Title: Safe Bet
Chapter: The Back Door.
Summary: "You just don't get it, do you?" the older man asked. "This is not about you, or Sam, or the possibility of you having a life together and being happy. This is about earth...
Disclaimer: Nah. The show isn't mine. If it was, RDA would be here this season...
Spoilers for Chain Reaction.
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When Jacob Carter said goodbye to his daughter, so she could continue with work, he was already planning on what to say to O'Neill when he dropped by his office. He was fairly certain that she knew what he was planning, but if she did, she didn't give him any indication of it, nor did she make any attempts to keep him from going. She merely hugged him, thanking him for the conversation days earlier, and said she would see him later– for dinner perhaps.
Daniel Jackson had attempted to stop him before he made his way to the general's office, there was something that they needed to talk about, he claimed. Jacob promised him they would converse at a later hour, but he had to take care of a few things first. Important things. Things that could not wait.
The other Tok'ra were already in their quarters, or roaming around the base, and Jack was alone in his office, Jacob could see through the plexiglass. He knocked softly on the door, and waited for the OK to enter. As soon as he heard Jack call out he opened the door, a small smiling and a knowing look on his face. The moment he saw him, Jack understood why he had come, and motioned for him to sit down.
"You've talked to Carter?" he asked, putting his pen down and looking up at the older man.
Jacob snorted lightly, giving Jack an amused look, "I am Carter, Jack."
General O'Neill smiled, "I know that Jake, I meant your daughter."
Nodding, Jacob replied, "Then yes, I have talked with Carter. Learned a few, interesting facts about you... and your up and coming retirement. What's that all about?"
Sitting back in his chair, Jack sighed, "Let's face it Jacob, I'm not nearly as needed as she is, and probably the only reason I still have a job is because of all the times SG-1 saved the world, or killed a Goa'uld. I'm not General material, never have been. Fact is, I was surprised when I made it to colonel, even. I don't house a single diplomatic bone in my body, the words forgive and forget are not a part of my vocabulary, I'm not even close to being bright, I'm temperamental and cocky, and the things that I say tend to get me into bad situations. That's not the kind of person who should have command of the worlds most important, top-secret military facility. So, the question then is, what on earth am I still doing here?"
"Jack, you really need to get over this low-self esteem thing. Yeah, okay, maybe you're not the best diplomat in the world, and maybe you have a tendency to hold grudges, but you also have a knack for seeing through a lie and getting down to the true nature of people. Your men and women trust you, they work well for you because they like you, they're not going to want to be forced to work under some person they know nothing about. What happens if it turns out the SGC gets another General Bauer to command? Are things really going to be better if they're stuck with a tool, who comes in and shatters the natural order of things? How would you live with yourself if something happens to earth because you put your life above everybody else's?"
"That's not what I'm doing Jake," the man replied, "and I think you know that."
"All that I know is you're behaving like a self-centered child, kicking and screaming because they want a new toy and their parents said no." Jacob shook his head, "I know why you are doing this Jack– and believe me, I want nothing more than to see my baby girl finally happy, but not if it's at the expense of earth. Not if it's going to tear apart everything we've all worked so hard for." He leaned forward in his chair, running his hands over his face, still shaking his head, "Your being here is important to so many things, whether you like to thank so or not. The Asgaurd have a difficult time dealing with anybody else, when they're not in tow with you, and like it or not, but the Tok'ra have a great deal of respect for you, and would much rather negotiate through this bump in the road with the infamous General Jack O'Neill. We're not going to do so well with a man who knows nothing of our ways and traditions, who hasn't been through eight years of battles and hardships by our side. You have to realize that."
"What are you asking of me, Jacob?" Jack questioned. "Because, it seems to me like you'd sacrifice Sam's chance at a real life, all for some damned treaties. I'm sorry– but I'm not willing to do that anymore."
"You just don't get it, do you?" the older man asked. "This is not about you, or Sam, or the possibility of you having a life together and being happy. This is about earth. This is about the defeat of the Goa'uld, and how you factor into the equation. This is about finding new allies to help protect our planet, new weapons to use in battle against our enemies, new medicine that could one day cure cancer, or AIDS, new foods that could possibly cure world hunger. You are vital to this program, damn it, and I can't believe that the president would even consider accepting your resignation, because he understands what you're so plainly dumb to. You are the only man capable of this job. Yeah, Hammond did wonderful as CO of the SGC, but for as long as he worked here, you were learning things from him, things that help you in your job now. Nobody else has that. There is not another human being on this planet who can run this facility the way you do. You leave, and disaster will follow. It's inevitable."
Jack leaned back in his chair once more, "I can't turn my back on my decision Jacob. I told your daughter I would be with her, and I can't see myself doing anything otherwise. I made a promise to her– and I fully intend on keeping it."
"I'm not asking you to take back your promise, Jack. I'm asking you to look for another option. Find a loop hole. Damn it, don't just sit there and tell me the only way for my daughter to have a life, a family, is for you to abandon your country, your world, like an egotistical jerk. Hold off on your letter, just a few more days. Find some other way, there has to be one. There is always a back door. You just have to be willing to search high and low to find it."
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"Jacob," Daniel said, as soon as the man emerged from O'Neill's office. He took one look at the flush of his cheeks, and the annoyed look in his eyes, and realized that the airmen and marines of the SGC had been completely wrong about the nature of the conversation between the general's. It was not a happy-go-lucky, I hear you're sacrificing your career for my daughter, talk. Daniel was almost certain that the man had chewed the younger general out, and he was sure that Jack had deserved it. "What's wrong?"
The man shook his head, and began walking towards his regular quarters. "Good Lord, I have never met a more dense man in my life!" he declared, earning a few curious looks from passing airmen. "What does he take the government for? Idiots? They wouldn't have put him in his position if he didn't deserve it– if he wasn't needed. How can he possibly think that we could do well without him?"
"Listen, Jacob, we need to talk about something..."
"Not now, Daniel. I have to make a phone call–"
"To whom, Hammond? the president?" the archeologist asked. When the older Carter stopped dead in his tracks, an amused smile was brought to Daniel's lips. He had stumped the man. That was a pretty good feeling. "It's already been done– believe me. That is what we need to talk about, but I would rather we have this conversation in private."
The Tok'ra stood in the hallway for a second more, searching his face for any clue of what the young man was talking about, and then nodded. "Very well, then. We'd better get this over with, because I don't think that Jack listened to me like he should have." He took off back down the hallway, Daniel following behind him. A few moments later, they entered his quarters and Jacob took a seat. "So, tell me what this is all about."
Daniel took the only remaining seat in the room, which just happened to be Jacob's bed, "Not long after your last visit, Major Davis and I had a very unique discussion. It seems we're not the only ones who can see past Sam and Jack's facades. We talked about it for awhile, and decided that we were going to do something about it. So, Paul made a phony reason for me to go back to D.C. with him, and we went and talked to the president–"
"You did what!"
Smiling slightly, Daniel continued, "I'm not going to lie to you, things didn't turn out the way we wanted them to. The president said that there was nothing he could do about the situation, he was sorry and he wished there was more he could do. Well, when the president turns you down, there's nothing else you can do, right? Jack fixed that for us." Daniel stood up, and stood up against the wall, "A few days ago, he sent Hammond an e-mail, told him that he was going to retire. Hammond called the president, and Hayes filled him in on what Davis and I had been in D.C. doing. So, Hammond e-mailed Jack back, asked him to wait for a little while longer, think things over, before he sent of his resignation. Faced with the program losing one of it's key members, Hayes reconsidered. As we speak, Hammond is on a plane, headed for Colorado Springs, so he can tell Jack and Sam in person."
Jacob sat in silence for a few seconds, "Why couldn't you tell me this before I went and showed my ass?"
Daniel shrugged, "I tried to stop you..."
He sighed, "So what do we do now?"
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When Jacob left his office, he left the door open. Normally, this would have bothered him, he liked privacy. But at the moment, he was hoping for a distraction, anything to take away from what he had just been confronted with. He had tried to act like it didn't bother him, like he didn't believe what Jacob had said, but he could lie to himself, it got to him. Deep down, he knew the older man was right.
The knock at the door had been refreshing to say the least. That was, until he looked up to see who his visitor was. "Carter..." he said, acknowledging her, "come on in."
She smiled shyly, and entered the office, taking the seat her father had occupied not even ten minutes before. Then, with a half hidden wince, she asked, "How much damage did he do?"
Jack shook his head, "None... at least not in the way you're thinking."
That got her attention, "Oh? What kind of damage did he do then?"
Frowning, he looked up at the open door. She got the underlying message, got up momentarily, and shut the door. When she got back to her seat, she let out a deep sigh, "Now will you tell me what my father wanted to talk to you about?"
"My retirement."
"Okay... what about your retirement."
"He was trying to talk me out of it," he explained. "Put up a pretty good argument."
"So what?" she asked, not even attempting to hide her disappointment. "Are you reconsidering?"
"No matter what, I'm not going back on my word. I'm tired of sitting around, acting like you don't matter to me. But, what if there's another way?" He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk, "There's got to be some other way. Something that can be done, that doesn't require me to leave."
Sam stood up from her chair, heading towards the door, "Let me know if you come up with something." And then, she walked out of the room, leaving Jack confused, and even more frustrated than Jacob had.
In his near fifty years of life, he still hadn't skimmed the surface towards understanding women, and he was beginning to think that, given fifty more years, he still wouldn't get any closer than he already was.
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General Hammond look at his watch, for what seemed like the hundredth time, and sighed. His flight to Colorado Springs seemed never-ending, and after his one and only layover in Missouri it had only gone slower. He had only a little over an hour until they landed, and he was getting slightly anxious.
By the time he got to Colorado Springs, Daniel picked him up at the airport, and they got back to the SGC, it would be close to the end of the workday. As far as he knew, President Hayes wouldn't accept the letter, but he still wanted to get there before Jack took that final step.
There was some children's movie was playing, and thanks to his granddaughters Hammond had already seen it four times, so there went that distraction. He took out his laptop, figuring at least he could play Free-cell or something, and sighed.
It had been a long day so far, and he was more than certain that the night was going to be even longer.
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A/N: This chapter was a pain in the butt to write! Ugh. I know I rewrote the beginning at least four times, and in the end I took the complete opposite direction with it. I like the direction it went in though, so I guess that's all that matters. Anyway, let me know what you think, as always.
