There were rather a large number of problems with equipment. Jake was run off the road on the way to the studio one morning, nearly escaping plowing into a utility pole. When they told Jack, he contacted the people who had asked him to organize part of the PR effort to fight Manifest Destiny. Shortly after that, very hard, serious looking men seemed to appear unobtrusively in their surroundings and the acts of sabotage, if that's what they were, stopped.
Despite the exhilaration of writing really good music, the good, good feeling he got just being around Seline, the way that the baby who was never far from his mother delighted his heart, Jake was in an emotional stew. He wanted everyone he cared about to be happy and felt responsible somehow if they weren't. Sometimes there was no choice as when his mother and Johnny were on the outs and he was forced to take sides. It killed him to do that and he had worried about his mother the entire time. As far as Daniel went, as long as he had put his father outside the pale of people he should care about, he could ignore what he might be doing to make Daniel unhappy. Seline make that a nonoption.
One night, they were sitting quietly together on a balcony, Danny asleep in Seline's arms, the stars brilliant in the sky above them. Seline said, out of the blue, it seemed to Jake, "I expected to detest you."
"Why?" Jake asked, bewildered.
"You tore Danil up so badly. Every time he came back from seeing you, he would be so sad. It would last for days. I would make him little gifts, sing him songs, try to be an extra good little girl but I wasn't you. Then, when you quit seeing him, that was right when my mother died. He cried for you, Jake."
Jake felt very defensive. "Johnny was so hurt. Daniel shouldn't have left us and he shouldn't have been fooling around with my mom while she was still married to Johnny's dad."
Seline stood up abruptly. "Your mother made Danil miserable. He didn't leave her so much as she refused to come. And what evidence do you have, pray tell, that Danil committed adultery with your evil mother?" She spat the last part out.
"It was in papers. It was on the internet." He answered hotly.
"And that makes it true?" she asked and turned heel and left.
She was still not speaking to him two days later and it was affecting the work. Johnny took Jake aside and asked him what was going on. Jake couldn't believe it. "You spent hours telling me that she was trouble. That she only wanted to go back to her planet and would never allow herself to feel anything for me. That she was, I don't know, ignorant and not really half as good looking as any of my previous girlfriends. NOW, you're upset that I'm fighting with her?"
Johnny shrugged. "Okay, I said some things. But Jake, the work is incredible. This album is going to be the best thing I've ever done. Whatever it was, at least get to the point where you can work with her."
Jake had seldom been so angry with his brother. He had spent his life not rocking the boat because he worried about Johnny, about Johnny's inability to connect with anyone but him. He worried that if Johnny didn't have him, Johnny would be alone. He thought the saving grace in all this was that Johnny wanted nothing more than that Jake be happy, even if he was sometimes confused about what it took to make that happen. He was beginning to wonder.
Going out into the hall, he ran, quite literally, into his father and knocked several books out of his arms. "I'm sorry. My head's somewhere else," he apologized as he helped pick up the books. "More books for that biology project you have Seline working on?" Daniel was doing a good job of keeping Seline and Chiona safe from Jake and Johnny through the studies he lined up for them. Almost every minute they weren't working on the music or taking care of Danny, they were studying something. They were so eager to make it up to Daniel for defying him that they couldn't be tempted away from the work. Jake had even started studying with Seline, who, he discovered, had at least the equivalent of an undergraduate degree from a really good school in her head and graduate student knowledge in some disciplines. She was way ahead of him and they had segued into her teaching him. It was, improbably, great fun, at least until he made her mad.
Daniel nodded. He gave Jake a sideways glance and said, "I really need a cup of coffee. Are you guys on a break? Do you want to go get some coffee?"
Both men had their telltale long hair hidden under a cap. Daniel was wearing sunglasses and Jake had his available, perched on his cap. They could probably go out safely without a problem, Jake thought. "Sure. Why not?" he agreed.
They sat at the back of the little coffee shop and Daniel, breathing the steam rolling off his cup, said, "I regret the coffee situation on Lisseth. I had to depend on the SG teams to bring it in and, strangely enough, when they were annoyed with me which was most of the time, I seemed to have trouble getting a steady supply."
Jake suddenly couldn't stand it any more. "Why did you leave my mother?"
Daniel looked more than a little startled. "Where did that question come from?"
"Please just answer it. And don't protect me or my mother. I need to know."
"Okay then." He paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "There were two reasons. The one I admitted to myself and her at the time was the whole Ascended thing. Johnny told me once you were teased a lot about being an 'Angel's' kid. Can you imagine what it was like for me? I'm not comfortable in the public eye and when that came out, it made it utterly unbearable. I asked your mother to come to Lisseth with me and she wouldn't. I just knew I had to get away and I guess I hoped that after a little bit she'd miss me and she'd want to come. Instead she filed for divorce."
"What was the other reason?"
"Something you need to be very sure of with Seline if you get to the point where you are thinking about marrying her." He held up a hand. "I know, I know, not going to happen. But still, she really loved Mindo, little Danny's father. Make damn sure she isn't pretending you're him."
"Reading between the lines, you're saying my mom was still in love with Jack?"
Daniel pushed his cup away from him, suddenly not interested. "Yeah. She compared me to him all the time. She wouldn't say anything but I could see it in her eyes. It killed her that he married Sara. I told myself that she'd come to love me but it never happened. The real reason she wouldn't go to Lisseth with me was that it was on another planet from Jack."
"Damn," Jake exploded. "You idiot!" People were staring and Jake suddenly got nervous that drawing that sort of attention would lead to their being recognized and the unpleasant swarm of attention that usually meant. Daniel was gaping at him dumbfounded. He lowered his voice to a near whisper. "Do you know ANYTHING about Brad Smith?"
"Huh?" Daniel looked at him askance for the change of subject.
"Do…you…know…anything…about Brad Smith?" Jake repeated, his voice starting to get louder again as he reiterated his question about Sam's third husband. "Just answer the question."
"He's very big star, an A-list actor. I guess Sam met him when she was the technical adviser for that movie on the Stargate."
"Oh…my…God," Jake said. "Did you never see the movie?"
"Noooo. Look Jake this is all incredibly off topic. How about explaining why you got so insulting?"
"The thing is, Brad Smith looks enough like you to be your brother. He played you in that movie. The reason my mother married him was that she was at a really low point, mourning losing you, and he confused her. She could almost pretend she had you back again. Notice she did NOT marry the guy playing Jack."
"No way," Daniel said, shaking his head.
"Oh yeah," Jake said emphatically. "I was just a little kid but I still remember that she cried night after night after you left. I don't know when she came to love you but she sure as hell did by the time it was all over."
Daniel was still as a rock and obviously having an intense interior dialogue. Jake let it go on for awhile before saying, "Join me for a moment here. The reason that Seline is mad at me, the main reason, is that I said something about you and my mother fooling around on Jack. Did you?"
Daniel had his head in his hands now. "You could really believe that, hell forget about me since you haven't had any use for me for years, but about your mother?" He raised his head and looked Jake in the eyes. "No, Jake. I would never have done that to Jack just as I wouldn't have done it to Teal'c."
They sat in silence until their coffee was quite cold. Jake knew that he couldn't be comfortable with Daniel hurting any more. "Maybe you and Mom, you know, when she had time to mourn Teal'c…."
"Forget it Jake. Maybe, given what you said, she cares more about me that I thought but Jack's still the main event."
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
They began to work on the videos. Sam came to the studio where they were shooting and joined Daniel off to one side watching. Daniel was in Lisseth robes, his long braids caught at the nape of his neck in a thong and falling down his back. He had been on camera earlier and would be again. Sam had a brief mental image of his hair falling all around her if he were on top of her. She shook herself. Maybe therapy would help. She was a widow who had really cared about her husband and he was only in the grave 4 months now. Granted it hadn't been a passionate relationship, a lot more cuddling went on than sex, but still…
The director was very unhappy with Seline and Daniel was poised to intervene. "You and Jake here are supposed to be star-crossed young lovers. Tell me how we are supposed to convey that if you won't let him touch you?"
"It's just, well my people, we don't even kiss until we're betrothed," her voice sounded incredibly embarrassed. Sam wondered why Jake who was actually extremely sensitive to people's feelings, whatever his good time Charlie image might be, was letting this go on.
Daniel was getting more and more tense. Sam whispered to him, "You have to let her handle things for herself, Daniel. Give her a chance." He glared at her but didn't go into the fray.
Jake spoke then. "How about if we have a private conversation about this?"
He pulled Seline away from the group, and close enough to Daniel and Sam whom he evidently didn't notice, that they could just make out what was being said.
"So if we were engaged, you'd let me kiss you?" Jake asked.
She nodded, looking confused. He pulled a ring off his little finger and said, "Will you marry me, Seline?"
Her mouth was hanging open and she couldn't seem to find anything to say. He picked up her hand and started to put the ring on it before she stopped him. "Wait just a minute. You're asking me to marry you so that you can kiss me in a video?"
"The video only messed up the timing. I have a ring being custom made for you that will be ready on Friday. Saturday I was going to ask you," Jake said, his voice full of nervousness and hope. "Will you?"
He brushed her hair back from her face and slid his fingers into her hair cupping her head. His other hand caressed her cheek. "Jake, where would we live? I don't belong here. There's." He cut off her questions by kissing her.
"Now you have to say yes or you'll be a loose woman," he said softly when they came up for air. "Look, Seline. There will be things to work out but I can't contemplate a life that doesn't have you in it." He kissed her again then. She said, "You have to ask my father. That's how it's done," and pushed him away.
Daniel took that as his cue and came forward, trailed by Sam. "I shouldn't have eavesdropped but I guess I did." He looked at Jake, expectantly.
"Uh, I guess this is the part where I ask your permission to ask Seline to marry me?" Jake said uncertainly.
"Actually, it's my permission for her to marry you, period, but it is regarded as pro forma that I would say yes if that's what she wants," Daniel said, smiling slightly and looked, again, expectant.
"Oh, well, do I have your permission to marry Seline?"
Daniel looked at Seline. "What do you want, honey?" Seline looked at Jake and then blushed fiery red. "Can I take that as you want me to say yes?" She nodded and Daniel laughed, delighted. "You have my permission, Jake." Everyone hugged.
The director suddenly appeared. "How much longer is this conversation going to take?"
"We're done," Jake said. "The lady will be kissing me." They followed the director back to the set. Jake turned and made a thumbs up sign to his parents as he walked away.
"Oh my," Sam sniffed and started rummaging in her purse for a Kleenex. "It's been years since I've cried this much."
Daniel produced a small package of Kleenex out of a pocket. "Allergies," he said to explain his preparedness. "I am sorry, Sam, that you lost Teal'c. You finally had a husband that suited you and… well…I've been through this twice now and it does get better. You go from barely being able to think about anything else to actually forgetting for hours at a time that they are gone to finally being in a place when you can think about the good times and it makes you feel warm, not destroyed."
"You're not at that last, at peace, place though yet," she commented.
"Why do you say that?" he asked curious.
Sam reached out and touched the small smudge in the middle of his forehead. "Oh," he acknowledged. "That stays there until I die or remarry, actually until I am promised to marry. Seline will be wiping hers off, if she hasn't already. It doesn't mean I'm still in mourning. You can keep the Kleenex package if you want. I've got another in my backpack." Daniel wandered off to talk to the drummer who was sitting glumly by himself.
Sam watched him go, imagining his backside going away under the robes, and found herself thinking those thoughts again. Through four honeymoons with four very good looking men she hadn't thought this much about sex. She was beginning to fear for her sanity.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Johnny sat, looking extremely displeased with life in general, watching Seline and Jake. Jake had his arm around her and she was nestled close to him. Mentally he ticked off his grievances: 1) he didn't want Jake with Seline. She was going to mess him up royally, wasn't she? 2) Jake and Seline were spending too much time gawking at each other and it was cutting their productivity, and 3) he wanted to be doing with Chiona what Jake was doing with Seline and didn't see any hope of it.
Chiona glided up next to him, in Lisseth robes, and sat down, turning her back to Johnny. Her hair, usually in a thick braid, was loose. She handed Johnny a brush. "The director wants me to have my hair loose. Seline's, ahum,'busy.' Would you mind brushing it?"
"That's not against the rules?" he asked in a very nasty tone.
She twisted around and looked at him strangely. "What's your problem today, Johnny?"
He rolled his eyes but he began to brush her hair. It was a lustrous inky black and absolutely straight. There were a few tangles and he wasn't as gentle as he should have been working them out. After about the second one, she turned again and cursed him in Blue. It was incomprehensive but yet extremely comprehensible. He tried to behave after that and lost himself in the pure sensual pleasure of her silky hair gliding across his fingers. "Johnny, you're done, right?" she asked at last.
He realized at that point that he needed to take a walk, alone. He got up hastily and beat a path out the door. Unfortunately she was utterly clueless and followed him. He turned on her and hissed, "I absolutely refuse to believe that no one on Lisseth ever breaks a rule, even a little. Either kiss me once or go back inside and leave me alone."
"Why do I waste my time on someone so unpleasant and self-involved?" She moaned.
He pointed to the door. "It makes me crazy. I can't stand it anymore. I've noticed Daniel is avoiding my mother and I can understand why he feels compelled to do it."
"I can't stand you but I can't stand not to be around you. How do you have this effect on me?" He was still pointing at the door. "One that's all. You promise me. That's all." He started to reach for her. "I want a promise."
"I promise," he said thickly. If he only had one kiss, he had to make it the kiss of a lifetime, something she would dream about until it made her as crazy as he was becoming. He drew her against him with one arm around her waist. With his other hand, he traced down her cheek and rubbed a thumb across her lips. She was breathing rapidly and shallowly and he lowered his head so his mouth was only a whisper away from hers but still he didn't begin the actual kiss. He brushed his mouth against hers, encouraging her lips to part. Then finally, he ended her agony, and gave her the first kiss of her life. Chiona didn't learn about kissing from some poor awkward boy who was himself clueless and embarrassed. She learned from a poor besotted man who was suddenly more nervous than before a crowd of thousands. He may have possessed his share of knowledge on the subject gleaned from any number of eager and beautiful women who wanted to kiss the rock star but, in some ways, it was like his first kiss too.
When the kiss at last ended, she gave a little push to put space between them. She was obviously shaky and deeply affected. "No wonder they don't allow us to do that. It's dangerous," she said, attempting to get control of the situation.
Johnny wasn't letting her off so easily. He skimmed a hand up her body, never touching but only a paper thin distance away. His face was inches from hers and he spoke softly, his warm breath heating her face. "I want you and you want me. You'll have to decide if you want to keep living by your rules because I won't." Abruptly he backed off from her and left. Chiona leaned against the wall and hated herself for thinking jealously about Sam and Seline. It seemed so unfair that Johnny's mother had found four men to love her, her sister had found two, and she could only find one man who was too busy loving himself.
