For notes, warnings and disclaimers see chapter 1

Chapter 4: The Right to Choose
(Daniel's POV)

The moment I see Jack's face I realize that there's something wrong, very wrong. I know that look and I know it's a look that is usually reserved for the likes of Apophis. That is not a good thing. The problem is that I am essentially trapped here. Jack is blocking the only exit and that means that whatever this is about I'm going to have no choice but to deal with it.

"Jack," I say by way of greeting but I can't quite manage to keep my voice steady.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asks and I wonder what on earth he is talking about.

"Tell you what?"

"You know perfectly well what I mean, Daniel, so don't you dare try to play the fool here," he growls.

"Actually, I don't know what you mean, that's why I'm asking," I say, growing increasingly frustrated even as I try to figure out what it is that Jack thinks I should have told him about.

"About Turghan."

"Okay, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't we have this conversation a couple of weeks ago?" I ask, feeling more and more puzzled by the second.

"Actually a couple of weeks ago would have been a good chance for you to tell me," he points out, though that still doesn't tell me anything.

"Tell you what?"

"What he threatened to do to Carter," he growls and I suddenly realize that by submitting those guidelines to the general, Sam and I have accidentally filled in some gaps we never intended to fill. Simply put, if Jack knows then the general knows and I have to figure out a way to warn her but I can't do it, not with Jack glaring at me as if I were personally responsible for what happened.

"How was I supposed to know you didn't know?" I say, desperately trying to bluff my way out of this one, even though I realize that that is not likely to get me very far.

"Well, maybe the fact that I never mentioned it could have been a clue... believe me, it is not something I would have let slide if I had known."

"Oh, it isn't? Then why don't you mention it now?" I challenge, knowing all too well that he won't.

"Because you already know what I'm talking about."

"Humor me."

"Daniel..." he growls.

"What?"

"You know what."

"Yes, I do and so do you, so?"

"Is that all you have to say for yourself?"

"What more do you want me to say?"

"How about you start explaining why you didn't say anything?"

"Because I didn't want to make things any more awkward for Sam than they were already going to be!"

"And I had a right to know!"

"Really? Why?"

"Because I'm her CO, because as long as she is a member of my team not only is she under my command but she is also my responsibility. If there's a threat I have a right to know about it!"

"Yes, well, there was a threat... almost eight months ago! It's not like you can protect her from the past!" I all but yell at him.

"But it's not just the past, is it? Your guidelines were pretty clear, 'this practice dates back to Ancient Egypt and it may well have traveled with the Goa'uld', that's what you wrote and you know there's no may have involved. Unless the Mongols and the Egyptians were a hell of a lot closer than anyone ever knew, the practice did travel!"

"So what are you going to do about it? How do you intend to 'protect' Sam without hurting her, without denying her the right to do what she loves?" I challenge.

"I don't know, okay? But I sure as hell am going to be paying more attention!"

"To what? To the possibility of her being abducted again? Even before we knew the details of what had happened in Simarka you had already made up your mind that we would never allow them to segregate Sam again, that if we were ever to come across another society that was openly hostile toward women we would return to the SGC immediately and go back with an all male team so this changes nothing. Other than that the only thing I can tell you is what I told General Hammond two weeks ago: the Shavadai were a different culture, not a hostile one, and as long as we are not dealing with a hostile society common sense should be enough to keep Sam safe... and if we were to come across a hostile society then we would find ourselves having to fight our way out anyway. In that regard you know that in a fight Sam can hold her own a lot better than I can. What happened in Simarka was an aberration, one that stemmed from a mistake... from my mistake. We know better now so there's no need for you to panic."

"That's easy for you to say, Carter's not your responsibility!"

"No, she's not my responsibility, she is my friend... and even though you are in charge of SG-1 I'm the one who's supposed to be the first contact specialist here. In other words, no, it's not easy for me to say that we should just let this go. I have to live with the knowledge that what happened in Simarka was mostly my fault but the thing is that I also know the decision of whether or not Sam goes through the gate is not ours to make and we have no right to hurt her for our peace of mind... I don't care what the regs say."

"So you are saying that if something like this were to happen again you'd be just fine with it?" asks Jack.

"No. If something like this were to happen again I would never forgive myself and that means I'm going to do everything within my power to keep Sam safe but I draw the line at doing it at Sam's expense," I say. "Tell me something, Jack, if your positions were reversed, how would you feel about her having the right to make that kind of decision on your behalf? Would you like her to hold your future in her hands because of your gender? Yes, there are risks out there that are likely to be faced primarily by women and we can't close our eyes to that fact but if we were to deny women the right to make up their own minds about what they can and cannot handle we would be no better than the Shavadai!"

"Okay, so maybe you have a point there and you are right, I wouldn't like the idea of anyone having that kind of control over me but..."

"No buts about it," I interrupt him. "You know that if you were in her position you would demand the right to make your own choices... and if you had been in her position back when we came back from Simarka you would have made the exact same choices Sam made."

"Fine, but that doesn't change the fact that you can't keep things from me just because you are afraid you are not going to like what I have to say about them. You may have a point about Carter having a right to choose here but I must warn you that one more stunt like this and you are the one who is going to find himself out of SG-1."

"But..."

"That's not open for debate, Daniel. We have to be able to trust each other, otherwise we won't be able to function as a team and we'll wind up dead. That means that this is your only warning. I can't afford to waste my time in the field wondering whether or not you are being honest with me, wondering whether or not you are withholding something that might get us all killed and what that something might be."

"I'm sorry, and I'll try to do better in the future but you've got to remember that these were exceptional circumstances," I remind him. "I didn't find out about it until seven months after the fact and by then the information wasn't exactly time-sensitive... in fact, as far as I'm concerned, by that time it was nobody's business but Sam's. It's not like it was a situation in which you needed all the facts to make a split second decision."

"And that's the reason I'm giving you a second chance here but that doesn't change the fact that you've got to let me do my job here. A team can't have two captains, Daniel."

"Actually, Jack, last time I checked, Sam was the only captain in our team," I say, trying desperately to defuse the situation.