Tell Her
They hadn't really fought. Sam had caught Jack in the locker room alone after the briefing and had asked the question he had been dreading.
"Why didn't you tell me about Daniel?"
He had just spent two weeks dealing with old memories of Iraq, and the last thing he wanted to think about was anything to do with that other time he had been tortured. So he had avoided the issue, pushing it off to be dealt with later. (Or not)
"Not now, Sam. We have a mission."
He hadn't noticed the hurt look on her face as he had dashed out of the locker room, and she had of course been in her totally professional Major Carter mode during the mission, so he hadn't realized anything was wrong. Although one moment during the mission should have given him a clue. Skar'ra had been inviting him to his wedding, and had asked if Carter would be coming. Jack had fumbled trying to decide whether he should tell the kid that he and Carter were married or not, when Sam had stepped up and taken matters into her own hands.
"Friends, going to a wedding."
Ok, so not telling. That couldn't be good. Then the mission had gone to hell, and they had come back to total chaos. Sam had staked out a spot in the Control Room where she could re-dial Abydos every few hours, and when they had gotten a connection they had gone through to find the unthinkable. To say they had all been in shock when they came back would be an understatement. Now a week later, in typical Jack O'Neill fashion, he was finally beginning to realize that he had a serious problem.
Jonas had been working on translating the tablet found on Abydos, and Sam had been doing some analysis on the rock to see if she could pinpoint it's origin. Two nights in a row she had called home at midnight to tell him she was exhausted and would just crash on base. After the second night, he headed into the mountain early so he could catch her before she left their base quarters, only to find she was already gone. So he had grabbed two cups of coffee and headed to her lab, where he found her asleep in her chair, head cradled on the arms folded on her desk. She had never even made it to bed, and he wasn't sure, but he thought she had been crying.
He took both cups of coffee back to his office, deciding to let her sleep a bit longer, and come back to wake her later. In the mean time, he had some things to think about. He knew she was upset, but he knew he couldn't open up about his time with Ba'al. Not yet. Not even to her. So how did he resolve this? As he contemplated his options a large presence filled his doorway.
"Hey, T," he said sipping his coffee, and flipping on his computer.
"Major Carter is asleep in her lab again," Teal'c stated bluntly.
Jack sighed. "Yeah, I know. I'll give her another half hour and then go wake her up."
Teal'c nodded, then quietly added, "Tell her."
Jack's head snapped up to look at the man towering above him. "I know she wants me to, but I can't talk about it Teal'c," he admitted wearily.
"Major Carter is not upset that you won't talk about you're time with Ba'al, O'Neill," Teal'c observed.
"She's not?" Now Jack was confused.
"She's upset that you wouldn't even tell her that you couldn't talk about it yet. That's all that you need to do. Tell her everything you feel." And with that Teal'c nodded and left.
He knew Teal'c was right. Sam understood that what had happened to him was so horrible that he couldn't talk about it yet. Heck, it had taken 12 years and Sam being there to seriously distract him before he had been able to discuss Iraq without falling apart. She had asked him a simple question. Why *hadn't* he told her about seeing Daniel. She deserved an answer. He really had thought Daniel was a hallucination. Why couldn't he just have told her that?
Because for years he had kept everything inside. He wondered when that had started. When his father had died? When he'd had to start keeping large parts of his life secret because they were classified? Or was it as recent as when Charlie had died and he had shut down totally? He'd changed for the better in a lot of ways since joining the SGC, but he still didn't open up even to his teammates whom he considered his family, or to Sam who he loved deeply. Heck, if Sam hadn't had lunch with Sara she wouldn't even know that his folks were dead. She could have asked, but she shouldn't have *had* to.
Eventually he got up and repeated his actions of earlier. Snagging two fresh cups of coffee, he headed to Sam's lab. This time he nudged her awake, and while she took a few sips of coffee to wake up, he went over and closed the door. Then he turned around to take on one of the toughest challenges of his life.
"Sam, we need to talk."
The end
Story Notes: Email: jackiesfic@aol.com
Season: Season 6, During and after Full Circle
Sequel: 12th in the In Demand series after: In Demand, Momentum, Epidemic, See Jack Run, Classified, Prelude, Discoveries, Under Surveillance, T-Ball, Homerun and Good Things
Spoilers: None
Archive: SJD, yes. Anyone else, please just ask.
Author's Notes: I swore I would never write a songfic, and I still haven't. But I do have to give thanks to a song for making this literally write itself. Actually I need to thank a songwriter and a singer. So muchos gracias to the genius of Billy Joel, and to the talented Clay Aiken who chose this song to sing on American Idol Tuesday night. You inspired me. (And we are so voting for you Clay!) Oh yeah… the song? Tell Her About It. (Sometimes the oldies are still the best)
As always feed back craved!
Season: Season 6, During and after Full Circle
Sequel: 12th in the In Demand series after: In Demand, Momentum, Epidemic, See Jack Run, Classified, Prelude, Discoveries, Under Surveillance, T-Ball, Homerun and Good Things
Spoilers: None
Archive: SJD, yes. Anyone else, please just ask.
Author's Notes: I swore I would never write a songfic, and I still haven't. But I do have to give thanks to a song for making this literally write itself. Actually I need to thank a songwriter and a singer. So muchos gracias to the genius of Billy Joel, and to the talented Clay Aiken who chose this song to sing on American Idol Tuesday night. You inspired me. (And we are so voting for you Clay!) Oh yeah… the song? Tell Her About It. (Sometimes the oldies are still the best)
As always feed back craved!
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 ]