Summary: Sam goes missing during a mission and the consequences of her experience will change her life forever (and someone else's too).
Warnings: None yet.
Pairings: J/S (what can I say, I'm a Jack/Sam shipper, but I do write others too)
Season: Seven-ish
Spoilers: Wee bit here and there from the whole series.
A/N: Thanks again for all the support. As usual, Stargate isn't mine, no profit made or requested, strictly for entertainment. Please review.
Take The Long Way Home
Last time: After putting the tiny outfit back in the bag the group headed on to the elevator for topside. "I wonder if she's in on the baby pool?" Sam mused aloud. Seeing the grin on Jack's face, she guessed he thought the young woman probably was.
Chapter Nine
Sam paused as they stepped into the elevator. "If you don't mind I'd like to go by the locker room before heading out. I left my shampoo and things here."
Jack smiled at her, "Go ahead. I need to get something before we leave anyway. I'll meet you by the elevator in a little while." As she stepped off on the correct floor, he caught Jacob staring at him. "Alright, Jacob, what?" Looking the older man in the eyes, he knew instantly that it was a mistake. There was a knowing gleam in the other man's gaze. "What's the look for?"
"Nothing." Seeing the highly skeptical look he got, Jacob grinned. "I'm just glad that my little girl and you get the chance I thought neither of you would, without leaving the SGC."
Eyes widening Jack said, "You and Hammond were eavesdropping. Tisk tisk. I thought Generals were above that." He had to chuckle at Jacob's response.
"Generals maybe, but not dads." The discussion was cut short as the elevator opened on their floor. "So, what is it you need to get?"
As they entered his office, Jack replied, "Reservations for dinner tomorrow night."
"Did she ever tell you where she wants to eat?"
"Nope, but there aren't very many places close by that would require us to really dress up."
After a number of phone calls, and some idle chat, Jacob and Jack waited patiently at the elevator as Sam approached carrying her stuffed duffel bag. As he took it from her, Jacob asked, "Sam, what do you have in this?"
"I have my maternity clothes and some other things. Since we're going to see Mark, I figured I should take them home." As they made their way topside, Sam noticed that her dad kept grinning at them.
Jack glanced at Sam and asked, "So, do you want to go to your house, or back to mine?"
"Your house is fine, Sir."
"Coming with us, Jacob? I know you haven't gotten to spend much time together in a while." He was really hoping the other man would say yes. There was something he wanted to discuss with him later.
Jacob got the hint from the hopeful look in Jack's eyes. "Sure. It is starting to get late though. You planning to put us up for the night too?"
"Why not." Jack shrugged, "There's the spare room and the couch too."
"I'll take the couch," Jacob offered immediately.
"You Don't have to do that, Jacob. You can have one of the beds and I'll take the couch. Besides I've slept on it lots of times."
"Jack, I sleep on the Tok'ra version of a bed. Trust me, the couch will be fine."
"If you insist."
Stepping off the elevator, Sam reached for her duffel to find that Jack had already taken it from Jacob. Smiling at him she followed him to his truck. As she took his offered hand to climb in, she noticed her dad was grinning at them again.
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The three of them sat quietly in Jack's living room. Jack was lost in thought and staring out the window. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Sam was looking at him. Turning his attention to the others, he looked right into Sam's eyes. There was a question there, he could tell, but she wasn't voicing it yet. He was tempted to ask what, but thought better of it in case it was something she didn't want to bring up in front of her dad.
They gazed at each other for a long moment before Jacob broke the silence. "So when do you want to go see Mark?"
Tearing her eyes away from Jack, Sam shrugged, "In a couple days, before Janet changes her mind about letting me leave."
"I'm sure we could all use some sleep. Why Don't I make up the spare room. Then you can lie down or take a hot shower if you like." Seeing her nod in agreement, Jack headed to the spare room and pulled out the extra pillows and sheets for the couch. Taking them out to the living room he noticed the bathroom door was closed and he could hear running water. Stepping down into the living room he held out the sheets, "Here, Jacob."
"Thanks." As he laid the sheets over the couch he discreetly eyed Jack. When he placed the pillow on the couch he casually posed a question. "How long do you plan to wait to ask her?" Glancing up at the younger man, he saw the quizzical look he was getting.
"Ask what?"
Giving Jack his best 'don't play dumb with me' look, Jacob put his hands on his hips. "The question."
"That question. Why would you think…"
"I can see it in your posture, the way you were looking at her, and… I've been there. When I was planning to pop the question to her mother, I spent a lot of time lost in thought and giving her these long meaningful looks. Of course, you could have other things on your mind too. Like the baby, and fatherhood." There was a change in Jack's eyes, a deep look of sadness. It was gone as quick as it arrived, but Jacob apologized quickly, "I'm sorry, Jack. I should have though about Charlie, before I opened my big mouth."
"It's alright. It just hit me that he would be a teenager now. Heck, he'd be getting ready to graduate."
"And I'll bet he would be very happy for you. What happened wasn't your fault, son." Jacob saw the look Jack gave him.
"You know, that's the second time you've called me that this week. The first time you did it was before the General gave us the President's letter."
"Let me put it this way, if I'd gotten to pick who my little girl would wind up with and would be the father of her children, I would have picked you."
"Why?" It was an honest question. Jack really was curios why Jacob would pick him. There was a decent age difference between he and Sam. He'd also been married before, which hadn't exactly worked out the best.
"I know that you've had to do some very distasteful things in your life. You've been through a lot of things that would have broken a lesser person. Whether you see it or not, you're a good man, Jack. I've seen you with the people you care about. You protect them whenever you can, even if it means putting yourself in harm's way to do it. I know it sounds sappy but you love Sam with a true, forever love. On Natu, you took a staff blast to the leg trying to keep Apophis' goons from taking her for interrogation. Jonas told me a long time ago, how you tried to insist that Nirti take you instead when she experimented on Sam's DNA. The local man who fixed Nirti's tampering told Jonas you offered yourself in exchange if Nirti would fix Sam and let the others go. Do you know why he said he looked into her mind? He told Jonas that your offer rang true and he could see that you really would have let her do anything to you, if it saved Sam. When he realized what his friend was going to do he took the knowledge from Nirti. He could read the panic in you that his friend was going to take away your chance to save Sam. He said that once his friend did kill her, he read the disbelief in you for a moment. It was replaced when your mind seemed to scream out in despair at what you knew was going to happen to Sam. When he told you he could fix it he felt intense joy fill you. After she was safe, he read your thoughts to see your reaction. The strongest thought he picked up was that you wanted to pull her close and tell her you loved her." With a sympathetic look, Jacob added, "You love her and she loves you just as much."
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Sam's eyes were wide as she listened from the hallway, where she stood with her hand lovingly on her belly. She'd paused when she heard them talking, not wanting to interrupt. Then she had realized they were discussing what happened with Nirti and couldn't pull herself away from the things her dad was saying. Jack had tried to trade himself to Nirti for her safety?
"Why did Jonas tell you?"
"He was a little upset that neither of you had told him. Jonas didn't realize that you hadn't really told each other either. When I explained about the frat regs he understood why you didn't, and gave me his word that he wouldn't mention it. He also mentioned that it made Sam's behavior when you were missing make sense."
"What behavior?" Jack eyed his companion closely when he didn't answer right away. "What behavior, Jacob?"
"Apparently Sam was a little gruff with Dr. Lee when he tried to pack up the search for you and Mayborne. According to Jonas it was a dressing down worthy of you. She went all out trying to find you, using every avenue she could."
Realizing that now would be a good time to step into the conversation, before her dad said too much more, Sam stepped down into the living room. "The shower is free if anyone needs it."
Taking the hint from the look in Jack's eyes, Jacob dropped their topic of conversation. "I think I'll take my shower in the morning." Standing, Jacob gave his daughter a kiss on the cheek, "Goodnight, honey."
"Goodnight, dad. Goodnight, Sir," Sam added before heading toward the spare room.
"Night." Following her down the hall, Jack made his way to the shower. After he walked by her and into the bathroom, he leaned against the inside of the door. His senses were reeling as the smell of her shampoo and body wash hit him. Maybe showering right after her wasn't the best idea, he thought. After taking a very short shower, Jack changed into some sweats and a t-shirt before heading to his bedroom.
Not long later, Jacob listened to the sound of a door opening. It was followed a moment later by a soft knock on another door.
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Jack rubbed his eyes sleepily as he opened his door. When he saw Sam standing there, he was instantly awake. "What's up?"
"I couldn't sleep, I'm sorry if I woke you."
He motioned for her to come in as he stepped aside. "Don't be, I wasn't quite out yet."
As Sam sat down on the edge of the bed she placed her hand protectively on her stomach. "You know how you had that dream where Ba'al tried to kidnap me to keep us from you?" Seeing him nod she steadied herself before continuing. "I dreamed that he took her from us after she was born. He pulled her from my arms and escaped to a ship before I could even grab for her." She felt the tears as they escaped down her cheeks while she was trying to dispel the terrible dream.
Jack put his arms around her as he sat next to her. "Come here." When she clung to him, he explained, "If Ba'al or any of his snake headed buddies comes near her I will not let them hurt her. You know, the most dangerous creature on any world is a mother defending her young. I know that you won't let them get to her either."
"You can't make that guarantee," Sam said softly.
"I can guarantee that if anybody tries to hurt either of you, they'll wish they'd never even entertained the idea when I get hold of them."
Having listened discreetly from the hall, Jacob shook his head. With the work they did, their concerns for their child's safety went far beyond the typical parent's. If the Goa'uld found out that they had a baby together there was a chance that some of them would use it as leverage someday. Quietly sighing, he went back to the couch.
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Sam tried to stifle a yawn, but didn't manage to keep Jack from seeing it. "Why don't you get some sleep." As she pulled away from him, he could see her hesitation, then she suddenly put her hand on her belly. Seeing her small grin , he looked at her quizzically, "What's so funny?"
"It's not so much funny as a little weird." She saw the curiosity in his eyes when he put his hand on her stomach too. "She has the hiccups."
"Poor baby. We can't exactly give her water to get rid of them."
"Not really. Ouch! I think it's making her mad. She's really kicking up a storm," she commented as she rubbed her stomach.
Leaning close to her womb, Jack spoke softly while he rubbed his hand over her swollen belly. "Take it easy on mommy. She didn't give you the hiccups on purpose, sweetie." After a few seconds he stood and looked at Sam. "I hope that helps."
She smiled, "Well she still has the hiccups, but she's not kickboxing now." Walking back across to her room she tossed over her shoulder, "See you in the morning." Feeling a strong kick she added, "I think she's trying to say goodnight, daddy."
Stepping back to her, Jack leaned close to her belly and placed his hand on it. "Good night, little one. Let mommy get some sleep okay." As he stood, he and Sam shared a smile before she walked to her room and closed the door.
As Sam settled in bed she rubbed her belly, "I hope you listen to your daddy tonight." The baby seemed to settle as it appeared her hiccups stopped and Sam soon drifted back to sleep.
This chapter isn't quite as long as I would like, but my notebook with the other half of the story has gone AWOL. I think I may have a lead on its hiding spot so hopefully I can put out a longer update soon. If not, I'll just have to go from what I remember and fill in the gaps again.
Oz Lovi