Martouf stepped back through the gate after Apophis's body, looking back for one final smile at Sam. She smiled back, sadly.
"Well, thank god snakehead's gone." Jack said, flippantly.
Sam looked up at him. "Sir?"
"Snakehead. Martouf. And his little worm friend."
Sam stared at Jack. As far as she knew, Martouf had never done anything to Jack to warrant this hostility. He hadn't had time to. The Colonel had violently disliked Martouf from their first meeting, and it was beginning to get on her nerves.
"You don't like Martouf, do you Sir?" she managed to say calmly.
"Well, since you ask, no. He irritates the hell out of me."
"Have you ever thought, Sir." she snapped, "that maybe you irritate the hell out of him too, he just doesn't let everyone within a five mile radius know about it!"
And with that she stalked out, leaving a very confused Daniel and a very annoyed Jack behind her.
*****
It was 3am. Jack was lounging in the control room, the one place where no-one would think to look for him. Not that anyone would think to look for him. The only other person there was Graham Simmons. Graham was silent, which suited Jack just fine. He was in no mood for conversation. Not that he had anything against Graham. He liked Graham. Sure, he worshipped Sam, but from afar. And that was the way Sam should be worshipped, from afar, very very afar. Not all up close and personal like that slimy, no-good, son of a...
Jack just managed to rein in his rage before he yelled something. Why should he care who worshipped Sam? Why should he care about Martouf getting close to Sam?
Because he didn't like Martouf, that's why. Sure the guy was heroic, and sensitive, and clever, and he'd heard him described as good looking. ('Those gorgeous eyes! And that smile' was the phrase he'd heard one woman use.)
What was so important about that? When was the last time he'd made Sam giggle? Did Sam trust him as completely as she did Jack? Then again, Jack thought despondently, when was the last time Sam had sat in the desert with him, holding hands? Never. And the real reason he didn't like Martouf was because Sam liked him so much.
The klaxons blared out, and Jack got up suddenly. "Simmons?" he asked.
"It's a Tokra signal Sir. The one we gave them today."
"Open the iris, switch off the sirens, and call off the defence team." Jack said, as he left the control room.
Graham obeyed.
Jack was right. It was Martouf. And he was alone.
"Back for another dead god to take back for a bit of torture before bedtime?" Jack asked.
"Back to talk." Martouf replied seriously.
"Samantha," Jack said, emphasising the name, "is asleep right now."
"It is of Samantha I wish to speak." Martouf continued. "To you."
Jack sat down on the bottom step. Martouf sat down elegantly beside him. Graham watched from the control booth. They made such an odd couple. The battered, aging, emotionally damaged, cynical soldier, and the young, good-looking, open, sensitve Gou'ald. Graham reached for the intercom, and switched it on so he could hear what was going on. If Colonel O'Neill was going to start pounding Martouf, Graham wanted to be ready.
"You do not like me." Martouf said.
"You work that out all by yourself?"
"You do not like me because you believe Samantha is in love with me."
"Now hold on!" Jack yelled. "For a start, within this base she is Captain Carter! What's more, her love life is her own business. I don't like you because I think you are slimy and manipulative."
"She is Captain Carter only to you. She is Samantha to me. And I do not like you. I find you to be a scruffy, hostile boor, who believes violence is the only solution to everything. You would like to use violence against me right now, would you not?"
Jack made a move toward him, but stopped.
"But you won't." Martouf continued gently. "Because if you did, it would upset Samantha, and I believe you would do anything to save her distress."
Jack sat down. "You're right, I would." he said quietly. "And you distress her. You bring back memories of Jollinar. Jollinar put her through hell. I don't want her remembering that."
"She wishes to remember. The knowledge could be useful to you."
"To hell with me! Remembering Jollinar hurts her, and I won't have her hurt."
Martouf stared at him, in amazement. He looked at the anger in Jack's eyes, not for himself, but for the damage he thought Martouf was doing to Sam. He saw the hopelessness written in every line of Jack's posture, sitting there on the step, slouched over, his head hanging. And then he understood. "I see." Martouf said slowly. "Forgive me, I was blind."
"See what?" Jack asked.
"She is so much more to you than your second in command."
"She's my friend, if that's what you mean."
"I mean more." he said softly.
"Well, don't." Jack snapped. "I don't think of her that way. She's my friend. Nothing more. Anything else is forbidden by regulations."
Martouf smiled, but said nothing. "May I tell you of Jollinar and I?" he asked. "It may help you to understand why I am drawn to Samantha... and she to me."
Jack's face darkened, but he said nothing.
"We were very much in love. Those words... they sound inadequate. Something anyone could say. We were more than than that. We were everything to each other. Where one was, the other automatically went. We were always aware of each other. In a crowded room, I could see only her. In a group of a hundred, we would go only to each other, watch only the other. She was more than my life. My own life was so worthless, it seemed inadequate to offer it to her. But I eventually got up my courage, and offered her all I had, and she took it, and gave me so much." He sighed. "I cannot help but feel that what I say is not enough, that you do not understand." Martouf said, looking at Jack.
Jack's face was in shadow, Martouf couldn't see his expression, but he heard Jack murmur, "I understand."
Martouf continued. "When she died, I was devastated. It was as if someone had ripped me apart, but left me alive. The pain was immense. We'd been so much to each other for so long, that I couldn't live without her. I wanted to die. The only thing stopping me was my larvae. Then I met Samantha."
Jack stiffened a little at the sound of her name, but said nothing.
"She looks a little like Jollinar did when we fell in love, did you know? And I could feel Jollinar inside her. Just a trace, but it was enough. I hungered for that, I thirsted for it, and I thought, in Samantha, I could replace Jollinar. And the trace of Jollinar in Sam responded to me."
Jack looked up, shock and hurt written clear across his face.
"Let me finish." Martouf said quickly. "I soon came to realise that Samantha was NOT Jollinar, that although beautiful and intelligent and courageous, she was not who I fell in love with. Instead of trying to reach Jollinar, I got to know Samantha. I liked her. I care for her. She is lovely, and bright. She brings light and joy to the darkest hour, and she is a worthy cause to fight for. But you know that, don't you? I think you fight as much for the youth and hope within her, as for the good of your planet."
Jack said, "Finish the story." in a harsh grating voice.
Martouf smiled. "I admit, I could easily have fallen in love with her. Perhaps I did a little. But it would not have been the love I had with Jollinar. Another is destined to find that for her. It is not I who makes her glow. It is not I she works so hard for. It is not I who inspires her to push her intellect to achieve the impossible. I am not the one she turns to share her joy in discovery. She does not place her life blindly, trustingly, in my hands. I cannot make her laugh, or bring joy to her life, and one day, she would walk away from me. It is you."
Jack looked up. "You're mistaken." he said sharply.
"Jacob was said you were an emotionally retarded fool who couldn't see what was right in front of you if it was covered in fluorescent green paint and jumped up and down yelling 'I'm here!'. I'm not sure I understand all of that, but I get the gist of it."
Jack smiled in spite of himself. "Tell Dad thanks, he's a poet."
"Dad?"
Jack looked up sharply, as if caught in something he shouldn't have said. "Habit I picked up off Sam." he explained. "Martouf, I..."
"You love Sam. That's all there is."
"Regulations..."
"Jacob also said 'screw the regulations'."
"Oh for crying out loud, didn't anyone ever tell him that he's supposed to keep men like me AWAY from his daughter!" Jack yelled, standing up.
Martouf smiled, and signalled to Graham to open the gate. "Tell her." he said.
"I can't." Jack replied seriously. "I... I just can't."
"You will." Martouf said, as he went up the ramp.
"You know, I still don't like you!" Jack called, as he went through the wormhole.
"And I still don't like you!" Martouf replied with a smile.
Jack stood in the gateroom for a long time, staring at the empty gate. Eventually, he turned away, saying, "She prefers Sam, not Samantha, snakehead."
The End
Story Notes: FEEDBACK; MBIRKY@HOTMAIL.COM
RATING; PG
CATEGORY; SAM AND JACK ROMANCE
SPOILERS; SERPENTS SONG
SUMMARY; JACK AND MARTOUF FINALLY HAVE THEIR SHOWDOWN
ARCHIVE; SAM AND JACK, HELIOPOLIS PLEASE.
RATING; PG
CATEGORY; SAM AND JACK ROMANCE
SPOILERS; SERPENTS SONG
SUMMARY; JACK AND MARTOUF FINALLY HAVE THEIR SHOWDOWN
ARCHIVE; SAM AND JACK, HELIOPOLIS PLEASE.
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 ]