"We need to talk now," Jacob hisses as he tugs Jack away from the group and down a narrow hallway of the ship. Jack follows, with great confusion and anxiety, but he tries not to show it. As they settle in the privacy of what appears to be a large storage closet, the older man finally releases Jack, who makes a show of fixing his shirtsleeve and looking aloof and indignant.

"Dad?"

"Don't give me that shit, not for a fucking minute, you asshole!" Jacob starts, but is interrupted by his inner companion. "I apologize, Colonel O'Neill; Jacob is overcome with extremely harsh feelings against you at this moment."

"Selmak?"

"Yes."

"What's goin' on?"

"Jacob thinks there might be something… untoward going on between you and his daughter."

"Between me and Carter?! No!" He waves his hands in front of the former general like he's trying to slow traffic, for some reason. "Dad-Jacob-Selmak! I swear I would never-"

"I saw you , Jack!" This time, it's very clearly Jacob's voice cutting through the low light of the room.

Jack keeps his hands raised but only flexes his fingers briefly as he gives himself a deep inhale and exhale moment to breathe. He makes meaningful eye contact with Jacob and Selmak and shrugs. "Jacob," he says, "I honestly do not know what you mean."

Jacob's eyes narrow as his head starts to shake, "You think I didn't see you getting waaay too friendly with Sam's personal space? You crawled right down there and put your head right on her. Then the way you grabbed her? You think I didn't notice?"

"I was doing my job, Jacob." Jack narrows his eyes and lowers his hands slightly. "My job is to protect her and that's what I was doing. I'm sorry that meant crowding her personal space under a fucking land-space- mine you beamed into the ship and then pulling her ass out from under it when it almost hit her, but that's all it was!"

"You're too close, Jack, and you know it. You think I don't know those looks you give her? You think I never looked at a woman like that? At Sam's mother like that? Jesus fucking christ, Jack. I know that look."

Jack shrugs. "I love her, Jacob." It's so casual and honest that it surprises both men. Jack sighs and shrugs again. Jacob seems stuck in shock at the plainness of the admission, so Jack continues. "You know the look, so I won't lie to you. I can't. I would pull the universe apart thread by thread for her, Jacob. I would pull every star out of every galaxy and reorder them however she wanted me to if I could. I can keep listing things but just know that you can't imagine something I would not do for your daughter because it doesn't exist, not in this universe or any other."

"Goddammit, Jack."

"I know."

"You know what this could do to her."

"Yes, I do. And I work every day to make sure it doesn't happen. I'll never jeopardize her career, never."

"Selmak thinks it's mutual."

Jack nods. "It is. We don't, uh, we haven't talked about it really since it came up."

For the first time since his initial outburst, Jacob looks at Jack with a more nuanced lens than outrage and he sees the pain that must be a constant thump against the younger man's heart; he sees the open wound that will go untended until it is safe for his daughter to mend it. It breaks his heart, and then breaks it again when he realizes Sam has that same hurt. He sighs and shakes his head. "Oh, Jack."

"Yeah."

"Come here," Jacob says, wrapping his arms around Jack's shoulders and patting his back.

Jack's alert status is ringing pretty loud in his head, but the embrace is comforting, and, if he's going to be honest with himself, he knows he needs it. So he returns the hug and allows himself to accept the comfort offered by General Jacob Carter and Selmak, and it's the first time in a long time he's enjoyed this kind of warmth. "Jacob, I swear I'll never hurt her. Not her career, not anything."

"I know, Jack. I'm sorry you're hurting."

"She's hurting too."

"I know. But she won't want to hear about this from me."

"No, she won't," Jack agrees. He releases Jacob and steps back to meet his eyes. "Thanks for the hug, Dad," he says, grinning that obnoxious if you don't know he's worth it grin that used to make Jacob want to slap him.

Jacob sighs through a smile he can't hide. "Whatever you need, Jack."