Please don't hate me for this chapter. Remember, there's fluff ahead, and there's S&J ahead.
Enjoy,
M.
PS: My beta is back! This (and the previous one) is fixed now. Anyway, all mistakes are my own (including weird arcs where I seem to go chasing unicorns as my beta puts it)
Chapter LIII
June 20th, 2005
Underground Sanctuary
Sam saw her chance and took it. With a grin, she brought Helen down on her back. It was a lousy idea; she knew it the moment her mother had smirked at her from her position on the ground. The next thing Sam knew was that the floor moved from under her feet, and her head connected with the padded floor with a loud thud.
"Excellent technique, Samantha!" Helen cheered, sitting up.
"Still not enough to avoid ending on the ground," Sam grinned, also sitting up and rubbing the place where her head hit the floor.
"Soon, you will be ready to fight me," Ashley grinned.
"One day," Sam said. "When did you get here?"
"Just popped here. Mom, Henry said he needed you, but it looked like you didn't have your radio on you?" Ashley said, looking at Helen and passing her radio towards her mom.
"Henry? Come in," Helen said to the radio.
"Your office phone is ringing, Doc. I've got an alert and searched for you on the activity feed. I wasn't sure how I'd get to you because you were on the floor, and I couldn't find your radio," Henry started.
"Henry, can you patch it through to the gym's phone?" Helen said, walking towards it, not waiting for Henry's answer.
"Sure, let me… aha!" the HAP said, and the phone rang at the gym.
"Thank you, Henry." Tossing the radio to Ashley before she picked up the phone. A moment later, she added a quick "Magnus."
"Huh, I was wondering if the 'press nine' thing broke," General O'Neill's voice came from the other end of the line.
"As you can hear, it is not. They were having some difficulties getting to me. What can I do for you, General?" she asked, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sam flinch.
"Is Carter there with you, Doc?"
"Yes, she is. You are not trying to steal my daughter away from my mother/daughter bonding time, are you?"
"I wish I weren't, Doc, but something came up," Jack sighed. "Jacob Carter arrived earlier, I thought she would like to be around him," he sighed again. "Doc, he isn't looking all too well."
"I'll let her know and see that she gets home quickly," Helen said.
"Jacob said he doesn't want Sam to find out from anyone else, but he still doesn't know how to tell her."
"It makes sense, General."
"Oh, and Doc, Jacob said you offered to help?"
"Indeed," she answered cryptically, feeling Sam's eyes on her.
"Well, he wants to see you. Janet agreed for him to leave the base only if it is for the Air Force Hospital or the Sanctuary. Otherwise, he won't be granted a free pass because, at this point, we are uncertain of how things might go, and having him hospitalized in any civilian hospital is too much of a security risk. Also, Jacob doesn't want Carter to know he went down there until he tells her."
"I understand, General. I will return your call as soon as I have lined up some plans for this situation."
"Great! Thanks, Doc."
"I'll talk to you soon, General."
"What happened?" Sam asked the moment Helen ended the call. Sam was standing close enough to overhear Helen's side of the conversation.
"Sadly, they want to cut our bonding time short, Samantha. It is for a great cause, though."
"Please tell me it isn't Ba'al related," Sam sighed.
"Not exactly. It's your father. He arrived earlier. The General wanted you to know."
"Mom, if that were it, you would have ended the call a long while ago, what else?"
"Nothing that concerns you at this time," Helen smiled. "I have no more details on the span of his visit, Samantha. You should go before it's too late. Ashley, please be a dear and take Samantha to her home. I'm sure she will love to see her father."
"Sure," Ashley grinned.
"We'll see you later, Samantha."
"Okay," Sam grinned. "Thank you, mom. I'm ready, Ash."
The moment they disappeared, Helen walked to the changing room and picked up her radio, changing it to the general channel.
"William, change to my channel," she said before she went back to hers.
"What's wrong?" His voice came soon.
"We need to revisit those plans to get Jacob Carter down here," she said. "Can you start it? I need a shower before I can join you."
"Sure, any reason behind it?"
"I tell you more when I see you."
June 20th, 2005
SGC
After searching the familiar places where she would usually find him and not seeing him around, Sam walked to the VIP Room his dad was assigned to and knocked on the door. She opened the door slightly after hearing a short 'enter' and got her head in first.
"Dad?" Her old man looked up from the book he was reading.
"Sammie, come in kiddo," he said, standing a bit too slow for his taste, feeling his age through his body. Some pains, he thought long forgotten, where appearing at his joints, and he knew Selmak would apologize if she could. Jacob plastered a smile on his face; after all, Selmak had won him years with Sam, Mark, and his grandchildren. A chance to fix his relationships and travel around the galaxy helping and scheming with the Tok'ra.
"Dad," she said as she melted into his embrace, " not that I don't like you being back, but what are you doing here so soon?" Sam asked.
"I'm hiding for now," Jacob grimaced. "The council is displeased with my actions. So, Selmak and I gave them some time to think about how our actions helped us saved the galaxy from a life under the replicators."
"Ah, I see. So, are you coming home with me then?"
"I can't. I'm not sure when the Tok'ra Council will search for me, and I don't want to disturb you. I'd rather stay on the base. If the Tok'ra don't need me, we can see if we can squeeze in a trip to visit your brother. What do you think?"
"Mark?"
"The only brother I know you have," Jacob joked. "Or do you have another brother?"
"No. Well, technically, my mom adopted Henry, but we don't often talk about it. He is more of a brother for Ashley than for me, and I'm babbling, aren't I?"
"Kind of, but I don't mind. Now, tell me more about your life, Sam. It's been a while since we could have a real conversation without having the fate of the galaxy in our hands."
"Well, hum, there's not much to tell, dad."
"You need to get a life, Sammie. Didn't we talk about this before?" Jacob prodded. Sam sighed, then bit her lower lip, and finally, she lowered her head.
"I'm kinda engaged, dad," she mumbled. Jacob frowned before he let out a whistle.
"If I didn't know you better, I'd say you aren't happy about it. So, please explain to me if this is good news or bad news? Am I going to be a grandpa or something?" Jacob asked.
"NO! Nothing like that, dad!" She jumped almost horrified at the thought of being pregnant with Pete's baby.
"Then why aren't you bursting out of happiness?"
"I…" Sam opened her mouth only to close it again, her eyes finding the floor and not leaving it.
"Who is this guy, anyway?" He asked, wanting to understand more about the situation.
"His name is Pete. He is a cop, and he asked for a transfer to Colorado to be closer to me. He proposed, and I kinda said yes."
"How do you 'kinda say yes'?" Jacob frowned in confusion, and Sam looked up at him. Jacob raised his hand to stop her from whatever she would blurt out. "Look, kiddo. I would love to see you getting married and having a family. Hell, I would love to have more grandkids! But I'm not sure you want to do it."
"I," Sam tried.
"Don't, Sammie. I want to meet him if you agree?"
"Okay," Sam mumbled.
"Okay. So, this, Pete. Is he the same Pete you dated a long while ago? The one you said I shouldn't worry about?"
"Yeah," Sam grimaced. Jacob chuckled.
"I'll ask Jack to see if he can be brought down here for a visit. Since I can't leave and all."
"Dad, is everything okay?"
"Yeah."
'Jacob Carter to the General's office,' came out from the PA system.
"I guess I must go. I'll see what we can do about that Pete of yours," Jacob said, standing up and walking her to his door before they both went out in different directions.
June 21st, 2005
Colorado Entrance
"This so doesn't look like a Sanctuary to me," Jacob said to Jack as they approached the half abandoned-looking warehouse.
"That's because it isn't," Jack grinned. "I will walk you to their doors, and then they will call me when you need to be picked up. They don't want Ashley out of radiofrequency in case your daughter decides she wants to join them." He said as they walked towards the building.
"It sounds like way much more effort than it should," Jacob said.
"Yeah, it might. But Doc Magnus is willing and sure as hell I will help as much as I can, Jacob."
"I always knew you were a good man, Jack. Perfect for my daughter."
"I couldn't agree more with your assessment," Helen's voice got to them. "General, Jacob, Selmak. We will conduct a preliminary test today and return Jacob Carter to you as soon as we finish. Then, based on the results, we can set out a care plan."
"Or not," Jacob finished for her.
"We won't know until we have assessed you, Jacob. Until then, I'd rather keep a positive approach."
"I know you are in great hands, dad," Jack said, and Helen smiled, hearing the way he addressed Jacob. "Doc, let me know."
"Of course, General. Since that goes both ways, I brought you this; you should be able to use it while on your base to contact me quicker," Helen said, presenting him with a radio, then she grinned, remembering something. "It only has my channel on it so that you won't have issues getting to me."
"A radio for dummies, huh?" Jack grinned, shaking his head.
"Your words, not mine," Helen laughed. "I'll see you later, General. This way Jacob, please."
June 23th, 2005
On route to the SGC
The list of things that could only happen to her often included: being traded for being a woman, attempts at forceful marriages, clones, time travels, alternate realities, abnormals, and a long list of etceteras that could make a fierce officer cry like a baby. Sam could deal with those, she was trained, she had practice, and yes, she was a badass abnormal herself.
However, the list for the past days included: introducing Pete to her dad. Her fiance calling the SGC, as an emergency, over flowers for a wedding, they still hadn't decided a date on. Getting that call in the middle of a meeting with Teal'c and Master Brat'ac, which was one of the most embarrassing experiences she had ever experienced, and she had experienced tons of those. Then, General O'Neill telling her she should pick flowers! She! They kicked her out of a meeting to pick flowers while there were real issues in Jaffa-land, for crying out loud!
Yet, the cherry on that top was the fact that Pete had not only chosen the flowers as she nodded absentmindedly, but he had also told the florist a date, and then he drove her to a house he had applied a deposit to buy.
So, she had plastered a smile on her face and followed him around as he explained to her all the plans he had for them, and Sam thought it was egoistical of the guy to have her life planned without asking her opinion on the matter.
Her mind had drifted on to how different things would be if she were marrying Jack instead. That man had trusted her choices with his life, asked her opinion whenever he could, and, somehow, made her feel worthy, even when she had rarely felt unworthy before. Somehow, Jack had done all that, without overstepping the boundaries of their ranks, or their relationship.
When Pete finally had dropped her home, fueled by those thoughts, she entered it for enough time to pick her car keys and wait for Pete to be at least a couple of blocks away, before she went out and drove to Jack's house.
The super cherry on the extra top had happened that afternoon when she finally had worked out the courage to tell Jack that she, Sam Carter, was having doubts about her engagement. She found the young CIA redhead was also at his house. Kerry's presence had also confirmed Sam's suspicions about the type of relationship Kerry and Jack had, and that broke Sam to pieces.
'Karma,' she thought. "This is most likely what Jack felt when I told him about the ring.'
However, it seemed that someone was on her side, and not quite, because when the situation was about to become highly uncomfortable, her phone rang. The news was not exactly what she was expecting, but here she was now, on her way to the SGC speeding her way there to see why her dad was at the infirmary when he was supposed to be the healthiest person in the world thanks to Selmak.
June 23th, 2005
SGC
'She's barely alive. I'm gonna die with her, Sam,' her dad's words seemed to repeat themselves in an endless loop. She had embraced him tightly and cried on his chest, but she had to be strong then. Showing him, she was tough as nails, even if he knew that deep inside, she was nothing but jelly.
Sam walked out of the infirmary when her dad had finally succumbed to the medications Janet had sent in, and despite feeling a bit at a loss, she wandered to the only place she knew she could find comfort.
Sam went to see him, her lifeline, her rock, her Jack.
Sam knocked on his door, and the moment he saw her tear-stained face, he stood up, walked to the spot behind the entrance to the briefing room -the only blind spot in his office Ashley had informed him - and opened his arms. She didn't realize then that he already knew about her dad (or that he was way more informed than she was about her dad's health situation) she just walked into his arms and allowed herself to be comforted.
"I'm sorry, Sam," he had whispered on her ear as he caressed her back softly, trying to console her somehow but feeling utterly out of practice. Trying to keep himself from feeling so entirely complete once more than every miraculous time, she ended up between his arms. "I'll be here for you, anything I can do, anything you need, let me know."
His words filled her with emotions she didn't dare to name right then and there. There was Kerry, there was Pete, and there was the fact that her father was on his deathbed. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to let him go. Who was she kidding? She was utterly in love with this man, and she knew it. Everyone else seemed to know it. And her reaction, the way she didn't want to let go of him; the way her mind was concentrating on this, on him, instead of all the other things were more telling than having thousands of signs with the text 'he is the one.'
There was a knock on his door then, and begrudgingly she let him go. He placed some distance between them, not only for the sakes of military propriety but because he too needed the space to get back his reins. Sam wiped her tears quickly as he said the typical 'enter,' and the door was opened to let Janet in.
"Sir," she said, looking at Jack then at Sam. "You probably are aware of the news?" Jack nodded, not knowing the situation per se, but having a thought of what it was because of the behavior of his 2IC.
"I have sedated him. We might want to call Doctor Magnus, sir," Janet said, wording her phrase carefully, aware that Sam was not in that loop yet.
"What for?" Sam asked, finally turning around.
"She has access to better equipment, Sam. She might give us a hand with Jacob's situation. Maybe she knows a way to help him; we don't."
Jack didn't doubt it. 'Anything you need,' Sam's mind provided as she watched him pick up the red phone. Janet excused herself then, and Sam noticed that she was so out of sorts that she had missed the conversation, and by now, Ashley and her mom were standing in the same place she and Jack had stood just moments before.
"Samantha," was the first thing Helen said and opened her arms. It seemed she couldn't stop doing it, so Sam walked to the waiting arms and hugged her mom tightly. "Samantha, there are no words to describe what you must be feeling, and there's nothing I wouldn't do to keep you from feeling it. However, I can't avoid life happening as much as, sometimes, I wish I could."
Helen was the one who broke the hug, taking a bit of space to watch Sam in the eye.
"Your father isn't gone, Samantha. There's still hope. General, we will need to have the video footage turned off wherever you are keeping Jacob so Ashley can teleport him in and out with no issues."
"I'll see if Janet can move him to an observation room. That would be more accessible than the whole infirmary room. Carter, why don't you show them to the infirmary? By the time you reach it, anyone there should be able to tell you where to go."
Sam led them to the infirmary. Soon, she was watching, feeling useless, as they rolled her dad out of the infirmary and down to an observation room where both Helen and Janet fussed around him until they agreed he was stable enough to teleport.
Down at the Sanctuary, after her mom and Nikola had checked her dad over, they didn't tell her anything about Jacob's wishes. They told her only all about what they could do to make things easier for him. They didn't say whether they could save him or not, nor how they would protect her from the loss of her daddy.
After some scans, they returned him to the observation room. Then, her biological parents had locked themselves up with Janet for what seemed forever, as Sam sat next to Jacob's bed. When they returned to his side, Jack was with them, and Janet gently but firmly ordered Sam to get out of the base to get some rest. She had looked at the General then, but Jack told her she should go home to catch some sleep.
'I'm staying, Carter, I'll call you if things change, and Jacob needs you,' he told her, taking the seat beside the one she was using, and Janet ushered her out of the room.
However, the only thing she managed once she got to the emptiness of her home was to notice her reaction to the situation, how she had immediately searched for him.
Noticing her need for comfort from Jack, Sam tried to compartmentalize her reaction. She tried to convince herself that she went to see him and not her mom or sister because Jack was there at the SGC, and she needed comfort right then and there. Moreover, he knew her dad. Heck! Jack called him dad too, and thus, he would be more capable of relating to her feelings than any of her blood relatives could, no matter how many deaths they had experienced before.
It was then, after sitting for over two hours, doing nothing more than being swamped in her feelings when she noticed the light on her answering machine. She hadn't heard the phone go off, but there was a chance it had, and she had been too absorbed in her mind to pay attention to it.
Tired of feeling helpless and worried she could have missed an important message, Sam jumped to action and found that her machine was overflowing with messages. She scrolled quickly through them, to see if any had been left since she left the base, but they were all from Pete. She felt tempted to delete them all without even listening to them, but in the end, she checked them.
"Hi, honey, so… I met your father, huh?" the message started, and she pressed next. "Hey Love, I called your cellphone, but…." "Babe, call me, I need to know…" "Darling, what did he say?" "Sam," "It's me, Pete," "Hi sweet pie, so what did your father say about me?" "Sweetheart, can you pick up your phone?" "Hey, Sam. I called your base, and they told me they couldn't connect my call. I hope everything is okay. Love you." "Sam. It's me, Pete. You never answered my calls, and I wanted to know if everything is okay. I haven't seen you or talked to you since I met your father."
On an angry impulse, Sam pulled the machine out of the table. In a swift movement, she threw it to the other side of the room. When it landed, the device crumbled to pieces that flew all across her living room. After that, Sam decided she couldn't stay at home anymore and searched for her radio. Hoping that she could find some comfort in the only place she dared to seek for it when she was feeling like this, she made a call.
"Ash, can you pick me up?"
June 23th, 2005
Underground Sanctuary
Since her introduction to the Sanctuary, Sam had been all around. She had been in one of Helen's favorite spots–a waterfall inside a cavern with thousands of luminescent beings shining around her. - Nikola, too, had taken her to his favorite place that, despite everyone's beliefs, wasn't the cellar but another cavern - in his, a thunderstorm was never-ending and mesmerizing. It made a fantastic contrast with the still city they could see on the other end and reminded her of the famous pictures of her dad while alive and in his lab.
Sam had been out to the city and done perimeter checks whenever she was around. She had gone fishing with Jack once to the pond inside the building, and Helen had convinced her to swim with Sally. But she had never been here.
"Where are we?" Sam asked as she looked around. There was furniture, piled up boxes, vases, artwork, and even toys scattered around in a sorted mess. Ashley kept walking.
"This is one of my favorite places around here," Ashley shrugged. "It reminds me of our old home."
"How come?" Sam asked as she followed.
"In our old home, we had catacombs. Mom used them to pile her stuff in them. The woman has a lot of things, as you can see," Ashley grinned. "Don't get fooled by her tough exterior; she is all fluffy and sentimental on the inside."
"So, she got all this here from your home before it exploded?"
"Pretty much. Mom replaced the things she had in the catacombs first, so her past self wouldn't find it odd if something went missing. Here we are," Ashley grinned, pointing to a child's bed that was placed on in a nook. "This one was mine, so you can see she likes to keep stuff." She said, sitting on the bed.
"And why are we here?" Sam questioned, sitting right next to Ashley.
"Well, mom was in the middle of a surgery. A kid broke his arm, and needed her to fix it, nothing too alarming, I was told. So, I told her I would keep you company. Unless, of course, you want her. She can call another Doc to step in instead of her," Ashley added quickly.
"I can wait," Sam said, leaning back against the rock wall, and Ashley did the same. They fell in comfortable silence for a while until Ashley sighed.
"I'm sorry about your dad, Sam. I know he is still alive, and that mom is doing everything she can to save him. But, I also know she isn't omnipotent, and sometimes, even all she can do is not enough."
"Thanks," Sam said, and Ashley turned her head to look at her.
"You know, I kinda envy you."
"Envy me? Why?" Sam said, also turning to face her sister.
"You told me you didn't get along with your dad for a while, right?" Sam nodded. "But, you also said that when he became a Tok'ra, you mended fences, and he even fixed his relationship with your brother."
"Yeah."
"I never managed that with my father," Ashley said. "Mom told me he was dead. One day he appeared out of the blue and almost killed me to save himself. Then, he kidnapped me to see if I would help him save my mom. I guess we were kinda getting to know each other. I was learning to deal with the fact that I had a dad, that he was not only a killer but Jack the Ripper, and that he loved me despite all," Ashley whispered, her voice wavering a little.
Sam didn't know what to say, but her hand found Ashley's hand and gave it a light squeeze.
"I didn't realize that last part until it was too late," Ashley continued after taking a deep breath. "Mom, she couldn't help him, she couldn't save him, and by extent, I couldn't forgive him for not being there. I couldn't tell him I loved him too," she said, her eyes tearing up.
Sam's eyes filled with her share of unshed tears after not only hearing but seeing her sister's heartbreak, feeling utterly thankful that Ashley had opened up to her like this. Ashley took another breath, this time deeper. She rubbed her face quickly, with a mix of pain, anger, and acceptance.
"And I envy you, because you had it, not once but twice. I know Nikola is weird, but I also know you love him, and he loves you. I can see that in the way he looks at you. Just like mom does. And then, your dad, God, he is so proud of you, and he loves you so much."
"You could mend your relationship with both of them, Sam. You can say how much you love them, they will know it, and they will be able to answer you in kind. I won't ever have that. So, even if you might lose your dad, you still have the chance to tell him how much you love him. And if the worst-case scenario happens, you will also have a chance to say goodbye to him."
"Oh God, Ashley…. I…" Sam tried, although she knew there were no words that would be enough. "If there's anything you need…"
"Yeah," Ashley grimaced. "Please don't tell mom. Will knows this. It's part of my 'treatment,' but I don't want to add this to mom's burden. I know she blames herself for being unable to save him and Uncle James."
"I won't," Sam agreed.
"Great, we should get out of here. There's no signal here, and mom should be done by now."
June 25th, 2005
SGC
The previous day, Jacob had requested them to let the Tok'ra know about the situation, and some of them had come and gone to pay their respects not only to Selmak but to Jacob. On those occasions, Sam would stay in the observation area of the room, keeping a close eye on everything going on down there.
Since her talk with Ashley, Sam had spent most of Jacob's waking hours beside him, holding his hand as they talked about anything that would come to their minds and every time Jacob was about to fall asleep, she would whisper 'I love you' that was answered in kind.
Except now when she paced outside the observation room, waiting for her biological parents to walk out and tell her she could go inside.
It was almost four hours earlier when three members of the Tok'ra had stepped inside Jacob's room, bringing with them a healing device. They took turns using it on Selmak until she was strong enough to wake from her coma.
"I need a memory recall device, a screen, and the presence of Helen Magnus and Nikola Tesla," Selmak said, her voice sounding awkwardly strained to Sam's ears.
"Who are these Helen Magnus and Nikola Tesla you speak of, Selmak?"
"Nishmia, LT Colonel Carter knows them. Bring me what I've requested. I don't have much time left." Selmak observed them go away and hoped they would get back before it was too late. "You should call your parents, Samantha. I need a word with them," Selmak said to Sam once they were alone.
"But…"
"I'm here, Sam. I don't know what she is planning. She is too tired to share and refuses to do so."
"I love you, dad."
"I love you, Sammie," Jacob smiled.
She walked to the observation area where she had left her things, including the radio she used to get in touch with the Sanctuary. While she observed the man lying in bed, who looked smaller than ever, Sam took the radio and called.
"Ash, can you bring mom and Nikola over here, thanks?"
"Sure thing, be there ASAP."
ASAP felt like forever to Sam, but it was less than five minutes until her radio crackled again.
"Sorry, they were busy, but we are good to go now. Is the room all clear?" Ashley asked.
"I'm stepping out to avoid any issues," Sam said, walking outside and closing the door behind her. "Come in."
"On our way." The door opened a blink after Ashley's words.
"Samantha," Helen said.
"Mom, Nikola. I'm not sure what's going on, but Selmak requested you."
"Selmak is awake?" Helen asked, surprised by that news.
"Some members of the Tok'ra used a healing device on her. They all agreed it won't last long; they were buying her some extra time to allow more people to pay their respects."
"We shouldn't keep her waiting then," Nikola said, and they moved inside the room.
"Helen, Nikola. I told Jacob he should have done this before, but he is too stubborn to let us die. Or me, go. I know you are trying to find a way, but I'm old. I've lived enough. You should be able to understand this better than anyone else."
"We do," Helen answered after exchanging a knowing glance with Nikola.
"Good. Samantha, I need to talk to them in private. Do you mind?"
"I…"
"He will hold on, don't worry."
"Call me if you need anything, I'll be just outside that door." Sam pointed to the massive doors of the room.
"When they bring the device, let them in."
So that was what Sam did, she walked outside under watchful eyes and then, let the Tok'ra members inside the room a half an hour later.
"Selmak, are you sure about this," Nishmia asked, taking the memory recall device and placing it next to Jacob's forehead. "This will take vital energy out of you."
"Yes, tell them how to use it and leave the room, please. They will return the device and all its parts to you once we are done."
"Selmak, I… It was an honor to know you."
"The honor was mine." As Selmak requested, Nishmia left the room once he had explained to them how the device worked.
"What I'll show you, no one can know," Selmak said. "Not even Jacob."
They watched in silence the images the symbiote was showing to them and couldn't be more grateful for their advanced minds to keep all those images stored as they watched them.
"I hope that provides what you need."
"Is that your will?" Helen asked.
"Indeed, it is."
"Then we will see it through," Nikola added.
"Now Jacob can also see and hear what I'm about to say. This is my gift to you."
"What is?" Nikola asked.
"This," Jacob said, "her last wish is this," and with that, the screen filled with images of Sam. Jacob's memories flooded them with joy and sadness, and they seemed unable to stop watching as much as Jacob seemed unable to stop sharing them. "I'm sorry I have to stop now. I'm weakening again."
When his eyes started to droop, Helen turned off the device against her own will. "Hang in there, Jacob. I'll get Samantha," Helen announced, and Jacob nodded slowly.
"Thank you. You have no idea what that meant to us," Nikola confessed.
"Dad?" Sam said, rushing to his side.
"Don't worry, Sammie. I still got some time," he grinned. "Where is Helen?"
"She said she needed to talk with Jack about something. I don't know what it might be."
"Oh, you know her, she always has plenty of things going on in that mind of hers," Nikola grinned. "I better leave you two alone."
"They love you to bits. You know that, right?" Jacob asked as Nikola got out of the room.
"Yeah, I love them too, dad," she said in a soft tone and winced, not wanting to make her dad feel bad about her feelings.
"I know. I'm glad you've found them. Now you won't be an orphan. I'm tired, Sammie. I need more sleep," Jacob whispered. Sam nodded.
"Okay, I love you, dad."
June 27th, 2005
SGC
It had been barely four days since Sam got the call from the SGC to let her know they took Jacob Carter to the infirmary and didn't look well. It was enough time for her to make her peace, and yet, it was too soon, too fast.
Jacob had informed them earlier that most likely 'today was it,' Selmak slipped into a coma, and not even the healing device could bring her out of it. They all knew it would be like that, but they were all dreading the moment when that would happen.
Selmak's death would happen at any moment now, and with her gone, Jacob Carter would have minutes left.
Yet, he was still receiving visitors from the Tok'ra, while under the watchful eyes of Sam. She gave them enough privacy by keeping herself available in the observation area of the observation room. What she had not expected was to have Jack join her there.
She didn't expect his soft 'come here,' or how her head found the crook of his neck to rest. How his hand found a place half over the chair and half over her shoulders, or how her hand had searched his to link their hands together. She thanked him, and his heartfelt 'always' made her heart flutter.
"It's only regulations," her dad had told her, although he said he liked Pete. Now, Jack's actions, her dad's words, all those conversations with her mom, and the annoying way in which she had reacted to Pete's calls were all creating havoc in her mind.
But when the man from the Tok'ra inside her dad's room raised his eyes to meet hers, everything in her mind disappeared as she came to understand that this was it. Her dad was leaving her for good now. She walked down to the room, smiled sadly when he told her he loved her and silently thanked Ashley for her words and advice as she too, let out an 'I love you.'
And then, Jacob exhaled.
She closed her eyes and cried silently, utterly unaware of the fact that Jacob Carter's body wasn't in the observation room anymore.