Mysterious Distance

Part 13

5 Years Later

Dr. Jackson and Dr. Carter-Jackson were at it again. It wasn't something that happened very much, certainly not in the first couple of years of their marriage. It seemed to be happening with much more frequency lately though. Walter took a step back from Dr. Jackson's lab door and came into contact with a wall that shouldn't have been there. He turned around quickly faced a collar bearing a pair of stars.

"They fightin' again, Walter?" General O'Neill asked.

"Yes, sir. They seem to be."

"For cryin' out loud, Carter and Gracie just got back. This is getting ridiculous."

"Yes, sir. I'll just come back later." Walter took a step back and tried to edge around the general.

"Running away, Walter? Carter wouldn't hurt you."

Walter looked up at his CO in disbelief. Dr. Carter-Jackson was very scary when she was angry. The general seemed to understand his trepidation, but instead of allowing Walter to escape he just smirked, "Don't worry, Walter. I'll protect you."

"But who's going to protect you, sir?"

The general didn't respond, he just pushed Walter through the door of Dr. Jackson's lab. The instant he was over the threshold both Doctors Jackson glowered angrily at him and he understood the general's tactic. Walter was a diversion. "What do you need, Sergeant?" Dr. Carter-Jackson demanded in her best CO voice even though she hadn't been in the Air Force for some years.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt, but-um-but Jonas Quinn just sent through the manuscript you were waiting for, Dr. Jackson." Walter held the massive tome out to the archeologist. As soon as it was in his hands, Walter muttered "Excuse me," and fled the lab.

"Uh, thanks," Daniel said to the empty space that had previously held Walter. He turned to look at Jack who just shrugged. Pissed Carter was indeed a scary phenomenon and unfortunately her attention had now focused on him.

"Jack, what the hell-" Sam began but her tirade was cut off by her daughter barreling into the lab.

"Uncle Jack! Uncle Jack!" Grace called happily throwing herself into his arms.

Jack picked her up and twirled her around as much as he could in the crowed lab. He kissed her cheek, "Gracie! How's my best girl?"

She hugged his neck tightly, "I missed you so much, Uncle Jack."

"And Uncle Jack missed you too, sweetheart."

"Uncle Jack is also in big trouble," Sam stated matter of factly.

"Just like Daddy?" Gracie asked.

"Yes, just like Daddy."

Jack smiled hopefully and held Gracie in front of him as a human shield. "You wouldn't hurt the man holding your daughter, would you?"

"Put her down, Jack."

"I won't let Mommy hurt you and Daddy, Uncle Jack," the girl in his arms stated.

"Thanks, sweetheart."

Sam's anger cracked and she actually had to smile. Her husband had managed to sneak behind Jack and Gracie as if he really did expect the little girl to protect them.

Jack sensed the tension ease and asked Sam, "What's the deal? What did we do this time?"

"My loving husband didn't pick us up at the airport because he was asleep in his lab drooling on some Ancient text-"

"I was not drooling."

"What's that stain then?" she pointed to an ink smudge. He didn't have an answer to that so she continued, "And as it turns out he hasn't left the mountain and probably not this lab for the entire week we've been in San Diego. And you, Jack, are in trouble for letting do it."

"Whoa, there, Carter. It's not my fault. I was with Thor meeting with the Asgard Council for most of the week. In fact, I just got back. Ask Thor. Or Walter. He's handier." She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. She was quite certain that Walter and Thor would cover for him even if he hadn't been gone. Jack was struck by a sudden thought. "And that reminds me," he shifted Gracie to one side and dug into his cargo pocket to pull out a shiny silver ball with blinky lights and held it out to Gracie. "Thor sent that for you."

"Ooh. What is it?"

Jack tossed it up in the air and it hovered and projected a pretty light show of holograms. "It floats and glows."

Gracie began squirming and Jack set her down. She immediately began running around the lab trying to catch some a fluttery butterfly like holograms.

Daniel turned to Jack, "You were gone? I didn't notice."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Geez, no wonder she's pissed at you, Spacemonkey. You have been doing this a lot lately, y'know."

Jack lifted the sleeping child from his truck and carried her into his house. Jack had offered to take Gracie home for the night so Sam and Daniel could have a chance to 'make up', but he had feeling Carter was just going to lay into Daniel again. Jack couldn't even manage to feel sorry for him. The man had been obsessively working himself into ill health for the better part of a year or at least that's when the strain had really begun to show in the Jacksons' marriage. Jack suspected that it had gone on for longer than that but no one noticed because Daniel was such a workaholic anyway. It had gotten so bad that he had collapsed in his lab and that ended up with a lengthy stay in the infirmary. Dr. Brightman had also banned coffee and caffeine in general from his diet.

Gracie didn't even stir as Jack dressed her in her pajamas and tucked her into bed. Jack then went to take a shower. The hot water beating down on his back felt good and helped ease his sore muscles. He really needed to talk to Thor about getting a comfortable bed on his ship if he was going spend much time there in the future. He didn't really understand why the Asgard thought he was capable of negotiating the new Tauri-Asgard treaty. Diplomacy really wasn't his strong suit. Hopefully he had helped them sort things out sufficiently and the real diplomats could take over from here.

After his shower he grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator. He really needed to talk to Thor about having beer available too. He took his beer and went to check on Gracie. She was still sleeping peacefully, clutching the stuffed rak'ana that Teal'c had made for her. Apparently the stuffed feline creature was the Jaffa equivalent to a teddy bear. Suitably Jaffa-like it was more fearsome looking than cute.

Jack sat in the chair in the corner of the room and watched his daughter sleep. In the quiet moments alone like this he could admit that she was his daughter. He tried his best to push that knowledge into the darkest reaches of his mind most of the time, fearful that he would behave more father-like than uncle-like.

He sat sipping his beer and thought about all that had changed since Gracie's birth. Carter had resigned her commission following SG-1's first mission after the birth of her daughter. What was supposed to be a routine meet and greet had nearly turned into a blood bath. Carter decided she couldn't in good conscience continue risking her life like that now that she had a child. She and Daniel both retired from regular gate missions and were now the heads of the Science and Technology and the Archeology and Linguistics departments. With the break up of SG-1 Teal'c had married Ishta and had become a leader of the free Jaffa. The President had decided that the designation SG-1 should be retired in honor of all their contributions to the program. Personally, Jack thought he didn't want to have another team cursed to have 'interesting' missions.

The Asgard with the help of the SGC had finally eradicated the Replicators and were currently helping to fight the Goa'uld. The System Lords were decimated by now. Relations between the Tauri, Tok'ra, and the free Jaffa seemed to be on the upswing. Harry Maybourne was apparently king of a planet and shockingly enough seemed to be doing a pretty good at it.

Several attempts had been made to grab Gracie but they had all been thwarted . And with Agent Barrett's help the Trust had been pretty much dismantled. Grace had become a fixture in the SGC. Everyone was enchanted with her. She was an amazingly smart kid, which wasn't surprising who her mother was. She picked things up quickly. Daniel had already taught her the rudiments of several earth languages not to mention Goa'uld and Ancient. She had a precocious and inquisitive child and liked to touch things she wasn't supposed to. She got that from Jack. She pretty much had the run of the 'safe' areas of the base though always with one of her nanny/bodyguards in tow. If she wasn't found in one of her parents labs she could generally be found playing quietly in a corner of his office. She was outgoing yet prone to moments of quiet introspection. She was overall wonderfully happy child and Jack loved her dearly. And Gracie loved her 'Uncle Jack'. As soon as she was old enough Jack began taking her to his cabin with him. Daniel had in fact encouraged him. Jack had worried he might be overstepping his bounds as 'Uncle Jack'. This and some of the looks Daniel had given him over the years led Jack to believe that Daniel might have figured out the truth, but it was never mentioned or insinuated. Carter on the other hand never seemed to suspect.

His relationship with Carter had also evolved since Grace's birth, especially since she resigned her commission. She called him 'Jack' now. No more 'sir' or 'General' unless she was being facetious. Their relationship had relaxed into a comfortable friendship except for the odd moment of sexual tension that flared up occasionally. It usually happened after they had all had a couple of beers and began flirting heavily. Daniel seemed find this highly amusing. In a way he and Sam had gotten even closer in the last year or so, if that was possible. She seemed to be relying more on him emotionally. Daniel had been steadily immersing himself in Ancient lore and seemed to have begun to withdraw from his family as this past week was an example of.

Cassie was pursuing a doctorate in Archeology much to Daniel's delight and already had a place assured at the SGC. She had run away to Vegas to marry her boyfriend but got cold feet at the last minute and called Jack at 3:00 AM to come and get her. She had since become more studious.

Even though Jack was chained to a desk, the woman he still loved was still married to his best friend, his best friend seemed to be retreating from reality to his research, his other best friend now lived on another planet with his own family, and he still couldn't acknowledge his daughter, this was still one of the happiest periods in his life. He had long since reconciled himself with the fact that fate had seemed to plan that Jack O'Neill couldn't have his cake and eat it too.

TBC