"I want to discuss what your step-father did to you," Teal'c says as soon as Shelby opens her eyes the next morning.
"Yeah, we will, someday when there are not small ears between us," Shelby says over her sleeping sister's head.
"She is not conscious," Teal'c replies.
"Show me the CAT scan," Shelby says. She got really good at pretending to be asleep when she lived at her step-father's house. Not that her sister has had time to develop this talent yet, it's only been the one time.
"You should have told me about what occurred," he says stoically.
"It wasn't that important," Shelby mutters.
"I am your sexual partner; I should have known that you were sexually abused."
"Would it have changed your mind about being with me?" she asks suddenly, crushed by the thought.
He puts his hand on her shoulder carefully, "It most certainly would not have. However, I would have treated things between us differently."
"Differently than telling me that I should be able to make choices about my own body even when I was saying that I would not be having sex on our wedding night? You mean different than being gentle and kind and romantic? You were perfect."
"I still should have known," he says softly.
"I love you, Teal'c," she says.
"I harbor similar feelings for you as well," Teal'c replies.
-0-0-0-
Ms. Smith is exactly like all of the social workers that Shelby knew when she was young. But this time, they're going to save her sister.
She tells the woman her story first, like she promised her sister that she would. And then her sister tells everything. Tammy wanted Shelby and Teal'c in the room the whole time. Shelby was nauseous, and Teal'c was furious. But they both hid it and tried to make Tammy more comfortable.
And then the social worker made them go to a doctor, and Tammy cried during the exam.
And then they were granted temporary custody, and Ms. Smith left.
Two Days Later
"O'Neill, you have expressed some distress at Jaffa revenge customs in the past," Teal'c says.
"Yeah, murder isn't the best."
"What is the Earth custom for revenge?" Teal'c asks.
"I don't know, it depends on what they did," Jack replies.
"What if they have grievously injured those closest to you?" Teal'c asks.
"Shelby ok?" Jack asks.
"Tammy and Shelby have been treated deplorably by Tammy's father."
"Is this the racist one that beat Shelby? He didn't lay his hand on that little girl, did he?"
"He in fact laid many things on her," Teal'c replies.
"Is she ok? Did he hurt her?"
"She will be ok now that she has been removed from her mother's care pending her father's trial for sexual abuse."
"My God," Jack mutters quietly.
"I want to murder him," Teal'c says firmly.
"So do I," Jack says.
"Do you want to assist me?" Teal'c asks.
"You can't murder him."
"On Chulak, his crime is punishable by castration."
"That sounds about right."
"Public castration."
"Even better, but you can't do that to him."
"I do not understand Earth's customs in this matter. People should be punished."
"They will be punished. It's just that the law is going to do it instead of you."
"It takes all of the satisfaction out of revenge."
"T, if you guys ever need something, you should let me know. What you are going through has got to be pretty tough."
"I would like your guidance in the process of buying a house."
"You guys are getting a house?" Jack says with a smile.
"Shelby says that the girls require a backyard in which to play."
"Wait, the girl are staying with you, like forever?" Jack asks with a touch of shock.
"Indeed."
"Way to bury the lead! Congratulations, you're a daddy."
"I have in fact been a father for several years."
"Right, but you're a dad again, a full-time father."
"I will, in fact, be their brother-in-law," Teal'c corrects.
"I am not talking about a title here. You're going to be a father, a stories at bedtime, school programs, checking homework, playing in the backyard kind of father."
"I have done all these things on previous occasions with the girls."
"Right, but you're going to be a full-time dad. You're going to have to be there for them all the time. That's a big deal, Teal'c. A good thing, but a big thing."
"Do you think I'm unprepared for the task?"
"Of course not."
"On Chulak, fathers are not as involved in the upbringing of children as they are on Earth."
"You're great with those little girls," Jack says.
"I am going to be their father," Teal'c says, a bit of awe getting past his stoicism.
"That you are," Jack says, clasping him on the back energetically.
-0-0-0-
Shelby knows that she is trouble when she enters her bedroom and her husband is still sitting on their bed, except it's really mostly her bed, because he doesn't sleep. Anyway, the fact that Teal'c isn't meditating is sort of bad news.
"You promised that you would tell me about the trauma that you endured," Teal'c says.
"Right, I just don't know if this is the best time for it," she says.
"There are no ears of diminutive size within a distance that would allow them to hear, even if they were a Jaffa."
"Don't compare my sisters to a Jaffa," she says.
"You need to tell me," he says.
"You don't need to know. You don't want to know," she says.
"It may be true that I don't need to know, but you need to tell me."
She sits down next to him, "I know that you think I'm a wuss because I didn't fight back."
"I think you were a child," Teal'c says taking her hand.
"Right, but if you would have beat the crap out of him," she says.
"That doesn't make you weak," he says.
"It's different when it's your parent, you know. It's not like when it's a bully. It's someone that is supposed to take care of you and love you. It's someone who is supposed to protect you. And when they hurt you, you think that's the way the world is supposed to work."
Teal'c wraps an arm around her, and pulls Shelby closer to him.
"And then when I hit about ten years old… he started to hug me and cuddle me all the time. At first, I thought it was a really good thing. I liked the attention. And then it wasn't just cuddling," she says looking away.
He kisses her forehead, "How long did the abuse continue?"
"Until I ran away from home at fourteen. But it wasn't abuse. I mean, it was. He beat me. But he raped me too."
Anger flashes in Teal'c's eyes, but he rubs her arm in a comforting fashion, trying to be the loving husband that he is supposed to be.
"I wanted to die."
Teal'c doesn't understand this. He understands wanting to kill. That's the normal way to feel when someone has harmed you. But the desire to hurt yourself after someone has hurt you is lost on him.
"Remember when we first started dating, and you used to make fun of me for dressing like a nun?"
"You wear far more clothing than a temple priestess."
"Earth nun, not Jaffa nun."
"I believe I only made a few comment as to the bulkiness of your sweaters," he corrects.
"Right, well, that was all was 'cuz when I covered up a lot, he was more likely to leave me alone."
"I will not allow anyone to hurt you, no matter how you choose to attire yourself," Teal'c says.
"I know," Shelby says. She leans against Teal'c, "I told my mom."
"What?" Teal'c asks shocked.
"Back when I was a kid, I told my mom what the jerk was doing. She didn't believe me."
"Another betrayal by someone who was supposed to care for you."
She nods.
"If you had informed me of this at the beginning of our relationship, I would have ensured that the children were removed from the household."
"I know," Shelby says with despair in her voice, "I could have prevented it. But I honestly never thought he would do anything to them. He never hit them. And they were actually his children. You know I wasn't related to him, I was just his step-kid, not his blood."
"I man who is not deterred by the moral implications of sexual relations with a small child will probably not be deterred by the taboo against incest."
"I just… thought that he would only hurt me."
"You didn't do anything wrong. The fact that he hurt her proves that it was him and not you," he says.
"I just wish I had known that before. I would have done anything to protect them."
"You protected them now that something has happened, and that is more than you mom ever did."
"Can I come in?" a small voice says from the door.
Teal'c cringes at another night of ineffective horizontal meditation. But out loud he says, "You may."