Chapter Eleven:

Silence echoed around me as I finished my tale. Dad had told them what I could not, and together we had told them all about what had happened during the last 20 years. My heart thumped loudly in my chest, and I felt weak and vulnerable. I couldn't bare it if my family turned away from me again – and I considered Teal'c to be as much a part of my family as my parents.

Thankfully, Daniel was still sitting beside us, quietly supporting and comforting. I'm not sure if it's just the type of man he was or whether he truly knew the Ancients better than anyone else, but he had stayed by us when everyone else had turned away.

It had stung, almost unbelievably so, when my mother had told us to go…and broken my father's heart. I could still see then anger and pain reflected in her blue gaze, and hoped she would think before she lashed out again. My father had been through hell knowing that he would never see her again, and her rejection hurt him more than I could understand.

There was another glimmer of hope however. Dr. Janet Fraiser had also been called into the meeting, so she had heard everything as well. And so far she was simply watching us. She hadn't said anything – yet. But when she spoke, I at least had the comfort of knowing she had thought before she said it.

The General sighed. "This all seems a bit unbelievable." He said finally.

I attempted a smile. "I thought unbelievable described most things that happen around here?"

"You'll forgive me for not seeing the humour in this, Dr. Carter." The General said flatly.

I winced at his tone, but said nothing more.

"You said something about there being others like Anubis?" Daniel asked, going straight for the most important details.

"Yes." My father replied. "Anubis is not the only half-ascended being in the galaxy. But he is the only half-ascended Goa'uld."

"So what does that mean?" Janet asked.

I blinked in surprise at Janet's voice, even though I shouldn't have. She, like Daniel, was focusing on the immediate threat and giving herself time to think everything over.

"There are others out there with the same knowledge and power as Anubis." Dad explained. "And they have the same dreams of destruction."

"What can we do to stop them?" This time the General spoke.

He seemed more able to accept Jack, despite everything. The General hadn't really known Dad before his disappearance, and didn't really have any personal feelings to get in the way. He quickly assessed the threat of Anubis and those like him and knew he needed to know more.

"Nothing." I said. "This is my task, not yours."

"Then why are you here?" the General asked.

"Because I wanted to tell you what had happened." I said. "Because I wanted to see my family and friends again – and because I knew Dad deserved to go home."

The General sighed again. "We need to talk about this."

He punched a button and an airman entered the room. "Airman, escort Colonel O'Neill and Dr. Carter to the guest quarters, and make sure they do not leave."

I sighed from where I lay on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Dad sat on the other bed, staring intently at the wall and hadn't said anything since the door had shut over two hours ago. I was starting to get worried.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I said.

The sound of my voice seemed to rouse Dad from his deep thoughts. "What?" he asked.

"I said, penny for your thoughts." I repeated. "What are you thinking about?"

Dad rubbed a hand over his face. "Nothing." He said, a tad too quickly.

"Sure." I agreed, somewhat sarcastically. "And you just find drab green paint utterly fascinating."

Dad gave a weak smile. "Alright, so I was thinking about something." He admitted.

"What?"

Dad seemed to search for something to say, but before he could, I interrupted. "Ah." I said. "Mom."

"You always were perceptive." He said.

"Wanna talk about it?" I asked.

"Not really." Dad replied.

I heard the pain in his tone and it made me sad. I guess every kid wants their parents to be madly in love and stay that way, but more than that, I just wanted my parents to be happy. And from the way they spoke, I knew they would only be truly happy together.

I got up and walked over to where my father sat, before sliding into his lap and hugging him. Almost unconsciously, he pulled me into his arms and I put my head against his shoulder.

"You haven't done this since you were a little girl." He said softly after a while.

"I know." I said.

We sat in silence for a long time, curled in each others arms like only a child and father can be, taking comfort in the fact we had each other. "I love you, Dad." I said. "And I'll be there for you, okay?"

Dad smiled down at me. "I know." He said, a gently kissed my forehead. "I love you too, kiddo."

Slowly my father began to softly stroke my hair just above my ear, just like he had when I had been a child. My eyes flickered shut at the comforting sensation and I rested my head more heavily on his shoulder. I was almost asleep in his arms when the door opened behind me.

When nobody said anything, I opened my eyes and turned so I could see who it was. My mother stood framed in the doorway, tears streaming down her face and a look of pain etched across her face.

I wasn't sure what it meant, but she quickly shut the door behind her. Since she was still here, I couldn't help but hope.

"How, Shannon?" she said, ignoring my father for the moment.

"How, what, mom?" I asked.

"How can you forgive him so easily?"

I looked my mother levelly in the eye. "It wasn't so easy, mom." I said. "But two more weeks of this than you have. And besides that, I've long since accepted something – he's my father and I love him. Nothing can change that."

My mother took a halting step froward and as she did, I slipped from my father's embrace, knowing they had to face each other without me in the way. "Jack…" she began, the tears slipping down her cheeks again.

"I'm sorry, Sammie." Dad said, interrupting her. "You have no idea how sorry I am."

"Sorry you couldn't come back," my mother whispered brokenly. "Or sorry you're here?"

Dad was off the bed and had gathered my mother into his arms almost before I could blink. "Don't even think that." He said. "I'd never sorry to be where you were. Whether you hate me or not."

"I don't hate you." My mother's words were muffled, but I couldn't mistake the effect they had on my father.

"You don't?" he asked softly, looking like a little boy who had been told that Santa Claus did exist after all.

My mother drew back a little to face him. "No. I love you, Jack. I always have."

Dad dipped his head and gave mom a kiss that I wasn't sure I should – or wanted to – be watching. I hoped this would go a long way to fixing the problems between them. It wasn't over. They had a lot of talking to do, but it was a promising start.

Mom drew away. "I'm sorry, Jack." She said. "About what I said. I do want you here…I just…I need time to deal with this."

My father cupped her face in his hands. "I know." He said, and kissed her forehead just like he had kissed mine earlier.

Then he turned and held open his arms to me. I almost ran towards my parents, surprised at the tears falling down my cheeks too. But then I was being held by both of them and everything was okay.

I woke slowly, awakened not so much by the quiet murmur of voice coming from the corner of the room, but of a sense that something was coming. Something big. I blinked open my eyes, surprised to find that Daniel, Teal'c and Janet had all joined mom and dad while I had been asleep.

I stretched lazily and yawned. I smiled as I sank back down into the blankets, revelling in the feeling of being home again. "Morning, sleepy." Daniel greeted with a smile, coming over.

"Morning Uncle Danny." I said, still reluctant to move.

Daniel sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at me curiously. "We're going to have to talk about all this new knowledge." He said. "You'll be a lot of help."

"I know." I said. "I'll do what I can."

"Thanks, Shan." He said.

"No problem." I said.

Then I glanced over at the others. "How's it going?" I asked.

"Better." Daniel said. "They're talking it out now."

"And you?" I asked.

Daniel smiled at me. "I'm just happy Jack's back. He's proved before he's hard to kill. I'm glad it was true this time too."

"Me, too." I said.

We shared a smile, both glad that the man we cared about was back with us and our family was once again reunited. It was a good feeling.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a feeling I got to savour for long. At that moment, the door opened, revealing the General. He had a worried look on his face and I feared that my feeling was about to come true.

I was right and for once I got no joy of the sensation. "We have a problem." The General said bluntly, looking directly at me.

"What kind of problem?" I said, throwing back the blankets and surging to my feet, ready for whatever was about to come.

"Anubis is headed straight for Earth with a Jaffa army." The General said. "Whose, I'm not sure. But the Tok'ra believe Baal might be helping him."

"Great." Daniel muttered beside me. "The two megalomaniacs have joined forces."

"What do you want to do?" I asked the General.

"What ever you have to, Dr. Carter." He said. "You said were an Ancient and that it was your job to get rid of Anubis. What do you need to do that?"

I was slightly surprised at the way the General handed control of this over to me. I knew I had more experience with this than he did, but I hadn't had any experience in defending Earth. As if sensing my thoughts, the General added, "Oma spoke to me about what you can do and I'll need all the help I can get. I don't have to bother with niceties, as I have been informed you are to be treated as a visiting diplomat."

At that I spluttered. "What? We'll have to take about that later, General. But right now I'm just a human who want to help save her planet."

"Good." The General said. "I'll tell you what we know on the way to the control room."

As I moved to follow him, I felt Dad come up to stand behind me and grabbed my hand. He squeezed it reassuringly. "Don't worry." He whispered. "The two of us are in this together, kiddo."

"No." my mother said from my other side. "We're all in this together."

I smiled. Anubis didn't stand a chance against my family. If only he knew what he was about to get himself into.