Irrevocable Decision Part 7

Standing on the deck, Jacobpeered down atJack as he worked with the long shovel clearing the snow away. Every so often the younger man would stop as a bout of coughing interrupted his rhythm, but once it had passedhe returned to his formidable chore.

"Can't have been easy." Jacob's voice rang out in the thick silence.

Jack hesitated, wiping the sweat from his face.

"What?" He didn't sound as if he wanted to know the answer.

"Having Sam ignore you like that. It would have pissed me off."

Jack shrugged. "I'll live." And he returned to his work hoping that the mammoth task would leave him too exhausted to waste any energy on a blonde, blue eyed termagant.

"She must have driven most of the night to get here from Mark's….I guess she was worried."

Jack wished to high heaven Jacob would just shut up and leave him to get on with what he was doing.

"Mind you, she's always watched your six."

"Mine!" Jack couldn't prevent his astonished reaction, throwing down his shovel and glaring hard at the Tokra.

"She's your daughter," he explained coldly, "and if I'm not mistaken it was you she was checking up on."

Jacob grinned devilishly. "Only because she thought I'd come to nail your hide to a tree," he said and chuckled at Jack's expression. "Trust me on this one, Jack, I know my daughter."

"Well, if you know your daughter so well, how come you looked as if you'd been blindsided from nowhere when she walked through the door?" Jack had reclaimed his shovel and was leaning on it, mists of air shooting from his mouth with every dry word spoken.

"You've got a lot to learn about women, Jack." Jacob spoke with a smugness that merely served to cause the younger man's irritation levels to a new height.

"Oh, and I suppose you're going to offer me some insightful lesson?" The sarcasm dripped heavily.

"No need," he replied smoothly, "Sam'll be much better at it than me."

Stunned was the only word to describe Jack as he watched Jacob turn on his heel and return to the warmth of the cabin.

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The annoying demands for an unopened bar of soap and a fresh bath towel were behind Jack's rather patently sharp words to Jacob as the Tokra made his way to the white tiled bathroom

"I thought you'd have been desperate to return to your snake friends by now." His tone was just short of insulting, yet Jacob merely shrugged casually.

"I still need to spend time with family."

Jack snorted incredulously. "I'm not family!"

Hesitating in the doorway of the bathroom, the older man continued to ignore the blatant rudeness, shaking his head. "Good job too," he answered good naturedly.

Suspicious, Jack countered sharply, "What does that mean?"

Staring him straight in the eye, Jacob spoke carefully. "Do you really need me to spell it out for you, Jack?" Then just before closing the door behind him he gave one last word of advice. "I think you'd better start honing up on those survival skills you used to be so damned good at," and smiling too sweetly for Jack's liking, continued, "because when Sam decides she wants some answers to all of this crap you're doing, she sure as hell won't be satisfied with anypathetic excuse you might think to give her."

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When the cabin door eventually closed behind Jacob and the sound of his car could be heard receding into the distance, Jack at last allowed himself to relax, sinking onto his sofa and running a hand over his aching forehead.

He swore aloud, regretting that the time of year prevented him from simply taking off for a few days. He'd fought enough battles – he had nothing to prove nor did he have to give a reason to anyone, least of all his 2IC – ex 2IC he amended - if he were simplyto disappear. But the lousy weather was too much to contend with now, and truth be told he really wasn't up for a trek in the wilds, loath as he was to admit this weakness even to himself.

Against his will, his thoughts turned to a pair of distinctly glacial blue eyes and he groaned in despair. What was the point? It was hell doing his job with her but it was another kind of hell without her. Stalemate, he thought dejectedly.

When he'd seen her walk into his cabin, long legs reaching to her shoulders, he was stunned. He'd had to employ every inner resource to hide his shock and deny his body's electric reaction to her overwhelming presence.

'Just pretend she always walks into the damned kitchen every day of your life,' he silently instructed himself, acutely aware she'd not so much as glanced his way until she'd verbally attacked him for causing her father's injury. He wasn't even sure which he was more mortified with – the indifference or the repugnance. But memories of ordering Sam to build a naquada bomb and his willingness to detonate it had encouraged him to shut down his feelings and desires. He'd imposed a self-discipline which did not allow for further introspection. Having decided to live with the burden, he chose not to be forced into such a situation again. And if it meant denying certain feelings, then so be it.

The biting wind whistled uncomfortably down his neck making him shiver as he attempted to ignore his immediate surroundings to concentrate on the heavens through his telescope. He'd assembled it on the rear deck and still missed his roof, but this was what was available and he wasn't going to gripe about it, not when he had a lake on his doorstep and a forest as his garden. No, he could put up with some inconveniences.

(Go to Part 8)