AN: Before and After Death Knell. Jacob is so cranky at the beginning of Death Knell, and this episode pops up right after we meet Pete. This grumpy scene is the foundation of my belief that Jacob has just been waiting for it to happen for years.

"Hi honey, it's great to see you again so soon," Jacob said, pulling Sam into his arms after stepping through the Gate to the new Alpha Site.

"Hey dad, you too," she answered dropping a kiss on his cheek.

"I can't wait to see how it's going with the prototype. We could use some good news."

"Good, it's going really well. Come on, I'll give you the specs." Sam headed toward the lab, and Jacob fell into step with her. Telchak's device had been critical in the development of the prototype that they all hoped would stop Anubis's drone army. So far, so good, but it needed some finishing touches.

"What else have you been up to?" Jacob asked as they walked together.

"Uhh, actually... I sort of... I started seeing someone." Sam was hesitant in her answer, and Jacob thought he could probably guess why.

"What?" Jacob answered with a smile. He was thrilled that she was letting him in on the secret, but he could tell she was going to need a little coaxing. He was also a little surprised that Jack wasn't with her for this announcement. After talking with him on his last visit, he knew that Sam was on her way to leading her own team, if not a promotion. So, things could be changing for them.

"Yeah, it's really new, but it's... I think he's a good guy. And funny, so that's a plus."

"No kidding? Funny, you say?" Jacob asked conspiratorially checking his surroundings. "Just so I don't give anything away, what's the plan here?"

"Uh, no plan. It's not really serious."

"Not serious?" Jacob really didn't want to have the 'what are your intentions with my daughter' talk with Jack, and he also never thought he would have to.

"I mean, we just met," she explained. Jacob stopped walking beside her, and Sam turned to check on him. He looked confused. "Dad?"

"You just met?" Easy Jacob, Selmak reminded him when his tone became clipped.

"Yeah, he's a friend of Mark's. He introduced us."

"Mark's. I see." Actually, he didn't see. How could he not have seen this coming? Maybe he had been a little too focused on the mission when he had been with her lately, and missed something between her and Jack. Whatever he had missed, he didn't like it.

"Dad?" Her dad had never been short on opinions, so Sam found his silence was a little worrisome.

"Never mind, sorry. Let's..." Jacob gestured toward the lab and they fell into step again. "What's his name?"

"Pete," Sam answered. Pete? What kind of a name was—okay, so it was a perfectly normal name. Jacob was loathe to give this guy any grace, but Sam, at least, deserved it.

"And he's funny and a good person?" A father deserved to ask some questions after all.

"Yeah, he is," Sam was blushing a little now. She had never quite known how to talk to her dad about these sorts of things.

"How long have you been seeing him?"

"Just a few weeks really. He lives in Denver, so it'll be tough to coordinate schedules, but I think I'd like to at least see where it goes."

"So it's not serious," he confirmed. Sam thought he sounded oddly relieved in that statement.

"Not at the moment, no."

"Good. There's no need to rush these things. You're still young, you know." He wasn't trying to meddle, but he had a bad feeling about this.

"And Mark already gave you the grandkids?" she teased.

"That's not what I meant. I just mean, there's no need to rush something. Take your time. Make sure it's right."

"I will. Thanks, Dad." Sam opened the lab door and held it open for her dad. Stepping inside, he looked around and then back at her.

"Where's Jack?" He wanted to know.

"Are you kidding? He'd be bored out of his mind here," Sam answered with a flourish toward all of the breakables that he would needlessly and recklessly fondle if he had come with her.

"That's a shame. He's really grown on me."

"I know, I'm beginning to think you like him more than you like me."

"Now, that's absurd. He's a good man though."

"He does have his moments," she smiled.

"But she's been awake?" Sam heard General Hammond nearby.

"Yes, Sir. Jacob talked to her before he left." And she heard Colonel O'Neill. Turning her face toward the voices, she opened her eyes slowly against the aggressive infirmary lights. They stood beside the bed, side by side, but the lights behind them darkened their faces.

"Hi," she croaked out of her dry unused throat.

"There's the Carter we all know and..." an enthusiastic Colonel O'Neill announced to the room before clearing his throat and clasping his hands uncertainly, "Well... know."

"Good to see you've rejoined us, Major," General Hammond added, ignoring the Colonel's gaffe.

"Thank you, Sir. Happy to be back," she replied, her voice gaining some strength. The General's friendly blue eyes smiled down at her with a nod before turning to Colonel O'Neill.

"Colonel, please stop by my office, before you leave tonight. We're going to have some visitors on base that I'd like to discuss with you."

"Yes, Sir," Jack answered as the General turned to leave. Turning his eyes back to the bed beside him, he scanned her one more time for soundness. He was getting kind of tired of visiting her in the infirmary. "How ya feelin'?"

"Good. I'm fine," she answered and got a skeptical eyebrow in return from Colonel O'Neill. "Okay, I'm better. It's down to a dull throbbing now."

"That sounds closer to the truth. You scared the hell out of us, Carter. I'm going to have to order you to not do that again."

"Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir." The corner of Jack's mouth tipped up as he appreciated hearing her excessive use of his honorific. There was nothing like thinking you might never hear something again to make you appreciate it. There had been times in the past that he resented it like when they had been mind stamped and were regaining their own memories, but not this time. She could call him 'Sir' for the rest of his life, as long as she managed to keep her ass alive to do it. "Is there water?"

"Yeah, here," he answered handing her a cup, and waiting for her to take a sip. "Gonna sleep some more?"

"Yeah. Not yet though. Stay for a minute?"

"Sure," he answered. He stepped away toward the door, looking up and down the corridor before turning off the overhead lights. He clicked on the lamp behind her bed and pulled up a stool.

"Thanks," she offered.

"You're welcome. Much more flattering. Makes your scabs look smaller." Sam giggled, and then groaned as the skin pulled too tightly.

"Don't make me laugh," she begged. Colonel O'Neill raised his hands for forgiveness.

"Sorry."

"Dad said he was leaving for a while," she observed.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I tried telling everyone they needed to just get along, but it didn't work."

"How bad is it? He wouldn't tell me anything."

"Not good. But if anybody can pull it off, he can."

"I think I took him for granted," Sam pondered. It wasn't the first time that she had realized that she needed to be better at prioritizing her relationships, but the lesson seemed hard with everything that was constantly pulling her attention away. She didn't want to take anyone or anything for granted.

"Nah, you've had a lot on your plate. I'm sure he understands."

"Maybe," Sam answered, remembering how cranky her dad had been the morning of the attack. He hadn't seemed like himself on this visit. Something was going on with him even before the bad news about the alliance came. "I just got used to having family around now and then. It'll be lonely without him."

"If you had told me six years ago when I first met your dad that we would be having this conversation, I wouldn't have believed you." That earned him a weak smile from her.

"I see your point."

"I have a point?"

"Be grateful for what I have instead of grieving for what I lost," Sam concluded.

"I think you can do both," Jack contended with raised brows.

"Hey," she began, pinning him with a quiet stare.

"Hmm?"

"Thanks. I seem to be saying that to you a lot lately."

"Yes, and I really don't know why. It's just what we do, right?"

"Yes, Sir. It's just what we do." Ever since she had known him, this was just what they did. Sam had trouble imagining a life where this wasn't what they did. A life where he wasn't around to watch her six when she got in too deep, and where she wasn't around to talk him out of his ridiculous propensity toward self-sacrifice.

"And you'd do it for me, even if I told you not to. You have, in fact, if I recall. Sometimes taking something for granted is just knowing you can count on it. That seems like a good thing to me."

"Yeah, it does." Sam had counted on him for years. And she was beginning to trust that she could count on him in other ways too. He was still here, talking to her about her family problem even though she was seeing someone else. He shouldn't mind, she reminded herself, if he didn't care, but she just didn't buy it. It didn't feel true, and he was the one who had taught her to trust her gut.