Secrets
Their journey back to the SGC from Washington was unusually quiet. Jack was wondering what was wrong with Carter as he found it strange that she appeared just as solemn as he did. He glanced at her momentarily and noticed that something was wrong, and he would have asked but they weren't the only ones on the plane. He frowned to himself and then his mind returned back to what had just happened to Armin. He had an uneasy feeling in his gut, he wasn't going to question or push General Hammond on the matter, but something just didn't sit right. And unfortunately, he was all too familiar with the methods that the government and military use in order to keep certain things under wraps. He checked his watch and let out a sigh, 20 more minutes left of uncomfortable silence.
Once General Hammond concluded the briefing and dismissed SG1, he swiftly got up and went into his office to make a phone call. SG1's eyes were lingering on the General, as if none of them wanted the briefing to end. All four of them could feel the weight of the emotion, energy and tension in the air. Like his team, Jack wanted to just pause and not deal with the day, but he felt like they all needed to do something. As his eyes gave both Carter and Daniel a once over, he could tell they were both too far into their heads to make it out themselves. It was obvious as to what was wrong with Daniel, though he and Carter did arrive a little late to the Sha're fiasco he caught up with what had happened during the briefing and his mind filled in on the unsaid blanks.
Jack cleared his throat ready to speak and, as if on cue, Daniel shot up and stormed out the briefing room. Jack opened his mouth to say object, but before he could Sam pushed herself up and shyly nodded in the Colonel's direction as she exited the room.
Jack, surprised, turned to Teal'c, "Will you be walking out on me too?"
"I believe Captain Carter and Daniel Jackson are deeply distressed. I witnessed Daniel Jackson assist his wife give birth to the son of Apophis." Teal'c informs.
Jack rubs his eyes, "Oh my Go-" He winces, "Teal'c, go grab Captain Carter will you? Meet me in Daniel's office, I'm assuming that's where he's gone to hide." Jack waved as he left the room, followed by Teal'c.
Jack knocked on the wall of Daniel's office as he entered. Daniel was just sitting there; he pathetically smiles at Jack and Jack nods 'hey'. He spots the stall next to where Daniel is sat and makes his way to sit on it. He leans on the table fiddling with his thumbs, his silence opens the floor up for Daniel to say something, or say nothing. A minute of nothingness passes, Sam enters with Teal'c as her guide behind her.
"Sir, you wanted to see me?"
"Yeah sit down Captain." He encourages. She scans the room for somewhere to sit, luckily Daniel had being helping on a group translation earlier in the week so there were a few stools messily stacked in a corner. Teal'c carries to over, she thanks him with a smile and takes a seat across the table from the Colonel.
"Hell of a day, huh." Jack says. They nod in response; he notices Sam wipe a tear so fast he wasn't sure it even happened. It was evident that Carter and Daniel weren't going to be leading the conversation, he began to ponder on what could be an appropriate thing to say. But surprising him, as always, Carter spoke up.
"I'm sorry that there's no answers on what happened today with the reporter sir. I can imagine what has been playing in your mind."
"Yeah, but I think we all know there's never going to be a straight answer to what happened." Jack sighed.
"Is there not a proficient system of justice on your world?"
"I don't know how to answer that one Teal'c. We'd like to think yes, but… things happen." Jack says, disapprovingly raising a brow.
"I see." Teal'c acknowledges. Another period of quietness began, though it was broken a few minutes in by Daniel.
"I appreciate you guys being here. But I don't really know what you want me to say, I reported what happened on Abydos in the briefing. There's nothing left to say."
"We don't expect you to say anything." Jack reassures.
"I keep thinking about the minutes." Daniel replies.
"Minutes?" Jack asks, gesturing at Teal'c.
"When I found out Sha're was pregnant, I went outside to figure my head out for multiple reasons. But mainly because I was just overcome with what she's been put through, I wanted to be able to go back in there to support her in a way she deserved and be a good husband. Instead, I was a bad one, wasting time I should have spent with her." Teal'c watched Daniel as he spoke, he was concerned that these thoughts would occur.
"Daniel, I think anyone would need a moment in that scenario. Don't beat yourself up."
"I lost her again Jack. Again."
"Yeah… but this time you know she's still in there. Like Teal'c said, she looked right at us and didn't give away our positions."
"I know. I just had her though, and then she was taken from me. I don't even think I had a moment to really just realize I had her back, before she was taken. And now I've got to search for her again and it's killing me. We'll be getting to the point soon where we would have spent more time apart than together, I just don't understand it."
"I know, I'm sorry." Jack says, sincerely. On any other day, Carter would have led the 'supportive' chat, but today she sadly watched the two of them talk as a distant spectator.
"I don't want to talk about this anymore tonight." Daniel states, closing his eyes. Jack understood why, he reassured Daniel by placing his hand on his back and Daniel nods in appreciation. Daniel then perks his head up, he looked drained but he smiled, "Hey, congratulations again you guys on receiving those medals. And yeah, I'm sorry Washington didn't go so well. "
"Well I got to meet the famous General Carter which was a surprise." Jack says, smiling at Sam.
"Wait what?" Daniel says, "Sam, I didn't know your dad was going to be there?"
"Yeah he was there." She says, in a voice that did not sound like hers, Jack was wondering what had happened between the two of them. "General Hammond and my dad go way back, he invited him as surprise for me."
"Oh I didn't know that, that's so nice. I know you haven't seen him in a while." Daniel replies, genuinely happy for Sam.
"Small world, ay." Jack remarks, with a half smile. Jack and Daniel were both still looking at Sam, she looked at them both, and then Teal'c, she seemed to momentarily take on the persona of a deer stuck in headlights. Then she says the next shocking sentence so fast, it was as if she threw them up.
"He has cancer."
And there it was. Jack could feel his insides drop, that was not the answer he expected.
"Oh Sam, I'm so sorry." Daniel says, just as taken back by the news.
"Thanks Daniel. It just came as a bit of a shock."
"Might I inquire, what is cancer?" Teal'c carefully asks. Sam takes a breath in preparation to explain, but Jack decides to take this one for her.
"It's a serious illness Teal'c." Though Jack's answer was a simple explanation, Teal'c could see the look in his and the other members of SG1's eyes.
"I am very sorry Captain Carter." Teal'c bows, she dimly smiles in appreciation.
"Yeah so am I. You know if you need anything, or any time off, just say the word Sam. We're here for you." Jack says, kindly. It always threw her a little off guard whenever the Colonel was just 'nice', she seemed to live vicariously through his coping mechanisms- which tended to be humor.
"Thank you, sir, I appreciate that." He smiled at her supportively in response.
Even though they were all carrying their own set of emotions from the day, there seemed to be a deep sense of unity between them all. A warmth seemed to have engulfed them inside the room, it was as if a temporary bubble had been created that allowed them to feel comfortable enough to share their burdens. After the hour passed, they felt lighter. Jack supposed that mini therapy session would last them a good few months. It was hard for him to watch the people he cared about in pain, but it gave him a deeper understanding of the both of them which he appreciated. He also valued Teal'c's ability to provide hope or bestow wisdom with one sentence, something Jack could not wrap his head round.
They decided to call it a night. Teal'c swiftly bid his best wishes to his friends and left in order to begin his Kelno'reem. Daniel, Sam and Jack slowly made their way outside Daniel's office as Daniel made an attempt to tidy and lock up what he needed.
"You two go on without me, I think I'm going to head to the locker room and take another shower before bed." Daniel says. They noticed he had a habit of washing the day off before bed now, it was something Sam got him into doing at the start of Sha're's disappearance. At the start of Sha're's absence Daniel could never sleep, so the whole team tried to give him all sorts of help to get him there.
"That's very Carter-esque of you." Jack says, slightly smirking at her.
"Well I for one think that's a good idea Daniel." Sam replies with a small smile, deliberately ignoring the Colonel's comment.
Daniel smiles, "Ha yeah. Catch you guys in the morning." He turns to leave, but hesitates, he turns to walk up to Sam. "You going to be okay?"
"Yeah I'll be fine, don't worry about me."
Daniel concedes to a quiet "Okay" and hugs her goodnight before finally making his way down the hall.
Jack and Sam trekked the halls towards their quarters, as they stepped out the elevator Sam's laughter came to a close. Jack took pride in the fact that his second in command seemed to genuinely find him amusing.
"Thank you, sir." She says, though the atmosphere had lifted, there was weight to her words. He wanted her to know that he'd always be there for her, but Jack was a man of actions rather than words. Plus, words complicated everything. As he was holding her eye contact, the corners of his mouth twitched into a soft smile, one that she mirrored.
"You sure you're going to be okay?" He asks.
"There's not much I can do sir." And he knew that was probably one of the hardest things for her to come to term with, she seemed to always have an answer to everything.
"Sleep. You can sleep." He suggests.
Her nose lets out a laugh, "Yes, sir."
"Good night Carter."
"See you tomorrow, sir."
As they went their separate ways Jack had no idea what the future would hold, he hoped that Carter senior would make it through, he hoped that the Sha're and her snake act would come to an end and he hoped that Teal'c and his family could live together again. But until then he just hoped for more little moments like that.