The Fallout by Jessie

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Story Notes: Just Your Presence 02: Spoilers: Window of Opportunity, slight: Fragile Balance, Broca Divide, Point of View, 100 Days,

Season: 7th (see Authors Note)

Sequel/Series: This is part two in my Just Your Presence series. This doesn't really have a cliffhanger ending, just some loose ends that need to be taken care of throughout the series.

Feedback: An absolute must!!

Warnings: None

Authors Note: Okay, first things first: This series started from my 2003 Christmas challenge response. I had a lot of requests for a sequel, and it somehow turned into a series. I'm currently working on part three, and I hope to have it finished and shipped out within a month or so. Hey, I'm busy! :-) The first story was, like I said, at Christmas time, so this universe started before Grace and all the following episodes aired. Events of Grace, Chimera, Heroes, and LC1&2 are being ignored for the purposes of this series. This particular story picks up directly where JYP1 left off, so I recomend reading that first. I'm re-posting JYP1 here on samandjack, and I hope that you enjoy it.

I always appreciate idea's for future stories, and love feedback more than anything in the world(except Stargate).

I doubt that I can fully be able to thank my marvelous beta-ing team of Lori, Becky, and Cyn. Their idea's and perspectives really helped to not only shape this fic, but the direction in which I'll take the series. Thanks, Becky, for pushing me to see a whole other side to this that I hadn't before, and you can bet that I'll be taking that into account in future installments. :-) I hope to have your skills with me as I continue with this series. Lori, I so very much appreciate your encouragement and chats! It's so much fun to have an SG question or comment and know that I can dash off a note to ya. Your beta-ing skills are great, and I'm glad that we finally found a format I can read! :-) Cyn, Your style of reviewing has helped me *so* much! Reading through your comments has helped me to grow as a writer, and I am so thankful that you were willing to take your time to write those long letters! They've definitely helped to improve this story.

Without these fabulous folks, the following story, and series, would not be nearly as well developed as it is. I was pretty stubborn about changing things in this story(Sorry about that Becky), but hopefully in future chapters, their influence will shine through much better. Thank guys.

Copyright Jessica Rodgers May 2004

Enjoy!

"So, why is everyone so quiet?" At Jacob's words the frozen group came alive, shrugging slightly and continuing in their conversations.

"Merry Christmas, Jacob." General Hammond walked over to greet his friend with a firm handshake. "Glad you could make it."

"Me too." He looked to his daughter standing next to him and slung his arm around her. "I've missed way to many Christmas's already. Oh, but hey," the Tok'ra went back to the door where Jack still stood, unmoving. With an amused glance at the Colonel, Jacob reached out onto the porch and grabbed a bag, bulging with packages.

"Presents!" An exuberant Cassie exclaimed. "Not that any could compare to Jack's!"

The room again fell silent, and Jacob cocked his head in confusion. Looking past Sam's dad, Cassandra could see Jack with a horrified expression on his face motioning desperately for her to keep quiet.

"Jack's gift?" Jacob questioned.

"Uh, yeah." The teenager thought quickly. "Yeah, he got season two box set of the Simpson's! What could compare to that?"

The occupants of O'Neill's living room breathed a collective sigh of relief as Jacob turned to Jack.

"Jack, what have you done?" he said with mock horror. "You've created a mini-you."

Jack walked hesitantly toward the living room. "Actually, I already have one of those." Sam hid a grin at the reference to his clone, a?la the Asgard. Jack brushed passed her gently, discreetly tugging on her ring finger. Nodding slightly in acknowledgment, the Major twisted off her ring, careful to hide her actions from her father who was now in conversation with Hammond.

Watching her fiancée head into the kitchen, Sam slipped out from her fathers arm. "Excuse me, Dad."

She followed him in, ignoring the knowing smirk on Janet?s face. "Hi." She came up behind him.

"Hi."

They stood there for a moment, facing each other uncomfortably, when Sam pulled the ring out of her pocket.

"I took this off for the moment, just so that I could tell Dad without him seeing it first, but after he knows, I don't want to ever have to take it off again."

"Yeah." He opened his arms tentatively, and she went into them happily. She reached up and pulled his head down to hers kissing him firmly. He raised his eyebrows as they kissed, surprised by the rush of emotions he felt.

Breaking apart, she rested her head against his chest, Jack leaning on the kitchen counter.

"Ya know," she giggled suddenly, "back there in the living room, I didn't even realize it, but we had our first real kiss. Excluding alien viruses or alternate realities."

"Uh..." When he didn't agree she pulled back a bit to look at him.

"I think I would have remembered if we kissed before."

"I don't think you would have."

He winced slightly as she raised her eyebrows.

"Why not?"

"Because it was during the time loop." He spoke in a rush, afraid of her reaction. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. Really.

She started to chuckle. "I kind of figured you had done something like that."

"Huh?"

"Come on, Sir, after the loop was broken you kept looking at me like the cat who got the cream."

"I did."

He watched as a smile spread across her face.

"You're beautiful." He told her, awe evident in his voice.

She blushed, ducking her head, unsure of how to answer, and unaccustomed to hearing such things said by her commanding officer.

They heard footsteps approaching, and quickly broke apart.

"Come on." Jack grabbed her hand and led her swiftly out the back door. She muffled a giggle as she pressed up against the side of the house.

"Sam?" She heard her dad call. Sam almost felt guilty for hiding from her dad. Almost. Feeling her hand being tugged on, she looked at her partner in crime who was standing next to her, also flattened against the wall.

"Follow me." He whispered. They crept around to the back porch where the ladder was.

"Up here."

"Okay." She whispered, grinning, as she started up the ladder.

Once up she stood admiring the stars in the night sky. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned backward into the embrace, giggling when he buried his face in the crook of her neck and kissed it.

"No giggling." He whispered, voice husky. She turned around in his arms feeling a shiver run through her at the intensity with which he was looking at her. He leaned forward and captured her lips, his earlier gentleness gone. She responded to the bruising kiss and pulled him closer to her.

"I love you." He whispered hoarsely, in-between kisses. "I love you," - kiss- "I love you," -kiss- "I love you."

"I love you too, Jack."

He pulled back, a pleased look on his face.

"What'd you say?" She smiled knowingly.

"I said 'Jack'. That I love you *Jack*."

"Yeah. Samantha." He drawled her name, grinning as she punched him lightly on the arm.

He sat down on the chair next to the telescope and pulled her down so she was sitting on his lap.

"Pretty amazing, isn't it?" She said, looking out into the stars.

"Yeah."

"So." She twisted around in his arms to look at him. "What happened in the time loop?"

"I kissed you."

"I know *that* part. What else happened?"

"I learned to speak some alien language. It was rather fun to be able to correct Daniel in his translations. During one of the loops he mentioned that we could do anything we wanted without consequences, so Teal'c and I had a little fun."

"Oh? Did he kiss me too?" She teased.

"No." He tightened his hold on her. "That was just me. He did some crazy things though. We golfed through the Stargate."

"You *what*?" She looked at him in shock. "You *golfed* through the stargate?!"

"Yeah. Made a new record. I learned pottery." He ignored her raised eyebrows and continued.

"Rode my bike through the corridors." She laughed at the image.

"Poor Teal'c, every time the loop started, he was rammed in the head with a door, so he had some revenge."

"Uh oh."

"Yeah. We did some other stuff, you know, dressed up like superheroes, played with your doohickeys."

"Hey!"

"Broke'em too." He cut off her protests with a quick kiss. "And then I did that."

"Oh? And I just let you?"

"I resigned, and did this-" He stole another kiss. "- right in front of General Hammond and everyone. I didn't see, but his expression must have been a doozy."

"The General saw us?"

He nodded. "So did everyone in the control room."

She sat, speechless for a moment, before hesitantly asking another question.

"Did we do anything else?"

"No." He quietly assured her.

She nodded. "Thank you."

Sam turned so that she was leaning against his chest, the couple gazing out into the stars.

"This is nice." His breath tickled her ear as he spoke.

"Yeah." She sighed as his lips discovered the soft skin under her ear.

"So." He stopped nibbling on her neck. "Is there a plan as to how to tell your dad?"

"Tell me what, Jack?" General Carters voice was cold, each word measured. Jack berated himself for not being more aware of his surroundings, more aware of the Tok'ra man climbing the ladder to now stand behind them. He was, however, very aware of the barely constrained anger emanating from the father of the woman in his arms.

"How about starting with why you're holding my daughter on your lap?"

Jack started to release the Major, but Sam held his arms still. This hadn't been exactly how she had wanted to tell her dad, but she sure wasn't going to cower to him and get away from the Colonel. She and Jack would present a united front, and *pray* that they survived the experience. She stood up, dragging her fiancée with her, holding his arms firmly in place around her.

"Hi dad."

He glared at her, and had fury in his eyes as he turned his gaze to the man behind her.

"Don't you 'Hi Dad' me, Samantha Carter. Just what do you think you're doing?!"

Sam wisely remained silent as he continued.

"I had heard rumors about the two of you, but I always dismissed them. I knew that any daughter of mine was smart enough to stay away from the likes of Jack O'Neill."

It stung. Jack had expected to hear those words, or some like it come out of Jacob's mouth, but it still stung. It wasn't as if Jacob Carter was wrong in his assessment, in fact, he was disturbingly correct. Perhaps he was being selfish to ask Sam to tie herself to him, perhaps he was crazy to ask a beautiful, young, smart woman like the Major to even consider him at all. But she had said yes. And he loved her. Of course, he had loved her for a long time. He had always managed to keep his feelings at bay as to not interfere with their friendship, and with their team. But he was tired of waiting for someday, and had risked everything on the hope that she would have him, old and grey as he was. And she had said yes. But maybe he had put to much pressure on her, proposing to her in front of everyone like he had done. Maybe the speech her father was giving her would change her mind, and she would realize that she didn't love him after all. He'd let her go, he loved her enough to do that. But it wouldn't be easy.

Sam Carter was easily beyond anger. If Daniel were there, he, linguist that he was, might have been able to come up with some satisfactory adjectives, but for the moment, she was too furious to concentrate on anything except the object of her anger. How dare he! How dare her father treat her as if she was a teenager caught necking with the neighborhood delinquent. So the man she loved had a dark history; after all that they'd been through in the past seven years, it could be said that she had a dark history, too. It was true, when she had first met him, she had found him sarcastic, chauvinistic, and a crusty old officer, and it had taken a while to see beyond that, but when she did, she discovered just how wrong her initial opinion had been. Okay, he *was* sarcastic, but her other descriptions had, time and time again, been proven false. Chauvinistic, he was not. He may have felt a bit threatened by the 'nerd herd', that she was apart of, but he had never treated her, or her gender, with anything but respect. Granted, she had worked hard to earn it, but earn it she had. She had been infuriated when he had gone on the original mission and she hadn't, and had been shocked when she learned that it was to be a suicide mission for him. When Daniel had explained about his sons' death, she had understood a little bit better why he was the way he was. Learning more about his black ops and Special Forces background had served to only elevate him in her eyes. And somewhere along the line, she had fallen in love with him. There had always been a mutual attraction, and a mild flirtation between them, but the 'L' word was never even considered. It had happened somewhere between seeing him kiss her alternate self, and trying to rescue him off of Edora. Alright, so that wasn't a good memory, but it had made her realize her true feelings. And they had been happy, content with their standing with one another. Things were going great between them, until a certain force field had gotten in their way, literally and figuratively. It had taken them a couple years to find their old footing again, but find it they had, and things had escalated to the present, with him standing behind her, and her father still railing him into the ground. She knew, somewhere inside, that her dad loved her and was simply trying to look out for her, but right now she didn't care. She was sick of hearing a good man being vilified.

"Stop it." She spoke with deadly calm, interrupting his long tirade.

"Don't you tell me to stop, young lady, I will tell you when I am finished."

"I'm telling you that you're finished. Now stop." She stepped out from the cocoon of Jack's arms and walked forward until she stood face to face with her father.

"Whether you like it or not, I am marrying this man. I am thirty-nine years old, and am perfectly capable of deciding for myself who I love."

Jacob spoke scathingly. "Love? You think you love him?"

"I know I do." She interrupted.

"Sam, you've been locked in that mountain for seven years, with that man constantly by your side. It's understandable how you could confuse your feelings, but I'm not going to let you throw away your future because Jack O'Neill couldn't keep his pants on."

"I'm not confused about anything, Dad." Her eyes blazed, and she was certain that, had she been a Goa'uld, her eyes would be doing some serious glowing.

"I've waited for far too long to be able to be with him to allow you to stop me now. You're right, he has been constantly by my side; a fact that has given me ample opportunity to know *exactly* what kind of a man he is." She paused. "The kind I want to spend the rest of my life with."

Jacob looked to Jack then back to Sam again.

"Don't think that you can run to me when you find out the truth. You want to spend your life with him? Fine. But it's a life without me." He turned away, and climbed down the ladder, quickly, giving her no time to respond.

*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****

*A life without me* Sam stood rooted to her spot on the deck, her fathers last words ringing in her ears. He was making her choose between two men that she loved dearly. She heard the quiet footsteps of her former CO as he walked up behind her.

"You don't have to choose me, ya know." She closed her eyes, to hide the moisture threatening to gather there. He had known instinctively what she was thinking, and was willing to let her go, if it would only make her happy.

"I mean it's your dad. I don't want to...." She turned on her heel forcefully, reaching out to grasp his head and capture his lips. Hard. She had made her choice, and right now she needed the comfort that only he could give her. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, reassuring her that he would always be there. Even if she had walked away from him right then and there, he still would have been there for her whenever she needed him. When they broke apart for much needed air, she rested her head against his.

"I love you, Jack O'Neill. My dad is wrong about you; he doesn't know you like I do."

"Sam...." He knew how much she loved her dad, and wasn't willing to get between them. If tomorrow, or the next day, she decided that she wanted to make an exchange; he wouldn't stand in her way.

"Shhhh." She interrupted his protests with another kiss, her fingers running through his short hair. Jack was torn between responding to her kiss with a powerful one of his own, or stopping her before she did something she regretted.

"Carter." He spoke a bit more forcefully, as they broke apart again. "I don't think that we should do this."

She looked at him in shock. "What?! Jack, I'm not going to change my mind! I *love* you, and I want to be with you. That won't change."

"All the same." He took her hands in his and held them between them. "I just think that we should give this some time. Make sure that this is what you want. Maybe talk to your dad again."

"No."

"Sam." He sighed.

"You love your dad. I don't want to come between you two."

"He's the one coming between us!" She argued.

"Because he loves you."

"Funny way of showing it."

"Just.... Just give it some time. Try talking to him. It was a bit of a shock for him, after all."

"How can you defend him? After everything that he said about you."

"He was right."

"No he wasn't."

"Yes, he was."

"He doesn't know you."

"He knows enough."

" I just don't understand why he reacted this way. You two have always gotten along in the past."

"I wasn't making out with his daughter in the past."

She gave a slight grin. "There is that. But still,"

"He viewed me as a fellow officer, and that was fine. As his daughters CO, that was fine, too. As his daughters husband, not so fine."

"I won't change my mind." He sensed she wasn't done, and waited silently.

Sam sighed. "I'll try talking to him again."

Jack nodded. "Okay."

They knew that they should probably move away from each other, but they just couldn't seem to break away, and stood out on the balcony, simply holding each other, for a little longer.

*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****

/He's a good man./

/No, he's not, and how dare you defend him! Did you see what he was doing to my daughter?!/

/I believe he was kissing her./

/He's turned my little girl against me! She chose him over me!/

/You did not give her much choice./

/Oh, so it's my fault now?/

/You might have chosen your words more wisely./

/And you might just shut up!/

Jacob stormed down the ladder fuming from his conversation with his daughter and now Selmak. It had all started innocently enough, with him simply wanting to see his daughter, and heading out to look for her. It hadn't taken long to spot the two figures up on the roof, one sitting on top of the other. He had heard bits of their whispered conversation as he climbed, okay, crept, up the ladder, and had been rewarded with the sight of Colonel O'Neill, arms wrapped securely around Sam, kissing her.

And her allowing it.

His daughter, a Major, was allowing her Commanding Officer to nibble on her neck, and seemed to be enjoying it. She was committing a court-martialable offense, and didn't even seem to care! And with Jack O'Neill, no less. The man with the wiped file. The man with a history darker than he cared to imagine. And he was kissing Sam, his little Sammie. He had tried to talk some sense into his daughter, but she had simply returned that she was going to marry the Colonel. And there was nothing her father could do to stop her. This was not the little girl that he had raised. Even now as he turned back to look at them on the roof, she was wrapped in his arms, his lips covering hers.

It was sickening.

And it was wrong.

"George!"

The angry General-turned-Tok'ra burst into the living room where his friend was waiting. He took a moment to look around. Everyone was gone.

"Why??" he trailed off, motioning to the empty room.

Hammond sighed.

"We could hear your 'conversation', with Jack and Sam, and they decided they should leave. I stayed to explain things to you."

"You knew about this?" Jacob accused his friend. Well, former friend, anyway.

"Jack resigned his post as commander of SG1 effective midnight last night. It came as a surprise to his team, and he announced it by proposing to Major Carter."

"He did *what*?!"

George continued, undaunted. "She happily accepted. Jacob," General Hammond sighed again, motioning for Jake to sit down. He didn't. "They've waited for a long time for this opportunity. They've always acted with the utmost professionalism, and I couldn't have asked for two better officers. They deserve this, Jacob. They have always put their feelings on hold, always acting in the best interest of the team. I won't begrudge them being happy."

General Carter spoke with calculated words. "My daughter wouldn't be happy with that man if she knew what he really was. It's understandable that they would develop confusing feelings for one another working together in the way that they have, but for you to condone, and even encourage it." Jacob shook his head, disgusted. "Sam is throwing away her life for him, and you think that makes her *happy*?!"

"You haven't observed them the way that I have. They're in love with each other. Have been for years. Jack's a good man. You couldn't ask for better for her."

Recognizing the look on his old friends face, George smiled sardonically. "You want to hit me, Jacob? Go ahead. Think it'll make you feel better? Just ask yourself one question: Are you upset because she's chosen Jack, or because you think she doesn't need her daddy anymore?"

"Jack is not right for her."

"Don't you think Sam has the right to decide that?"

"Her judgment has obviously been clouded. As has yours! Goodbye, George." Jacob turned on his heel and walked to the front door, pulling it open harshly, then slamming it behind him. He wouldn't be returning anytime soon.

*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****

It had been a long time since she'd cried like she was doing now. Jack was holding her securely, whispering words of comfort. It had surprised Sam at first, when he had kissed her hair, and murmured softly to her. She was seeing a side to him that she hadn't even known existed. And she definitely liked it. She could feel the tears start to subside, and lifted her head from where it was resting on his chest. "We should probably go in."

He lifted his hand and wiped a few renegade tears that remained on her cheeks.

"Okay." They moved silently down to the ground, and walked slowly through the door into his house.

"Colonel, Major." They were greeted by General Hammond, the lone occupant of the living room.

"General." They replied in unison. The General, with a twinge of sadness, took in the sight of Jacks arms wrapped protectively around Sam whose eyes were red, cheeks coated with streaks of wetness.

"I tried to speak to your father, Major."

He saw the spark of hope in her eyes.

"What'd he say?"

The General looked at her kindly, shaking his head slightly.

"I'm sorry."

Jacks arm instinctively tightened around her as the older man spoke.

"The rest of SG-1 along with Dr. Fraiser decided that they should leave." He surveyed the messy living room, festive paper scattered about, a sign of the happier times they had shared. Had it really been just a few hours ago? "I'll stay and help you clean up, Jack."

"No, that's okay General. I'll take care of it."

Hammond nodded his understanding.

"See you in a week." He said, gathering up his jacket and heading for the door. "Congratulations."

"Thank you, Sir." Sam said to him, still held in Jack's arms.

George looked back at them, almost as though he had more that he wanted to say, but in the end opted for a quick nod, and left, closing the door behind him. Sam took a deep breath, and shifted out of the embrace, leaning down to pick up a torn piece of wrapping paper that cluttered the floor. The Colonel followed suit, retrieving a bag from the kitchen to hold the garbage. They moved swiftly to clear the room, picking up discarded paper, picking up dishes, and sorting through their gifts. Giving the room a final glance, Sam sat down on the couch. Jack spotted two gifts still under the tree, yet to be opened. Moving over to them, he saw that they were addressed to him and his former second. From her father. The other guests had no doubt already opened their presents from the Tok'ra before he had come looking for Sam.

"Sam?" He picked up the gift and offered it to her, coming to sit next to her.

She reached out for the wrapped box, staring at it intently.

"You gonna open it?" He still stood, watching her.

"I don't know." She turned it over in her hands, examining it, almost as if it held the secrets to making peace with her dad. She set it down on the coffee table.

"Maybe later."

He set his gift down next to hers, and sat down on the opposite side of the couch, putting some space between himself and Sam.

"Why are you sitting over there?" She asked him.

"Because?"

She interrupted him.

"To keep a respectful distance?"

"Yes." He admitted.

She stood angrily. She was in *love* with the man, and he still thought that she would change her mind. She had let her father walk away, because she knew that he was wrong, and that Jack would stand by her, and now he was 'keeping a respectful distance'?!

"If you had any idea...." She trailed off, to upset to finish her thought.

"What? If had any idea what?" He stood up to stand next to her, reaching out for her hands, which she held away.

"How can you think that I'm going to leave you now?" She hissed.

"I can't just turn my feelings off, and it isn't as if I haven't tried over the past years. My dad has made his decision, and I've made mine. Why don't you just believe that?!"

He had been fighting against the temptation. But he was only human, and with no regulations in their way anymore, he found it impossible to resist. So he kissed her. He grasped her face and pulled her to him, one hand lost in her hair, the other wrapping itself around her form to hold her tightly. When he pulled away, taking in much needed oxygen, he spoke in a low voice.

"I do believe it, Sam. I don't want you to ever regret anything that we have together. Until things are sorted out with your dad, I'm afraid that's exactly what's going to happen. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but one day you'll wake up and wonder why you got stuck with me when you could have had a better life, and you'll think that your dad was right." Sam shook off the dazed look she had from his powerful kiss, and replied to him.

"I could never have a better life than to be with you. I'll never regret being with you." A lopsided grin appeared on her face.

"Ya know, this isn't really a conversation I pictured us ever having. Not that we *could* have even two days ago."

"Yeah." he said, a small smile appearing on his face as well.

Sam tugged his hand and pulled him down to the sofa with her, wrapping herself in his embrace. Leaning against his tall frame, she sighed.

"Thank you." She told him, her head resting back on his shoulder.

"For what?"

"For making me happy." Sam sighed.

He tightened his hold on her, and leaned back against the back of the couch, trying to find a comfortable position. Grinning slightly when she fell asleep almost immediately, he closed his eyes, planning to follow suit. But not before he took some time to relish the feel of Samantha Carter wrapped up in his arms, and not having to feel the least bit guilty about it.

*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****

Something was tickling his nose. Jack slowly shook off the haze of sleep as he became aware of something that was a little.... off. He started to raise a hand to brush away whatever was at his nose, but realized that he couldn't. His hand was being held firmly in place. Opening his eyes quickly, he saw the blonde hair in front of his face, and could just see a hand tightly holding his. Oh yeah. A slow smile appeared on his face as he remembered just exactly how he had gotten into this position. Not that this position was very comfortable.

"Neck cramp." He muttered, moving his head quickly to try and ease the pressure.

"Oh, sorry." Sam was already awake, and jumped up as he spoke.

"Hey." He held her in place with one arm as he rubbed his neck with the other.

"Don't you go anywhere." His voice was low as he spoke into her ear, sending shivers running through her.

"Okay." She whispered back, happy to comply. She had woken shortly before him, and had been more than content to just lie there against him, enjoying the sound of his soft breathing. She could get used to this.

"So," Jack said, bringing his free arm around her. "What do you want to do today?"

"I think I'm doing it." She could hear the smile in his voice as he replied.

"You think?"

"I know."

"Ah, much better."

Sam giggled slightly, enjoying how comfortable she felt in his arms. The feel of his arms should have been foreign to her, and it was.... in a familiar sort of way. Until last evening he had been her commanding officer, so she knew that to wake up with him holding her should make her feel awkward, to say the least. Should, perhaps, but it didn't. Sam felt happier than she had been in a long time.

"If we go down to the base, it's possible that your dad hasn't left yet."

He would have to bring *that* up.

"Why are you so insistent that I talk to him?" She asked curiously.

"Because I know how much you love him. He's your *dad*, Carter, and I don't want you to lose that relationship because of me." She sighed.

"This isn't about you, ya know. It's about my dad doing what he does best; trying to control my life. After mom died, Mark would fight him on everything, so I was really the only one that he had. I got used to his place in my life and didn't fight him too much when he tried to be in control. You're just his latest target."

"He's afraid of losing you."

"That doesn't justify what he said." Her father had made insinuations that were completely false, and totally uncalled for. That wouldn't be forgiven easily.

"He's probably kicking himself right now for what he said. He just wants you to have the best."

"You are the best."

"He doesn't think so."

"He's wrong."

"He doesn't think that either."

"True. He stubborn, I'll hand him that."

"He was completely taken by surprise, which accounts for most of his behavior. Now that's he's had a chance to sleep on it, he'll probably be more reasonable, and you two can start to mend some fences."

"I don't want to." She was being stubborn and she knew it, and by his silence, he knew it too.

"Okay, fine. But you're coming with me."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

After all, she thought. Maybe I can get through to him. Maybe he'll accept Jack once he realizes that this isn't just a heat of the moment thing, but that it's made to last.

*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****

"Well, it was a good idea while it lasted. Ready to go?" They had come, had seen, and now, Sam wanted to get off of the base. They had gone to the base, and as they checked for Jacob, it was easy to see that he had already left. And Sam wanted to *leave*. She and Jack had a week downtime, and it was the first vacation she'd had in a long time that she knew she would actually enjoy.

"Yeah. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. He wouldn't have listened anyway." Apparantly, Jacob had gone straight back to the Tok'ra home world. Jack had suggested sending a message through, but Sam opted against it. If the time came that he wanted too ask for forgiveness, maybe she would listen. Maybe. She would just have to build her life without her dad. She turned to look at her fiancée standing behind her. And what a good life it would be.

*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****SG1*****

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