"Hey, Sam, you got a moment?"
Her head jerked up to see Jack standing hesitantly in her doorway. She could only attribute her shock at seeing him to some futile form of denial. She should have realized it was inevitable that she would see him when he came to take the treaty back to Daniel.
"Of course, General," she said coldly. She might have finally admitted to herself that she loved Daniel, but Jack had taken a coward's way of breaking it off with her. It hurt to be treated like that. She was also disappointed in him; she had thought him a better man. It seemed like she was a poor judge of men all the way around.
Jack came in the rest of the way and took her visitor's chair. "I guess you aren't too happy with me right now," he said.
"I don't believe as a Lt. Colonel I am in a position to assess your performance, sir," she said, deliberately missing the point.
"Fine," he said. His tone had become equally brisk and professional. "I would like to get some intel from you as to why Daniel requested that I return and you and Mitchell stay away."
"I would think it more appropriate to ask that question of my CO, sir."
"Your CO was extremely unhelpful. I believe he said something about Daniel probably having a cob up his butt. That may well be true, but if I'm going to walk into this situation, I'd like more specifics."
"Way up his butt," Sam said. "Does that help?"
"Colonel, I want more information. That's an order."
Sam sighed. At this point, she wasn't in the mood to do anything for Jack O'Neill. However, she had spent her life as a loyal officer, observant of the chain of command. "Daniel had some confrontations with me. He's changed and I guess I called him on some of the less desirable aspects of that change. I don't think he wanted to see me again and be reminded."
"Daniel? Our Daniel? You never disapproved of him. Sometimes he exasperated you, yeah, but undesirable." Jack shook his head. "I guess I'll have to see it to believe it. What about Mitchell. He give him a hard time the same way?"
"No. At least I don't think so. Daniel's mother-in-law is a beautiful woman named Elspetha. Early 40's and every man's fantasy. Colonel Mitchell and she really hit it off. Daniel is very fond of her, very protective of her happiness. Either Elspetha didn't want to see Cam again because she's already said good bye to him once or Daniel has made that decision without consulting her. It's essentially the same thing."
"Jonas and Teal'c didn't get lucky and so they can come back?"
"Sir, I would not speculate that Colonel Mitchell as you put it 'got lucky.'"
"Fair enough." Jack stood up and turned to leave, but stood indecisively for a moment, his back to her. Then he said, still not facing her, "I'm sorry for hurting you when I broke it off."
"You should be."
He turned and looked at her, his brown eyes sincere and full of remorse. Meeting them reminded her of all the things she had loved and respected about this man. Jack said, "I'm really sorry, Sam. Can you forgive me?"
She knew she should tell him that she forgave him, but she wasn't ready. Too many people had taken too much away from her. Instead she said, feeling like a bad person and very unSamlike, "I'll get back to you on that, General."
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Jack felt pretty rugged physically. He'd not had much sleep in three days and this emergency trip to Colorado right after the return from a trip to Europe had left him feeling exhausted. I'm too old for any of this, he kept thinking. He could retire whenever he wanted. Why, in the name of all that's holy, was he still working? A little voice said "Because it's all you really have."
His emotional state was even worse. He sat in the cafeteria staring into a cup of coffee and thinking about the sweet, adorable, beautiful woman who would hardly give him the time of day. He had made a huge mistake. For months, hell for the three plus years of their relationship, he had felt like he wasn't measuring up. She never complained when he let her down. She just gave up a little bit at a time, like with talking about the things that excited her. When they were first together, she would go on in her technobabble occasionally when an idea really grabbed her. He just wasn't interested. He didn't want to put in the energy to understand. That was why he let people think he was stupid. He wanted to be spared being polite while they talked about things that bored the pants off him. So he only contributed grunts and monosyllables to the conversation and after awhile she would run out of steam. He was pretty sure it had been almost a year since she had even brought up anything the least bit technical.
There he was feeling unappreciated and a little pressured to be something he wasn't and suddenly Jennifer appeared, conveniently right there at the Pentagon and coming after him full bore. How stereotypical could you be, Jack, he asked himself, cheating on your middle-aged girl friend with a late twenty something woman named Jennifer? Maybe not technically cheating—the letter HAD been in the mail—but he knew it was cheating and so did Sam. Of course, it hadn't lasted. Sara and Sam, two good women now that he had lost because he was an ass.
He looked up when Teal'c and Jonas approached his table. Jack got up quickly and greeted Jonas with real enthusiasm. "I heard you were back on the team. I'm delighted. Cam can use a man like you."
Jonas was clearly quite pleased. It had taken him awhile to get accepted the first time around and it was good to be so readily welcomed this time. "May we join you?" he asked.
"Please, please," Jack said. "It's good to see you too, T."
"I am also happy to see you," Teal'c said.
"What do you know about the reason behind Daniel's request for me to come along?" Jack asked. It never hurt to ask multiple people the same question. The differences in the answers could be revealing.
"Perhaps he would like to make peace with you," Teal'c said.
"I didn't know we were at war," Jack said. Suddenly he felt bewildered. This didn't line up at all with what Sam had said.
"You did not know, but he did," Teal'c responded judiciously.
Jonas raised an eyebrow and then nodded slowly. "Ah. Yes."
"Someone want to clue me in?"
Teal'c said, "DanielJackson and ColonelCarter are like Nurse Chapel and Spock or Han Solo and Princess Leia in the first two StarWars movies or … " He ground to a halt trying to come up with other appropriate thwarted lovers.
"Teal'c you got to stop watching that stuff. It's rotting your brain. There is no way Sam would ever be interested in Daniel that way. She likes macho military guys-a cop is quasi-military. Look at her ex-fiance Jonas, look at Pete."
"Look at you," Teal'c finished helpfully.
"Okay. Look at me. Daniel isn't anything like me."
Jonas laughed. "You do have an interesting trip ahead of you."
Later that day when they came through the gate, Jack began to understand. He'd read the file of course, but reading something and having it get up close and personal in your face are two different things. They were escorted from the gate through near endless gardens and echoing corridors with lofty ceilings lined with magnificent art to a spacious chamber where Daniel sat in a chair that was close to a throne. He did not rise as they approached although his expression was friendly. They halted a respectful distance away and Jack just stood until Teal'c nudged him and he remembered he was supposed to bow. Only then did Daniel speak or acknowledge them.
"Greetings. The Linteri welcome you on this important occasion." He glanced at the document case Jack carried. "I would see the agreement."
His tone was preemptory. There was no please. Jack had been warned not to hand the document directly to Daniel and he complied. Taking the agreement a short time later from a deeply bowing bodyguard, Daniel read it very carefully twice. There was ample time for Jack to notice the king's ransom in the rings Daniel wore and the pendant hanging around his neck. At last Daniel simply put out a hand and a servant materialized. He almost seemed to appear out of thin air to hand Daniel the pen. After Daniel signed the agreement, he gave some sort of rapid command in Linteri. Jack, Jonas, and Teal'c continued to stand while Daniel sat. Jack held on to his temper and refrained from speaking, waiting until being spoken to. It was all becoming rather galling.
Daniel said, "I will speak to you, General O'Neill, privately before you return to Earth after the ceremony."
Before Jack could question what ceremony, a lovely woman appeared with a little boy. The little boy ran to Daniel who lifted him up with delight. Daniel smiled over the child's head at the woman and she returned his smile. Daniel briefly introduced her as Lady Elspetha and the child as King Davi and then he said, "Follow me," and walked toward heavy doors at the back of the room. Two servants opened them before they reached them and, for the first time, Jack noticed crowd noise. They stepped out onto a wide balcony and Jack saw that two stories below there was a wide plaza inside the heavy iron fence around the palace grounds. The gates were flung open and the square was packed with people. There were people on the boulevards leading up the mountain to the palace. There were thousands and thousands of people and when Daniel appeared on the balcony with the child, the acclamation was deafening. At first it was a confused roar and then it gradually coalesced into one giant voice chanting, "Davi. Danyal". Daniel let it continue a short time and then he held up a hand. Almost instantly the sound stopped.
Daniel said nothing but stepped to one side and indicated Jack, Jonas, and Teal'c who stepped forward to tumultuous acclaim. Then Daniel held out the agreement to Jack so that he took hold and it was now grasped between them. Daniel lifted his hand, the agreement, and Jack's hand with it so that Jack was presenting it to the crowd with Daniel. This time the chant was "Danyal". Danyal then bowed to the crowd and they went wild. After a moment or two, he and his son waved and then turned and reentered the palace, followed by the Tauri representatives.
Daniel said something to Elspetha and she nodded and held her arms out to Davi. He pouted, but then obediently went to his grandmother. Daniel set off at a brisk pace toward a less impressive door to the side of the room. They hurried after him and found themselves entering an intimate parlor. Teal'c was the last one to enter and he closed the door behind them.
Daniel sat and indicated the other chairs in the room with a lazy wave. "It is good to see you all. That bit of theater was necessary for the people. You bore it well."
"Some advance warning would have been appreciated," Jack said.
Daniel simply stared him down. Jack had to admit that Daniel might not have known once how to do that particular look, but he was now a past master. Despite himself, he felt a little intimidated. There was a soft knock on the door and Daniel said, "Come."
Elspetha entered. She smiled at them warmly and Daniel said to Teal'c and Jonas, "Elspetha will see that you receive some refreshments. I will talk with Jack alone."
They both got up, unperturbed and left with Elspetha. When she moved aside, a servant entered with a tray, set it down, and quickly left.
When the door shut again and they were alone, Jack said, "You've turned into a really rude SOB Daniel."
Daniel said, "As you would be well equipped to know." He leaned back and looked at Jack under half-closed eyes. "I would make a show of offering you refreshments, but you don't want them and neither do I.
"How do you know what I want?" Jack said.
"I understand you, Jack. I never did before but I do now. What you want is to take a swing at me, but you're smart enough not to."
Jack said, "Just what do you want to talk to me about?"
"You were very important to me. I respected many things about you and I still do. When you and Sam finally got together, I tried to be happy for her, but I was jealous. It drove a wedge between on us on my side. That was not your fault; that was my doing. If I did not think you were a good man and worthy of respect, I would not say this to you. Sam is a treasure, a pearl of great price. A man would sell his entire kingdom for her if it were in his power to do so."
Jack thought to himself, he's talking about his kingdom. Daniel continued, "She deserves to be happy. I do not know what insanity possessed you to let your relationship end with her, but I ask you to think it over. She is very vulnerable now, I think. If you apologized, even if it was not truly your fault, I think she would fall into your arms."
"Maybe, maybe not."
Daniel shook his head. "So you HAVE apologized. You probably kept it to 50 words or less and never really admitted to making a mistake."
Jack felt a flare of resentment. Daniel had no business thinking he could read Jack's mind even if he apparently could. "You seem awfully interested in my love life. Could this be a case of you wanting me to take in your cast off lover?"
Daniel was out of his chair with a knife at Jack's throat before Jack could act. "You may not come to my world and talk disrespectfully to me or about those I honor."
Jack sat unmoving. It was like being faced with a snake about to strike. "Point taken," he said at last, barely moving his lips.
Daniel slowly backed away, sat back down, and dropped the knife on the table in front of him. "I give you my word that Sam and I were not lovers, have never been lovers." He expelled a long breath. "Jack, there are only so many chances in life. Do not use up what may be your last one. Give her a real live romantic apology in which you admit that you made a mistake." He stood. "Let us go to the gate. We have had the theater the people need. The court will not be happy for the lack of a state banquet, but, trust me, the food is pretty bad when I have to feed hundreds."
Jack returned to Earth, almost wondering if he had imagined the whole thing except that he had his copy of the treaty. After debriefing with Landry and the State Department representative, he found himself standing outside Sam's office door again. Before he knocked, he was reminded of Daniel's advice. He turned and walked away from her office and left the Mountain. By 7:00 that night, he was standing on her front step with a dozen roses and hoping for the best.