A/N: Thank you all so much for reviewing! The beginning of this chapter doesn't really fit with the rest of it, but I didn't have anywhere else to put it (if I put it at the end of the last chapter that would have been stupid). Thanks for your thoughts about the play - it went great.
"What are you saying, Henry?" Esther asked as she sat, vulnerable, in her wheelchair, looking at her boyfriend.
Henry looked down at his hands, not wanting to do what he was doing, but knowing there was no way around it. "I'm breaking up with you, Esther."
Tears came to her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall. Pete had been sent through the Stargate under the 'care' of Ba'al two days ago; things had seemed to be going fine – the Stargate was set to be revealed in a matter of months, her parents were starting to explore the relationship they were never allowed to have, her whole life seemed to be clicking into place…and now this.
"Why?"
"Because I don't care about you as much as I did before," he said plainly.
Anger surged through Esther's veins, it was a feeling she knew well. "So, while I was a sick, helpless, vulnerable victim of Pete you could stand by me – but now that he's gone you're leaving me?"
Henry hated how cold she put it, but he couldn't deny it. "I'm sorry."
"Just go. And pray my mother has to move us back to Colorado Springs – or you can be certain something's going to happen."
Henry left in a saddened yet liberated state of mind. On one side he knew he'd miss Esther's company on long, lonely weekends; on the other side he knew that he wasn't what she needed or deserved. He never was.
Esther mentally called out to JJ to come get her while she thought about the abrupt ending of her relationship with Henry. It just didn't make any sense.
"You okay, sis?" JJ asked as he wheeled Esther into the living room.
"Peachy."
"You're worse than Uncle Daniel at lying."
"I know. It was worth a shot though."
"Hey, Abby?" Jack asked as he walked into the living room to find his youngest submerged in the wonderful world of The Simpson's.
She looked up with a smile, "Yeah, Dad?"
"Do you want to go to a hockey game with me tomorrow? Daniel's taking Esther to the museum and Teal'c taking JJ for some Loc' Nell training."
"Sure. What time do you want to leave?"
"0800?"
"No problem."
The next morning, at precisely 0759, Jack was watching the seconds tick by on his watch. Just as the second hand marked the hour, Abby came flying down the stairs like a banshee. Jack smiled as he tapped his watch.
"Almost late."
Abby grinned at him, "You're watch is fast. Hey, if all of us are going to be out today, what's Mom doing?"
Jack shook his head, "She said it was a surprise and I'm not supposed to tell you. Come on, we'll miss the pre-game fun."
"…What pre-game fun?"
"Surprise."
The car ride was silent, neither really knowing what to talk about with the other, and not really caring if silence reigned supreme. Abby put her forehead on the window and watched the signs pass them by as her father drove along the interstate.
"Where are we going? This isn't the way to the stadium."
"What stadium? I haven't even told you who we're going to see play."
"Who, then?"
"Surprise."
Abby sighed, deflated in her futile efforts. "You always say that. For all I know you could be taking me to Canada."
"Who said I wasn't?"
"General O'Neill, sir!" the Airmen snapped to attention as Jack and Abby approached their positions near the waiting chopper.
"Airmen," Jack replied with a nod, saluting them in return. "Are we all set?"
"Sir, yes, sir!"
"Excellent. Abby, after you."
Abby gave her father a quizzical look before stepping into the waiting helicopter. Inside the accommodations were sparse and the engine wasn't even on yet. As far as Abby was concerned, this was a very bad idea.
"Just keep walking, kiddo," Jack called from behind her. "We're going into the cockpit."
Abby stopped, turned and looked at her father with big blue eyes, "We are?"
Jack nodded, amused at her reaction, "Yes, we are. Now move!"
"This is so cool! Are we going to Canada?"
Jack chuckled, "No, sorry, not this time. You're mother would have me singing soprano for a month if I did that. Nope, but we're going to the next best thing."
"Minnesota?"
"Yep. I always knew one of you would have my brains."
"Are you sure you don't mean your love of hockey?"
"That, too."
The ride started out in silence, but when the chopper's altitude leveled off, Jack finally spoke to his daughter.
"You don't know how sorry I am that I wasn't there for you guys. I should have been."
Abby looked at him curiously, "A lot of things should have happened, Dad. I stopped blaming you for not being there a long time ago."
"Then what happened at the hospital?"
Abby sighed, "I was…angry. Hurt, confused, upset. Mostly hurt that you hadn't shown up one day earlier and Esther wasn't spared the pain of seeing Pete again. Angry that Mom let it happen again. Confused because I usually get visions of important things that are about to happen and I had no warning of this. I'm sorry, Dad."
Jack furrowed his brow as he continued to fly, "What do you mean, your mom 'let' it happen again?"
"Right after we left Grandpa George's house, he gave us a…regiment really, of armed body guards. When Pete didn't show up for about a year and a half, Mom told him that we didn't need the protection any more. After Esther was kidnapped from school, Grandpa tried to replace the guards but Mom wouldn't let him. She kept on saying Pete wouldn't find us again. But he always did."
Jack's hand snaked out and squeezed his daughter's. "You don't have to worry about that anymore. I'm here now and nothing will happen to you while you're with me. Understand, Abigail?"
"Promise? You'll protect Esther, JJ, Mom and me."
"Always."
On the way back from the game – their team won – Jack contemplated a lot of things he needed to say to his daughter. Hell, he needed to tell all of them. But first, he needed to talk to her about what she'd said before. Sam had allowed it to happen?
"Abby…Did Pete ever hit you?" he asked finally.
She shook her head, "No. I was the one he could actually stand and liked – that was worse. Every day I'd see him push Esther when Mom's back was turned – or push Mom when she didn't have everything waiting exactly like he wanted it when he got home. In those first few years JJ bore the brunt of Pete's attacks." Her eyes flickered to her father's, "JJ just looks so much like you, I guess. When Mom found out that Pete was beating Esther and JJ she left. It took a couple months but we left."
"Do you blame her for staying?"
Abby looked out her window and watched the trees and houses pass them by in the car. "Yes. I've tried to stop it, but I can't help it. She could have left at any time – she could have gone back to the SGC! And there we'd have been safe – still would be safe. But she let her stubborn pride get in the way and she refused to leave; even after he started beating her."
Jack pulled the car over to the side of the road before turning back to his daughter, "How do you still remember all of this? I thought it happened when you were a baby."
"It did. But I still get flashes of things from back then." She fidgeted in her seat as she continued, "I know that I shouldn't blame Mom for it – but it's her fault that Pete took Esther the first time."
"Don't you ever say that again," Jack's voice was low and dangerous. "It's not your mother's fault that Pete's an ass without a conscious. It's Pete's fault and he's paying for it every minute of every day. He will pay for eternity. I'm sure your mother did all that she could to keep you three safe."
Abby turned away from him again, "I know she did. That's what makes it so hard. I know in my heart that she did everything she could to keep us safe, but go home. She's done everything in her power to keep us from you. And the worst part is – I don't know why. Maybe if I just knew why we've spent the last fifteen years on the run…" tears started rolling down her face silently as she brought her hands up to hide behind.
Jack snaked an arm around Abby's shoulders and pulled her close to him. "It's going to be okay, Abby. Nothing's going to happen to you now."
"Promise?" she whispered around the tears.
"Always."
A/N: So? Like my Abby/Jack chapter? The JJ/Jack chapter's coming up - hang on!