Samantha Carter was waiting anxiously for the incoming traveler. She had felt so alone since returning from the rescue on Edora. Sure, all here friends were here now, but she still felt isolated. But soon she wouldn't feel so alone. The visitor would make her feel better. He always did.
She watched as two figures emerged from the gate. "Hi Dad, " she said while giving him a hug. "Hi Martouf."
"Hello Samantha."
"Welcome," General Hammond said to the two new arrivals as he entered the gate room. There wasn't much time for socializing. "Jacob, we are still analyzing the data we received from the Tok'ra, but it doesn't look good."
"We were afraid of that." Replied Martouf. "How much longer?"
"Probably another hour until the report is complete. Major," the general said to Sam, "the debriefing will begin at 1100 hours."
"Yes sir."
"Is there anything I can help with?" Martouf asked the general. Hammond nodded and led the Tok'ra out of the gate room.
* * * * * *
"So how have you been?" Jacob asked his daughter while they sat in the cafeteria. "Anything interesting happen since I last saw you?" Jacob had to laugh at his own question. Of course interesting things have happened. This is Stargate Command. "I mean anything unusual…um, I mean more unusual than…um…usual?"
Sam smiled at her father. Only he could take a mundane, small-talk sort of question and make it amusing. She thought about it and replied, "No, not really."
Jacob could always tell when his daughter was lying. "Then why don't I believe you?"
"Oh, I was just thinking about some lab work I had done. I built a particle accelerator."
Her father was taken aback. "Wow, I'm impressed. How long did that take you?"
"About three months."
"That isn't a whole lot of time for something like that…"
"Well, I kinda worked on it day and night. That's why nothing very interesting has happened for me lately."
"Day and night? I guess you didn't go on any missions for all that time. Wasn't Colonel O'Neill a little irritated with you for that?" He obviously didn't know about O'Neill's absence.
She thought for a moment. She really didn't want to lie to her father, since he could always tell, but she didn't want to tell him the truth either…it would just lead to more questions. And she really didn't feel like answering those questions right now. "Ah, he didn't say anything about it." That'll work. No lie, and her father seemed satisfied. She was so relieved, but a bit premature on her 'victory.' Jacob bowed his head and Sam watched as Selmac began speaking. "Would you like to tell me what is *really* bothering you?"
Sam looked in disbelief. "What do you mean?"
Selmac shook her head with a smile. "Don't even try denying it, young Samantha. This is Selmac, not your father. You may have been able to fool him, but he is a man. I may not be a human, but I still have…what do you call it…woman's intuition."
Sam sagged a little. She really didn't want to get into it. But maybe she should. Keeping all the hurt she felt all bottled up wasn't good either. The past few weeks had been rough, to say the least. She had had three months to imagine seeing the colonel's face a light up when they came to rescue him. She had tried to picture him looking proud at her, knowing that she made the impossible possible, and all for him. Three months of that, only to be let down in the end.
"I'm sorry Sam," her father was now speaking again, "I didn't realize something was bothering you."
"It's OK, dad. I was trying to hide it from you." She took a deep breath and began, "There have been some unusual things that have happened…"
* * * * * *
The briefing room was full. Five SG teams, two Tok'ra, and one general were all packed in there. "SG-1 will go to P4J-117." began Hammond. "Once there, Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter will proceed to the coordinates supplied by the information the Tok'ra provided us. Teal'c you and Doctor Jackson will set up base camp near the gate and monitor their progress. Once they return to base camp, you will send conformation to SGC and SGs 3, 4, 7, and 10 will then go through and rendezvous with SG-1. The rest of the mission should be able to be completed within three hours. SG-1 will leave at 0600 tomorrow. Dismissed."
As the different SG teams filed out of the room, General Hammond looked up to find Jacob Carter still sitting there. He hadn't noticed the stern look on his face before, nor the piercing looks the former general had been shooting at Jack. "Is there something else, Jake?"
Jake stood up and walked toward Hammond. "Yes." He paused a moment to gather his thoughts. "I know I'm not in charge here or have any authority, but I would like to ask you, as a friend, to replace Sam with someone else on tomorrow's mission."
"Jake, I realize that it is a dangerous mission, but your daughter is a well trained…"
"It's not that, not that at all. I don't doubt that she can handle the mission and do a fine job. Keep her on the mission if you think it best, but then I'd like to ask you to replace O'Neill." Jacob was looking very serious at the moment.
Confused, Hammond asked "What's this all about, Jake? Colonel O'Neill and your daughter have always worked well together. What's bothering you?"
"I do not trust O'Neill with my daughter." Jacob said flatly.
"What?!?" the general was getting a little concerned. Why would Jacob Carter all of a sudden doubt Jack?
Sensing Hammond's skepticism, he continued, "I am not comfortable relying on him with regards to Sam, especially on a dangerous mission as this."
"Jacob, I need more of a reason than just a father's feelings."
"George, please. I feel strongly about this. So strongly in fact that if you insist on continuing the mission as is, I will be hesitant about the Tok'ra and the Tau'ri working together in the future. I'm sorry, but that's how it is."
General Hammond was shocked. He never thought his friend would let personal feelings influence his decision making, even when it came to his daughter. But then again, since he had, it was obvious that something noteworthy had happened.
Jacob continued, "I know that what I am asking is out of the ordinary, and I wouldn't want to jeopardize the mission, but it's not like you can't find someone to replace Sam. I mean Teal'c could, couldn't he?"
This was true. This mission didn't require any theoretical astrophysics. After giving the situation some thought, the general made his decision. "I'll change the assignment, Jacob, on one condition. I'd like to know why, exactly, you are asking this. If something has happened within my best SG team, something that should be brought to my attention, then I must insist that you tell me. Otherwise, the assignments will stand as is."
Jacob agreed, but sighed to himself. It wasn't like Sam had shared a whole lot of details. She mostly just cried in her father's arms. And she hadn't asked him to say anything to the general. In fact, if she had thought about it, she would have asked him, no *told* him, NOT to say anything to him. But Jacob wasn't asking this for her, he was doing this for himself. He truly had lost faith in Colonel O'Neill. How could that man have hurt his daughter. Jacob, and Selmac too, had even been under the impression that Colonel O'Neill cared deeply for Sam (more than a CO should) and she for him. Maybe they had acted on it and things hadn't worked out. It was killing him not knowing exactly what had happened between the colonel and his daughter. He looked up to see the general waiting for him. He took a deep breath, "O'Neill hurt my little girl…"
* * * * * *
"Come in." General Hammond responded to the knock on his door.
"You wanted to see me, sir."
"Yes, son, sit down."
Hammond watched Jack O'Neill come in and sit down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. He had been dreading this since Jacob first spoke to him. Jacob hadn't been able to give him many details about what had transpired between his two officers. Hammond wasn't sure what to expect from Jack, except the truth. He just wasn't sure how bad the truth would be.
"Sir?" Jack asked. The general had just been staring at him silently for a bit, lost in thought, making Jack wonder what he had done.
"Yes, uh… Colonel O'Neill, first I'd like to inform you of a slight change in assignments for tomorrow. Teal'c will be accompanying you and Major Carter will work with Doctor Jackson."
"Um, OK." This couldn't be good. Changing assignments less than twenty-four hours before a mission began. Something major had to have happened to make this happen. "Is there a problem?"
The general all but ignored his second in command's question, but asked one of his own instead. "Colonel, I need to ask you something, and I expect only the absolute truth. Have you done something to, or with, Major Carter?"
"What?!?"
"Have you done something…inappropriate…to or with your second in command?"
Jack was now standing…pacing actually. "How could you ask such a thing. *Why* would you ask…"
"Colonel, I asked you a yes or no question and as of yet, you have avoided answering. So let me ask you one last time. Have you done anything…"
"NO! Absolutely not." Jack yelled a little louder than he had meant, but he was beginning to get a little agitated. He knew Carter had been rather distant since he got back from Edora. He just thought that she was still exhausted from her three month marathon lab experiment, which, thankfully for him, had been a complete success. But now he was beginning to worry that she was mad at him for Laira. He never told Sam any details, but she could have found out. But even if she had, why would she be mad at that? It's not like she found him attractive or anything, right? And why would she make up stories to the general? She wasn't that kind of person. "What made you think…"
"Jacob asked me to reassign her role on tomorrow's mission, which I have." Jack looked at the general confused and in disbelief. "Jacob said he didn't trust you and he didn't think you had her best interest at heart, since you were responsible for hurting her. Sam didn't ask for this. Jacob did and I agreed, to ease an old friend's mind."
Jack felt like he had just been kicked in the gut. Not only had he somehow hurt Carter (which he had no idea what he had done), but whatever it was, it was bad enough that she had needed to confide in her father, who in turn thought it bad enough to involve the general. And to top it off, Sam hadn't even so much as hinted at her unease to him. She was so good at being a soldier.
"Dismissed, colonel. Oh, and Jack, I don't know what you did exactly, but whatever it was, I recommend that you fix it. I won't have my best team distracted."
Jack lowered his head in shame. "Yes sir." he said, then silently left the general's office.
Jack immediately went to his quarters. He needed some time to think. What had he done? He reran every single moment of his life since he had come back from Edora, trying desperately to think of what he could have done. Dammit. Why couldn't he figure this out. OK, the general said she was hurt, not angry. So he hadn't been mean, just careless, insensitive, uncompassionate. Oh yeah, that narrows it down. What could it have been? Stumped, he decided to go find his major and straighten this out.
* * * * * *
Since he hadn't found her in her lab, he decided to try her quarters. He knocked on her door and then suddenly became aware of the knot forming in his gut. And it felt like his heart was pounding so hard that he was afraid it would explode from his chest.
Slowly the door open and Jack found himself staring into the most beautiful blue eyes in the universe. "I guess you heard the general decided to send Teal'c with you tomorrow."
"Uh, yeah." Jack stood there in silence for a moment, fidgeting. "Um…can I come in?"
Sam opened the door wider allowing Jack to enter her quarters. "What's wrong sir?"
He question made Jack stopped pacing her floor (when had he started?). He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to gain some composure. He open his eyes and looked at Sam. "Carter…I'm sorry."
"For what?" she asked. She was beginning to worry that perhaps her father had had a talk with her CO.
Jack stared at her for a moment and then turned away, ashamed. "I don't know." Since she didn't say anything to that, he turned back to her and saw the pain on her face. 'Damn, I've hurt her again.' he scolded himself. He felt his reality crashing around him. How is it he could hurt the woman he cared about so much. Why couldn't he figure out what he had done originally to hurt her?
He couldn't stand it anymore. She looked like she was trembling. He stepped towards her to give her a hug. To his surprise, she didn't pull away. He continued, "Carter…Sam. I'm sorry for hurting you and I'm even more sorry for being too stupid to figure out what I did that caused it. Please tell me what I did so that I never, *ever* do it again. Please."
She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. Jack's actually heard his own heart break at that moment. "It's nothing, sir."
"No. Don't do that. Don't shut me out."
"It's stupid."
"If it's hurting you, then it is not stupid. Please Sam, tell me."
She stood there not answering him. Finally she sighed and looked down at the floor. She spoke only barely above a whisper, "You seemed mad that you had been rescued."
What? Where did that come from? He had been overwhelmed that he had been rescued. He didn't think he ever would be going home. He…
"Oh…Sam…Look, I know I didn't do cartwheels or anything when you guys got me home, but I was in shock. I was still riding a roller-coaster, so to speak. That three month long roller-coaster. I had just started accepting the fact that I would not see home ever again, that I wouldn't see my friends, that I wouldn't see you." Jack was surprised at that last part. Not so much that he felt that way, but that he had actually said it aloud…to her. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't thank you." He started gently rubbing her back and rocking her in his arms.
"It's OK sir."
"No it isn't."
"Yes, sir, it is. It had been bothering me a lot, but only because I had bottled it up. Once I let it out a little, I felt much better. I think my dad kinda blew it out of proportion. He didn't really know what was bothering me exactly, just that something was. I'm sorry for all this. I didn't ask him to go to the general…"
"I know. Don't worry about it. I'm not too worried about Hammond. Your father on the other hand…" He laughed a little and so did she. He continued to hold her tight for a while longer.
"My mind is telling me to leave, but my legs don't seem to be getting the message."
"You could stay a little longer."
He shook his head. "As much as I'd love to, we both have an important mission tomorrow."
She smiled widely at her CO, "So are you saying you'll stay tomorrow, since we don't have an important mission then?"
Returning her mischievous smile, Jack replied, "Uh…I can't think of reason why not, you know, besides the rules and regulations thing." She frowned. "But you know me. I'm not real big on those." He kissed her on her forehead and went to leave. "Goodnight Sam."
"Goodnight Jack, welcome home."
End
Bottled Up by Deb
Story Notes: Email: dvp@flash.net
Status: complete
Season/Sequel Info: after 100 Days
Archive: SJA, Heliopolis OK
Feedback: Sure
Status: complete
Season/Sequel Info: after 100 Days
Archive: SJA, Heliopolis OK
Feedback: Sure
End Notes: deb dvp@flash.net
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]