't like me, fine. I get that I'm not a part of your exclusive little group down in the mountain. But Sam is carrying my child, and I'll let her bring it up without me over my dead body! So you'd better get used to the idea of me in her life, Jackson!"
Daniel Jackson looked as though he'd swallowed a can live worms, presumably because he could not deny any of it. The circumstances of Samantha's child were such that the father would have a say in the life of the child, and with a say in the life of the child, he would hold emotional sway over Samantha. And nothing her team-mates could say or do would change that.
The idea of Detective Shanahan as part of Samantha's life was something to which all her team-mates would have to accustom themselves. Their reasons for disliking the situation would vary according to the individual, of course, but that would not change that Samantha's child came with its father, and the likes or dislikes of Samantha's friends were immaterial.
"Your presence in her life will depend on Sam," Daniel Jackson retorted. "And it's, what? Seven floral arrangements and counting?"
"Eight." There was a moment when Teal'c considered the possibility that O'Neill had taken leave of his senses. To bait Shanahan at this moment was high folly, and something of which he had not considered his friend capable. Then O'Neill looked directly at Shanahan, "You want back into her life, fine. But you let her make the decision. You don't bully her into it. You don't seduce her into it. You let her make the choice and when she makes it, you live with it."
"I'm just sending flowers."
"You're also leaving messages," Daniel Jackson added. "Enough that she's deleting them without listening to them."
"She requested that you do not call her at work," Teal'c said, recalling the conversation he had overheard.
"And she had to ask you to get out several times this afternoon before you actually went." It seemed that O'Neill had been to see Samantha, then. Doubtless, Daniel Jackson was even now pondering what had been said that put their friend in such a bad mood that he felt the need to come here and drink.
Shanahan looked incredulously at the three men, before his lip curled in a sneer. "What is this - the Sam police?"
"Domestic restraining orders have been issued for less obsessive behaviour, Detective Shanahan," O'Neill grated out, his voice flat and harsh. "You should be aware of that in your line of work."
"Are you threatening me? I'm an officer in the Denver Police Department..."
"And I have an open invitation to dine with the President of the United States," O'Neill replied. His voice was barely audible, but there was a warning in his voice and his words as he spoke. "So what? Your position doesn't mean you can cross the line, Detective. You want Carter back? You keep in mind that we all come along with her - it's a package deal. You get her and the baby, you get us, too."
"So who gets to share her bed, then?" Shanahan asked, and although his question was asked generally, there was no doubting that the force of it was directed at O'Neill.
The more fool he.
O'Neill's throat worked, but his jaw was set in furious anger as he ground out the words, "You don't want to go there, Shanahan." And something in the way he spoke indicated that this was not a matter for laughter or mockery. This went to the core of who O'Neill was and the values he espoused. "Make all the plays you want, but if you continue to make a public nuisance of yourself, you'll find yourself in deeper water than you can possibly imagine." He looked pointedly over the detective's shoulder at the shadows beyond where Detective Shanahan's friends lurked, listening. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we have drinking to do."
"Without you," Daniel Jackson added, acerbically.
Teal'c was surprised when Detective Shanahan took his drink and departed the table in a huff. His attempt at camaraderie - if attempt it had indeed been - had failed, and miserably. And Detective Shanahan did not seem the type to let another man have the last word.
Daniel Jackson muttered something in the language of the Ancients. Teal'c caught the cadence of it, but not the actual phrasing. O'Neill snorted, gutterally. He evidently retained enough knowledge of the language to know what Daniel had just said.
Then Daniel Jackson glared at O'Neill. "You realise you gave him carte blanche to obsess over Sam, don't you?"
"He was already obsessing. What he hasn't yet done is left the decision up to her." O'Neill's fury was evident, but his voice was low, barely audible to his team-mates.
Neither Daniel Jackson, nor Teal'c commented that the policy O'Neill had named was exactly his own when it regarded Samantha Carter. Samantha made the decision and O'Neill lived with it. The difference was that he was willing to live with a decision that did not go his way. He respected Samantha enough to allow her the choice.
It was not in Teal'c's nature to wonder if they might not have been more accepting of Detective Shanahan had he shown himself more honourable. There was no way to know such things and the contemplation of them was a waste of time better spent in other pursuits. Yet Teal'c's time on Earth had changed him enough that he briefly questioned the possibility before discarding it.
"Do you really think he will?" Daniel pitched his voice so as to be private among them.
The older man's glare was plain and clear. "No, I don't," he stated. "Hell, he followed her around from day one, you really think he's going to stand by and let her make the decision if he can't influence it himself?"
"Which brings me to my next question," Daniel said, fixing his gaze on O'Neill. "What the fuck were you thinking when you said she should tell him about the child at all?"
"There was no value in hiding her pregnancy, Daniel Jackson. It would have been evident within a number of months."
"He's stationed up in Denver. How often would he have come down here anyway? With a bit of creative storytelling and some fudging of the numbers..."
"This is the real world, Daniel, not one of your epic texts about Boris the Bloodthirsty and the harem of forty thousand he kept. Shanahan might be dangerously obsessive, but he's not an idiot."
"Except when it comes to sitting down to drink with us," Daniel muttered. "And it's Barin the Bloodthirsty," he added, irritated by O'Neill's 'creative storytelling.' "And you still haven't answered me."
"I told you..."
"No, you still haven't told us the real reason you were so adamant about Shanahan being told," Daniel insisted. "You haven't told us yet."
The silence was only marked by the chatter of people around them, the chink of glasses, the strains of music overhead. Teal'c regarded O'Neill's stiff expression with surprise. Daniel Jackson took a moment longer, but he also seemed surprised at the way their friend looked as he peeled the label from his bottle with smooth, fluid motions.
"Maybe it's not your right to know."
"Probably isn't. But it's brought you to the point where you're just about ready to hand Sam over to a man that I wouldn't hesitate to call a pissant dickwad were I inclined to label people as such."
It was hard not to smile at the brutal elegance of Daniel Jackson's statement. Neither O'Neill nor Teal'c could manage to keep an entirely straight face.
O'Neill pulled off the last corner of the label and discarded it on the table. "Finish your drinks," he said at last. "We'll go get pizza or something and I'll tell you there."
"We could go get pizza and go pester Sam," Daniel Jackson suggested. "She can have pizza, can't she?"
Teal'c was not so sure about the wisdom of that suggestion, "Samantha Carter may not wish our presence at this time..."
"There's no harm in asking," Daniel Jackson stated, pulling out his cellphone and beginning to dial.
O'Neill took the cellphone neatly out of his hands and terminated the call. "Leave her alone for a while, Daniel. Maybe after pizza, if she wants to see us."
Later, when they called from Luigi's Restaurant, Samantha was not entirely enthused, but neither was she reluctant. Teal'c was the one to speak to her, judging that he was the least likely to raise her ire under such circumstances.
He was aware that the degree of trust she rendered him was different to that which she tendered their other team-mates. While her appearances must be maintained around O'Neill, and Daniel Jackson's very conversational style did not lend itself to more confidential admission, Teal'c knew she considered him 'safe', and took care to remain so in her eyes.
"Will there be a problem with our presence in your household, Samantha Carter?"
"Not as long as you're all coming together," she said, her voice mild enough, although he heard the reticence that lurked beneath. "And only for an hour or so."
"We will not tire you," Teal'c promised, and he heard the smile in her voice as she answered.
"I know you won't, Teal'c." The emphasis on the pronoun indicated that she was not as certain of the other two.
It pleased him to be different.
"Is there anything you require that we could provide you from this restaurant?"
She asked for a spaghetti marinara with extra parmesan, and when he concluded the call, he returned to the counter to place the order with the rest of their food. Upon returning to his chair, he heard Daniel Jackson's clear question, "So, what are we going to do about Sam?"
"If you're referring to trying to make sure she doesn't take Shanahan back, then we're not going to do anything," O'Neill retorted. "If you're referring to the Samurai scientists, then I'll talk to Hammond."
"Actually, I was meaning...generally," Daniel said. "Since we're still thinking of her as part of the team, but she's not...actually working with us."
"We include her, of course," O'Neill said.
"Of course," Daniel Jackson echoed. "If I recall correctly, you were the one telling her she probably had better things to do..."
"I could have phrased that better."
"You could?" Daniel Jackson's brow rose.
"Stop that." O'Neill had little patience for their team-mate's antics. "She's pregnant, which means she's more emotional than she usually is. She's got a lot of choices she has to make, and almost none of them are options she wants to take. And to top all that, she's under siege from Shanahan trying to persuade her to go back to him. If Doc Fraiser was still around, maybe she'd be better to deal with this. Since she's not, it's up to us."
"I feel as though someone should be asking, 'Who ya gonna call?'" Both men regarded him, quellingly. His mouth curved, "All for one and one for all?"
"Daniel..."
Daniel Jackson huffed, still smiling. He retrieved his cellphone from Teal'c. "I'm going outside to make a call."
"Don't call Carter."
"Please, Jack, trust me."
As the doors swung shut behind him, O'Neill sighed. "It always worries me when he says that."
Teal'c took the moment to bring up a topic that had concerned him after the evening's confrontation with Samantha's former lover. "Do you believe that Detective Shanahan will continue to harass Samantha Carter?"
A shrug comprised most of his answer. "It's probable. He might let up for a while, but if she doesn't start swinging his way, he'll most likely escalate."
"He would not stoop to physical violence towards her."
"Probably not. Not unless he's pushed to it," O'Neill stated. "Or feels he's been pushed to it." There was a pensive quality to his friend's visage and Teal'c considered the revelations O'Neill had made to them earlier.
"You would not have resorted to the same behaviour had your wife left you without informing you of your son's conception, O'Neill."
With O'Neill's explanation of the situation with his ex-wife and son, many things had been cleared up in Teal'c's mind. He now understood O'Neill's reaction to Samantha's pregnancy on a new level; and although Teal'c did not necessarily agree with O'Neill's reasoning in that direction, he could appreciate why his friend had reacted in that manner.
"Stop that," his friend snapped, disconcerted.
"Stop what?" Daniel Jackson inquired, returning.
O'Neill stared at him. "That was fast."
"What? Oh, the call? I talk fast. Stop what?"
"Oh, just Teal'c doing his old Jaffa mind-reading trick again."
Daniel nodded sagely, "Ah, that. The good old Jaffa mind-reading trick." He slid into his seat.
"So, who'd you call?"
"Oh, just someone. "Daniel Jackson turned to O'Neill with an expression of calculated innocence, "Hey, Jack, what are you doing tomorrow afternoon?"
O'Neill regarded him warily. "Why?"
"Because there's someone I'd like you to meet."
----