Surprise! My beta is back! And she got this one speeding out of check-up.

Enjoy!

M.

Chapter LIV

June 27th, 2005

Underground Sanctuary.

Two days earlier, Helen had found herself genuinely grateful that the Tok'ra operatives had been able to wake Selmak from her coma. And even more thankful to Selmak, who had confided in them and shared something she said the symbiotes have never shared with any host or other creature around. Selmak provided Helen and Nikola with extensive knowledge about the symbiotes - including the way they attached, and how to remove them from the host.

Then, the Tok'ra informed them that the moment she passed away, her body would release a deadly chemical into Jacob's system, and there was nothing she could do to avoid that, except being removed while she was still alive.

There were some issues with all that information. Selmak would die, there was no cure for her, and there was nothing they could do to avoid it. Jacob wouldn't allow them to remove her before she passed away. He had opposed to the Tok'ra ways and also to Helen's previous offer of trying to remove Selmak herself when she wasn't quite sure how to do it. So, they scratched removing Selmak before she died off the list of possibilities.

Then, there was the fact that even if they removed Selmak within the minutes of her passing away, the chemical would still be released, and they would still need to stop it or counteract it. One of the few things Selmak didn't know was how to save a host after her body released the chemical.

But she had smiled then and told them: 'I know at least three people who have survived a symbiote's death. Two are standing in front of me, and one is waiting outside. The Tok'ra calls the Akhkharu "the protectors" for a reason.' Selmak had then explained that there were legends on how the protectors could save an infected host after the passing of a symbiote, and how the protectors themselves were immune to it, which gave them at least some direction of where to look.

Then she gave them more. Selmak convinced Jacob to share his memories of Sam with them, a moment that Helen knew she would never forget. Something she knew she could never ever pay back.

Still, Helen had squared her shoulders and swallowed all her desires to keep prodding in Jacob's memories when she noticed he started to drift off. After walking out of the room and sending Sam in, she went to see General O'Neill.

Helen Magnus couldn't be (and shouldn't be) at the SGC for long periods, and less wandering around. Both presented a considerable risk of being seeing by far too many people, being caught in too many cameras, and her presence there without a signed entry could cause issues to the General.

Upon entering his office, Helen held back a concerned frown. General O'Neill seemed spacey, yet, since he didn't dwell on it, neither did she. "Doc, what can I do for you?" Jack asked, considering that the woman didn't need to know that his relationship with Kerry had just ended because Kerry thought she couldn't compete with Sam after all, and Jack had to agree she was spot on.

"General?' Helen asked, and Jack had shaken himself out of his reverie like state. Taking a breath, Helen asked the only thing that made sense in her mind: "General, in roughly forty-eight hours from today, Selmak will pass away, and Jacob Carter will take what will look like his last breath. I need you to radio me the moment that happens," Helen had stated. There was no room for anything more than the nod that came promptly. Then, she had returned to the observation room, and after a quick goodbye to Sam, Ashley had taken Nikola and Helen back to the safety of the Sanctuary.

Since then, Nikola and Helen had worked non-stop with the information they had and had reached what seemed the right way to move forward in the situation. However, despite popular beliefs, Helen wasn't sure of many things, and getting to Jacob Carter on time was one of those. Thus, she and Nikola had decided that keeping the information from Sam was for the best, so as not to give her false hopes.

The moment Jack's call came, Ashley teleported herself to the observation room, grabbed Jacob, and got him to the Sanctuary's OR room where Helen and her team were waiting for him. The only thing Ashley could do before disappearing from the SGC was to exchange a glance with Jack.

As soon as she lowered Jacob's body over the table at the Sanctuary's OR, she glanced at her mom. Helen looked at her and thanked her before they started the procedure. Ashley left the room, hoping everything went according to the plan. Ashley knew the situation and knew they hadn't told Sam anything. She knew Sam hadn't even noticed she took Jacob Carter with her.

"Ash, bring her," came Will's voice from the radio on her hip around ten minutes later, and Ashley teleported to the observation room again.

The room in which Ashley appeared was empty, and she frowned in confusion when she didn't find her sister in Jacob's former bedroom. Only the empty bed and all the equipment that used to be attached to him remained behind. Shaking her head, Ashley walked out and found them in the corridor. Sam was clinging to Jack as if her whole life depended on it, her face hidden in the crook of his neck, and Jack's arms kept her as close as was humanly possible.

"She doesn't know," Jack mouthed. Ashley nodded if only to let him know she had understood him before she placed her hand over them, and they appeared in the bright hallways of the Sanctuary infirmary.

The sterile smell, along with the cool-ish temperature, brought Sam out of her haven and into the outside world. Her eyes were puffy, and her nose was redder than usual, and Ashley was sure there would be tear trails staining her skin if they hadn't ended up wetting Jack's shoulder.

"What?" Sam started, blinking at the bright lights and cleaning her eyes with the back of her hand.

"I'm not sure, Sam. I was only told to bring you here. Someone should be out shortly to let us know," Ashley tried to grin at her reassuringly.

"To let us know? To let us know what, Ashley? I've just lost my father. I can't take any more surprises today," Sam said in a broken tone. Ashley chewed her lower lip before she shook her head.

"All I know is that he is in the best hands possible, Sam. Mom brought people from all over the Sanctuary network to help her with this."

"To help with what?" Sam wondered again. Ashley opened her mouth to explain what was going on when they heard someone clearing his throat behind them.

"I know I'm not exactly the one who should give you these news, Sam. But it's better if the one who should, keeps her hands exactly where they are at the moment," Will said. "Your dad is stable; that's what I know for sure. They are working hard to wake him up before they can continue. We don't know yet how he will come out of the surgery, but as Ashley said, he is being treated by the best hands."

"What? Will, I don't…"

"Selmak showed them how to proceed, Sam. But as far as I know, she didn't know the whole process. Your parents have been working on completing the final step since they learned there was a chance, and so far, it looks good."

"But?"

"They need Jacob awake for the last part of the surgery to make sure he doesn't lose any movement, and that can be difficult with the state he arrived here in. He might not wake up for a few days. If he doesn't, they will proceed with the surgery as Selmak requested."

"They are operating him under the request of a Tok'ra symbiote?" Sam asked, half horrified by that.

"Yes. It seemed the best outcome. As I've said, I know I'm not the one you should be listening to, but your mom is the best surgeon out there."

"How dare she?"

"That's something you must talk with her, Sam. I need to get back into the room. I'll let you know how it goes as we move on."

"Will, wait…"

"Yes?" He asked.

"I…" Sam opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Will smiled, he remembered being in a similar situation when Helen had operated on Abby, and later, accusing Helen of many things he later regretted as he finally understood what Magnus had and hadn't said back then.

"They are doing all they can for him, Sam," Will said. "As far as they informed me, the worst-case scenario now is him ending up with hypersensitive or none-responsible limbs, but he will be alive," he said before he turned around and disappeared behind the doors.

"I'm leaving you guys alone," Ashley said, "please let me know how it goes?" Sam looked utterly confused, but Jack nodded at Ashley.

Shuffling in place, Jack didn't quite know what to do with himself now that they were finally alone, and Sam knew her dad was alive. The one thing he knew was that Sam was close to being in shock, and she needed to sit and quickly.

"Sam," he started. Sam raised her eyes to meet his, and without him having to prompt anything, she hid in his arms again.

Jack felt her almost go limp in his arms, so he looked around and found them a place to sit. Thankfully, there were several comfortable-looking couches around the area, and he walked them back to the closest one.

"I'm here, Sam. I'll let you know if anything happens," he whispered to her, and without giving it too much of a thought, he placed a soft kiss on her head.

For a reason she knew but didn't want to acknowledge Sam relaxed against him, so much that for the first time since the Doctors revealed her father's illness to her, she fell profoundly asleep.

It was like that, how Helen found them six hours later, with Jack sitting on one couch holding Sam close, Jack's head thrown back while Sam's head rested on his neck. She had her left arm wrapped around Jack's neck, and her right was on his chest. Jack's right arm was wrapped around Sam's waist tightly while his left secured Sam's legs in place, right above his thighs. Helen felt Will stop behind her, and she turned around to look at Will with a knowing glance.

Jack was the first to stir while keeping in mind the female body cuddled on top of him. He woke up because he felt observed, and after moving his head slightly to the sides to decompress his neck, he found himself under the glinting eyes of one Helen Magnus.

"Should I wake her up?" Jack whispered.

"Wake, who?" Sam said, rubbing her nose against Jack's neck, making him feel things no one should manage by only rubbing a nose against the skin of his neck.

"I hope you got some rest," Helen said, and Sam jumped in place. Jack's hands didn't let her go, nor did she want to let him go, especially when there was the chance that she would get bad news.

"Some, I suppose," Sam said tiredly, but feeling oddly rested.

"Well, when you are ready, I can take you to your dad," Helen grinned. Sam's eyes widened.

"To my…" Sam started, looking at Helen, then at Will, and finally, frowned in worry. "Is he?" she stopped herself biting her lower lip and receiving a light squeeze on her legs from Jack.

"He is stable. I had to sedate him after the surgery so he wouldn't be in pain and can heal without being uncomfortable."

"He is alive?" Sam wondered out loud, feeling that if she didn't ask, she would faint, wake up and find out it was all a joke.

"Yes. Follow me, Samantha. I'll take you to him. While you dress up for our recovery room, I can explain the situation to you."

June 27th, 2005

Underground Sanctuary

Her mom guided her to another room. Inside it, Helen instructed Sam to change into a medical gown to keep any germs out of Jacob's room. Beside her, Helen changed into the same attire, and once Sam was ready, she accompanied her to his room.

Helen's last words before she opened the door to Jacob Carter's current ICU room were: "He is all right, you can stay for five minutes. He needs to rest. I will leave a radio over your clothes, so you can radio Ashley to take you and the General back to the SGC."

Sam nodded, still too confused with the situation at that point. Helen entered the room first and fiddled with the several machines attached to Jacob Carter, hoping that her quiet reassurance would allow Sam to process the situation calmly. Sam's eyes widened, her eyes fell into his rising and lowering chest, and that made it real. Her dad was breathing!

Being sure Sam would not faint, Helen gave her shoulder a light squeeze and left the room.

"Oh, God, dad! You scared me," she whispered.

After a few more minutes, she finally started to believe that her dad was, in fact, alive, and according to her mom, in good shape. So, Sam left the room, got back into her clothes, and walked outside into Jack's waiting arms. Unable to stop herself, she cried once more.

"Happy tears," she had said to Jack to wipe the confused expression off his face. "He is all right; he will be all right," Sam whispered and surprising her, he allowed himself to fall into the closest couch with her tightly wrapped in an embrace.

"Holy Hannah, that was close," Jack whispered when he finally could speak, too overwhelmed by emotions to say anything else. It took them some time, but they couldn't remain at the Sanctuary forever, not when they had disappeared without a trace from the SGC.

"Ready to go back?" Jack asked, caressing some strands of hair out of Sam's face.

"Not really, but we should get back," she whispered.

Reluctantly, Jack broke their embrace, and so did Sam. Then, she radioed Ashley, who appeared with a sealed box in her hands and took them back to the SGC's observation room.

"Ahm, this is Selmak's body," Ashley said, shuffling on her feet as she raised the box slightly for them to understand what she was talking about. "Mom said she had requested to be returned to the Tok'ra."

"We will see to it, Ashley," Jack nodded as he took the box from her hands.

"Sam, I'm glad your father is all right," Ashley grinned awkwardly. "Let me know when you need transport," she added before waving to them and teleporting out.

"Well?" Janet's voice made them turn around. She was standing in the observation area of the room and looked worried. Sam's smiled made her feel a lot better.

"He will recover," Sam grinned.

"Good," she grinned, "I will meet you down there."

"I will make sure this gets to the Tok'ra," Jack announced as he crossed paths with the Doc.

"What's that?"

"Selmak," Jack announced before he nodded for her to go inside the room.

"So," Janet started and clapped her hands. "Now that your dad is on a path to recovery, I guess you will delay the wedding until he is feeling better?"

"The wedding?" Sam frowned.

"Yeah, you know, your wedding? The one you were picking flowers and venues for before this happened?"

"Holy Hannah! I forgot about it," Sam said as she walked hurriedly out of the room.

June 28th

Underground Sanctuary

Helen knew something was wrong with her. She felt oddly tired, nauseous, and had to take her eyes off her screen for a long while for the words to stop moving. Something clicked in her mind, and she blanched.

Trying to seem her usual self, and under the excuse of checking Jacob, she went to the infirmary room and took some of her blood for a test she wasn't sure she wanted to do. After checking on Jacob, who was eager now to get back to his own two feet, albeit missing the voice in his head, Helen returned to her lab and her results.

"Dear Lord," Helen muttered to herself before she deleted all access to her medical file. Later that day, Will found her already in bed earlier than usual. Worryingly early.

"Helen? Is everything okay?" Will asked, trying to sound casual. She raised her eyes from the book she was reading, noticing the hints of worry in his voice.

"Yes. I thought I could take a few moments to myself after some hectic days," Helen smiled.

"Yeah, and coming from you, that's not weird at all," Will added, the worry was now full panic, but she chuckled and shook her head amused.

"Everything is all right, William," she said before she placed a strand of hair behind her ear. That gesture made him realize she was nervous. "Will, stop worrying. The truth is that I haven't been able to enter a death-sleep since Sam asked my help with the replicators. After so long rushing in and out of emergencies, I'm feeling tired."

"Tired? Are you sure you aren't sick?" He asked, and she shook her head.

"I'm perfectly healthy. What I was hoping for from being here early was for you to join me in a bath?"

"You and hot water? What could a man desire more?" He smiled. "Don't get up. I'll get it ready."

It wasn't long until he felt Helen's watchful eyes on him as he opened the faucets to get the bath going. Will turned around, and she let her robe fall on the floor. With quick strides, he had her pressed against the wall as he kissed her thoroughly. His clothes followed the path of her gown until she chuckled.

"We better stop if we don't want to cause a mess here," Helen said, licking her lips and nodding towards the bathtub that was dangerously close to being overflowed.

"Jesus!" Will said and rushed to close the faucets, fighting with the bubbles that covered most of the area between him and the taps. Helen outright laughed at him. "There! Situation under control, Doctor Magnus!" he grinned proudly.

"It seems something is missing, Doctor Zimmerman," Helen grinned mischievously. Will frowned.

"What did I miss?" he asked, looking around.

"A bath usually requires someone getting bathed," she added, pushing him slowly backward. His knees hit the edge of the tub, and he toppled into the bath with a splash.

"Helen!" he whined, making her laugh again. Will pouted, and with that, he won the hand. Helen bit the puckered lip as she lowered herself above him.

"I thought you were tired," Will said once they broke the kiss.

"I find kissing you is utterly relaxing. Don't you agree?"

"Well, I can't come up with anything against kissing you," Will grinned. They fell silent, and Helen moved around to lie beside him, with her head on the crook of his neck. "I feel we should have brought wine or a book so I could read it to you or something."

"I don't mind being like this at all, William. There's no need for distractions between us. Won't you agree?"

"When you put it like that…" he said, kissing the top of her head as he caressed her arm.

"William?" Helen started after some minutes had ticked by.

"Hmm."

"I never asked you. I think I probably was afraid of the answer. But what do you think about children?"

"Children? I guess I like them," Will shrugged. "Helen, where is this coming from?" He asked, remembering he had had to help her with Henry's son because the kid wouldn't let Helen touch him. "Look at me?" She moved away from him and sat on the other side of the tub, facing him.

Helen's hair was high on her head, with a few threads falling on her shoulders. Those were damp and sticking to her skin, and to add to it, she was worrying her lower lip.

"Oh, God, you are gorgeous!" Will whispered, she smiled. "What do you mean with children? Like kids of my own?" He asked, and she nodded once.

"I never asked, I know I should have," Helen frowned.

"If you will tell me I shouldn't be here, and that I should have remained topside and marry someone else, I won't answer that."

"But have you ever thought about it, William?" Helen didn't relent, her eyes boring holes in his.

"About having kids of my own?" She nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry?" he sighed.

"Don't be," she whispered, moving forward to caress his face. "There's nothing to be sorry about wanting children. Despite my doubts about them, I have a couple of my own. Until today, it never really occurred to me to ask how you felt about it," she looked at him, "and you never told me either."

"I didn't see the point," he shrugged before he let out a snort. "I always thought I would be a good father, you know? Not the kind of dad mine was. I guess you know how that works. You raised Ashley when you never had a mom." Helen smiled. She moved around again, and this time, she sat with her back to his and linked their hands together.

"Where is this coming from, Helen? If it makes you feel better, I don't care if I don't have kids as long as I have you by my side," Will said, and he got a kiss on his cheek and a hum as an answer, before she lowered their hands below the bubbles.

"I too believe you will be an excellent father, darling," she said, as she pressed his hands on her lower belly. "This one will have the best parents any child could have."

"This one?" Will frowned.

"Yes," she nodded, turning her head to watch him. This time Will was the one who moved, he placed some space between them to see her eyes, and as he searched them, he couldn't find a hint of a joke in them.

"I'm going to be a father?" Will added utterly surprised.

"In around eight months," Helen affirmed.

"How is that possible?" He frowned, confused.

"Well, it usually happens when male and female gametes join together," she started.

"I mean, I thought you couldn't have any more kids," he trailed off.

"What?" It was Helen's turn to be confused. "Why on Earth would you reach such a conclusion?"

"Well, Ashley's conception was in the 1800s before you became an abnormal, and Sam's an in vitro child for starts," he pointed. "And, um, women usually have used up all their eggs around 50 years of age…" Will trailed off.

"Ah, that. I can get pregnant, William. I am, I'm not joking about it. My weird body chemistry has kept me fertile all these years. It didn't happen before because I am my own contraceptive. I usually go into a death-sleep, and that stops the ovulation from happening. Between the possible end of the world and everything else that happened afterward, I couldn't allow myself to get into death sleep, and it happened," she blushed. "If you feel the timing is poor, I could always…" he launched himself forward and kissed her.

"God, no. I'm good; the timing is good. I'm going to be a father!" he kissed her with each phrase. "Is this why you were so nervous before?"

"Yes."

"Wait, you've said the end of the world, how far along are you?"

"I believe I have 16 days of pregnancy behind me. The test I've done can be a positive starting on the eighth day. But since I've been feeling tired for days now and my body wouldn't shut down, I'll say 16th days."

"Oh, little one, right after your mom helped to save the universe, huh?" Will asked her stomach, and that made her chuckle. "Oh, Helen! I never thought. I'm speechless…"

"I know," she smiled knowingly. "We should wait to tell everyone else until we are further along the way."

"Shit, your daughters' are going to kill me! Nikola will kill me! Henry will kill me! I'm so dead." Helen chuckled. She stood up then and vacated the tub, the water starting to be too cold for her.

"They would have to get over me first, and trust me, a few more months into it, getting around me will be quite a feat," she said, wrapping herself with a towel and tossing one to Will, who had just stood up. He wrapped the towel around his waist and walked over to her.

"Pregnant Helen Magnus, that will be quite a sight," he whistled as she walked towards the dressing room.

"When I get to the eight months of not entering death sleep, that will be quite a sight," she tossed over her shoulder

"Why wouldn't you enter it?" Will asked as they both dressed.

"Remember how I had to come up with a way for Erika not to change into a werewolf while she was pregnant?"

"Yeah, because if she changed, she would provoke an abortion to herself. Oh!" Will said as he realized what she meant. Helen smiled.

"I got the idea from the way my body reacts to pregnancies. The moment the implantation happens, it doesn't allow me to enter a death sleep, preventing me from 'cleaning my cells.' If I entered it, the profound cell regeneration process would start, and thus, it would get rid of the embryo. Most likely, I would never figure out I was pregnant before it happened."

"I'm glad it happened like this, Helen. Now, Miss. Magnus, three kids out of wedlock, huh? Isn't that un-Victorian of you?" As an answer, he received a slap in the back of his head.

"Another joke like that, William, and you can sleep on the couch."

June 29th

Underground Sanctuary.

"Sammie!" Jacob greeted her as she entered his room. Sam was pleasantly surprised to find Helen sitting on a comfortable-looking chair next to her dad's bed. "I was telling your mother that I feel wonderful. Try to convince her to let me get out of this bed?"

"And here I go to extreme lengths trying to provide the most comfortable bed around, only to have my patients wanting to get out of them," Helen sighed dramatically. "Hello, Samantha. I keep telling your father that if he keeps falling asleep when I give him mild painkillers, I can't have him trying to rush out of the room."

"I won't fall, I won't break," Jacob rolled his eyes.

"That's what you keep telling me," Helen grinned. "And yet, you are still falling under my meds charms like a clock. He should be awake for a couple more hours until the next dose goes in, Samantha."

"Good! I finally came on a good time," Sam grinned. "How are you feeling, dad?"

"I'm fine," Jacob said, and two identical sets of eyes looked at him, making him sigh sadly. "Now, I know where that look came from," he nodded towards Helen. "As I've said, I'm fine. I feel sore, but it's nothing I haven't felt before. I miss Selmak; my head is so much quieter now."

"I'm sorry for your loss, dad," Sam said, squeezing his hand. "I was here yesterday until mom kicked me out of here. You were sound asleep."

"She keeps drugging me into those 'healing naps'!" Jacob exclaimed, and Helen chuckled.

"It's for your own good, dad. Janet was here too, she agrees with the treatment you are receiving," Sam said.

"Those two agree? Holy Hannah, the end of the world is near," Jacob joked.

"We aren't that bad," Helen shook her head, amused.

"No, you two aren't bad, you can't agree with each other," Jacob pointed. "I'm sure Janet has let you know by now that I was here with her sometimes while they were trying to come up with some treatment for my situation. Now, those two are headstrong, add your father to it, and I'm surprised their lab is still in one piece."

"I can imagine," Sam giggled.

"Don't giggle. I know I raised someone equally headstrong so I can see you right there discussing your head off if it was your field of expertise," Jacob pointed, making Sam blush. "So, Jack was here, Janet was here, Teal'c was here. Heck! Daniel was here; I thought we had lost him for good this time. Yet, I haven't seen your future husband around."

"Ah, he doesn't know about this place," Sam said, and then she grimaced. "And I kinda have been ignoring him since you fell ill."

"I've had this conversation with your daughter many times, Jacob."

"My daughter, huh? I haven't had one of those my daughter, your daughter's situations for a long time," Jacob grinned. "So, what did 'my daughter' do now?"

"No matter how much Samantha has improved her abnormal skills, and how comfortable she seems to be with them, she still persists on her idea of marrying Pete while keeping her true self hidden from him," Helen said scrunching up her nose.

"Oh, Sam. I believe you know we both have accepted the fact that you want to marry him. We both feel everyone around you has accepted that they will see you married to Pete. You seem to be the only one not comfortable with the wedding."

"I thought you liked Pete," Sam said to avoid the issue if possible.

"Yeah, but I was this close to dying," he gestured less than a millimeter with his fingers. "And trust me, I visited all my regrets. It's not nice; you won't want to regret something as big as this."

"We've spoken about regrets before, Samantha. You know how I feel about those," Helen added. Sam flinched and then looked at them.

"Holy Hannah! You were talking about me?" Sam frowned.

"Of course!" They both said at once.

"Your father was here talking about you too," Jacob said.

"Nikola was here?" Sam asked, surprised.

"Yes, he said 'he could spare some hours to sit next to the man who had taken upon himself to raise his flesh and blood' his words, not mine."

"Nikola can be very dramatic," Helen grinned.

"And now you tell me that, Helen?" Jacob joked. "You know, Sam. There's something I don't get. How is it possible that someone as smart as you can be as blind as you have been lately?"

"I don't know what you are talking about, dad," Sam said, embracing herself. Jacob looked at Sam, and then, he gave an apologetic glance to Helen.

"I'm sorry, Helen. I know you said you didn't want to push her, so I will." Both women opened their mouths to speak, but Jacob raised his hands.

"No. I will do the talking now. I know you two have been talking about relationships, marriage, regrets, and a whole lot of things I won't ever know, and most likely, I don't want to know... I also talked with your mother here, and I understand you, Helen, I understand you don't want to push her."

"Dad..."

"I have information Helen lacks. I know that sometimes you need to be shoved towards the right decision, Sammie. That's probably something that I nurtured into you. So, I will do the pushing," he took a deep breath. "Samantha Carter, you are screwing things up by choosing Pete, and you damn well know it! I do not understand what made you accept his proposal. You know you are settling, and yes, I liked the guy until…" he stopped himself and gave a worried glance to Helen.

"Until?" Sam prodded. Both Helen and Jacob sighed.

"I think it's time, Helen."

"I must agree," she said after letting out a sigh. "I didn't want to say a word about this, and all those who know won't tell you because I asked them not to, Samantha. We all thought this wouldn't last as long."

"Mom? What is it?"

"Pete has been following you around, Sammie," Jacob said. "Not only when he ended up at that stakeout, but after that too."

"We found he had a tracking device in both your car and your bike," Helen said. "After that, I asked Henry to perform a cleaning on your house, and he found several mics and cameras."

"God," Sam said.

"Remember the night we went for dinner at your home; Cassie was visiting?" Helen asked, and Sam nodded.

"Pete was there; he was waiting in the curb. I don't know what he thinks he saw, but he informed someone of inappropriate behavior between SGC members, that someone, thank God, asked General O'Neill about Pete before processing the claims."

"That bastard," Jacob huffed. "He also ran a background check on you, Sam."

"He what?" Helen asked. "I didn't know that."

"Yeah, it was a hush-hush situation. The man called in a favor from someone at the CIA, but they didn't know the action would immediately raise a red flag at the SGC."

Color left Sam's face with every new thing she learned about the man she thought she knew well enough to marry until she couldn't take it anymore. With a gasp, Sam let herself fall into the other chair in the room.

"You said he followed me and had cameras in my house," Sam looked worriedly to her mother. "Does he know about us?"

"No. The device Henry installed blocked every unknown recording device that tried to connect to your network, so he didn't get any audio or video of any of us, or you."

"No. When we added that device, we used to keep anything from working where Ashley teleports, Henry modified it so it would block any cameras anyone else could install. Every time unknown recording devices connected to your network, it brought them down."

"So, I didn't give away the Sanctuary?"

"No, you didn't. Pete ran into Jack and Ashley at the warehouse entry, but he didn't see anything unexplainable," Helen said.

"Holy Hannah! He got into the warehouse?" She asked, and Helen nodded. "How could I be so blind? I…"

"We understand if you need to go, Sammie," Jacob said, knowing his daughter would want to end things now that she knew all the things Pete was doing behind her back.

"I need to go. You are in good hands, dad," Sam said, standing up and placing a soft kiss on his cheek.

"I know. Go finish that chapter, kiddo."

"See you later, Samantha. Let us know if you need anything."

Helen and Jacob watched her rush out of the room and pick up her radio before she got out of their sights. They sighed exchanging worried looks.

"Thank you, Jacob."

"Hey, I didn't know how to let her know without pissing her out, I assume you had the same issue."

"Very much so," Helen nodded.

"I guessed that almost dying would give me more ducking and weaving space," Jacob grinned. Helen smiled at him, but the worried expression never left her face. Then, Jacob added with a huff. "How you think that will go?"

"Well, if I didn't know any better, I'd say Pete is a charming guy that would take things well enough. He's someone who hoped to get the girl but now has to let her go, as you might say."

"But?"

"He had trackers on her car and bike, and got cameras installed in her house," Helen said, then grabbed her radio. "Ashley, please come by Jacob's room when you finish."

"You radioed?" Ashley grinned as she appeared inside the room. "Hey, Jacob. How are you feeling?"

"Alive," Jacob grinned.

"Oh, I know that feeling! Whatcha' need, mom?"

"You took Samantha back home?"

"Yup."

"Then I need you to go to Henry. Ask him to get you the true position of her car or bike."

"Okay?"

"Go find her, but don't let her see you unless she needs help," Helen instructed.

"Something to worry?" Ash frowned at her mother's words.

"Samantha went to end things up with Shanahan."

"Oh," Ashley's eyes widened. "I'm on it!" she said before she disappeared.

"True position?" Jacob frowned.

"Well, we knew he had trackers on her. But we couldn't take them down without him noticing. So, I had Henry faking her movements. As far as Pete knows, she went from the base to home and back, and twice a week to the store in her car. A longer, touristic route with her bike was also part of the options."

"What if they were together?"

"We accounted for that too," Helen grinned mischievously.

"What aren't you saying?" Jacob frowned.

"Many things, but what you need to know is that we also placed trackers on him."

"On him. Cellphone?"

"And watch. My people are very good at what they do."

"I know that from experience. Thank you, by the way, I never thanked you for saving my life."

"I'd be lying if I said it was a piece of cake. However, I'm glad the efforts paid out."