Jack whistled as he walked through the corridor of the SGC. Some airmen gave him an odd look, but he ignored them. They were probably questioning the child that sat on his side that he was carrying through the base. It was not his daughter, Daniella, and many people were probably unaware that he had a second child, let alone a reason to be bringing them onto the base. It possibly also did not help that he was not in uniform, but then he was not reporting for duty. It had been surprisingly easy to persuade Laira, the mother of his son, to allow him to visit with Jack and he was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Jack-Junior, as he had been christened by his mother, but JJ as Jack called him because he found it too odd to call his child by his own name, was now a normal toddler who came with bags of toddler tantrums. For a multitude of reasons, Jack had thought it best to visit his cabin with JJ rather than take him to the home he shared with Daniella, her mother and the live-in Nanny. Sam had understood immediately; if JJ came to stay in their home then she would become a step-parent to him. She had not spoken the words out loud, but Jack was sure that she was not exactly willing to become a step-parent when there was no relationship beyond friendship between her and Jack. There was also the fact that Jack had not exactly been truthful to Laira, in that, he had not told her that he had a daughter with Sam.
A two year old passing on that information was not ideal. As Jack had feared, there were definite teething problems with having JJ stay with him, but he still thought they had bonded after the first night and the temper tantrums calmed down. It was similar to how he had not known what was going on with Daniella when he had moved in with them both. It had not taken him long to learn and now, Jack considered himself like any other father. There would be bigger obstacles in that happening with JJ and it would most certainly take longer given the gaps in seeing his son, but Jack was sure that one day everything would work out and JJ would call him dad, but for now he had to prepare to take his son home and hope that Laira did not give him too much grief. Then he could go home and spend some time with Daniella.
As he entered the office in which all his team were standing. He immediately felt an odd tension within the room, especially as all four of them turned to him, grim looks upon their faces. JJ did not seem to notice as he gurgled away to himself, but Jack looked at his team-mates quizzically. "What?"
"Sir, haven't you heard?" Carter asked and Jack shook his head. "It's Senator Kinsey. He's dead."
Internally, an element of shock ran through him, but Jack was too used to covering his thoughts and keeping his emotions away from his face and posture. "What happened?" It was not as if he was fully actually interested in the answer, other than to find the guy who did it and buy him a beer.
"He was shot," Daniel answered, "live on TV as he was making a speech."
"They haven't found the perpetrator," Carpenter added with a slight sad look on her face. The poor younger lieutenant barely knew who the bad players were in the world of Stargate politics.
"I'm sure they will," Jack mumbled because he really did not actually give a damn about the dead man.
"Do you think it has anything to do with him running for president?" Carpenter asked, but before anyone could answer, General Hammond entered the room with two airmen behind him. Jack turned to face him, instantly knowing that their day was about to get worse.
"General?"
"Colonel, I'm sorry to do this right now."
"Do what?"
"These men have been sent to take you into custody."
"Into custody for what?" Daniel demanded, stepping forward and closer to Jack and the general.
"For the murder of Senator Kinsey."
Jack's jaw tightened as everyone around him started talking at once. They were protesting or questioning, no doubt, but he could not hear them. The thoughts within his mind were louder than any voices surrounding him, thoughts of his children and the fear that he was about to be sent to jail for a crime he had often considered doing, but had not done. His eyes flickered to his left and he saw Carter standing there despite the fact that he had not heard anyone approach him. Without a word, he passed JJ to her and ignored the slightly taken aback look on her face. It was the least of his worries if she was uncomfortable taking his son, as was the fact that he was not sure if she was Sam or Carter right now. Once JJ was securely in Carter's arms, Jack said, "Make sure he gets home." And then he was led away by the airmen, his team still vocally protesting.
SG – SG – SG
Standing at the base of the off-world Stargate, Daniel felt rather uncomfortable. As an only child and growing up in foster care, he had never had much interaction with children, especially babies. Yet he was now alone, on an alien planet with another couple's toddler in his arms and a bag of essentials on the floor. Over the past year, Daniel had spent a significant amount of time with Daniella; he was her Uncle Daniel although she could not yet say his name correctly. She was a lot younger than Jack-Junior and had spent her year getting to know him. To Jack-Junior, Daniel was a complete stranger and that resulted in a very grumpy toddler. He had already radioed through to Laira that he would be bringing Jack-Junior home soon, so he was hoping that she would not take too long. Turning around on the spot a bit, Daniel took a scout around and saw Laira approaching them. Her arms were crossed and she did not seem too happy.
"I was expecting Jack." Her tone was curt and snippy. She reached for JJ and Daniel allowed him to go. There was an immediate quieter JJ now that he was in his mother's arms. Her face softened at holding him.
"Hello to you, too."
Through a glare at him she said, "Apologies, however, it was our arrangement that my son would be in the care of his father and not anyone else. How am I now to trust him with my own flesh and blood again? I have been incredibly gracious in allowing him to take my son to a different planet, Daniel."
"I understand that," Daniel stuttered slightly. "There really have been extenuating circumstances."
"Of that, I am sure. Did he tire of his son again? Did he decide that it was too much work? Did Major Carter have a problem with my son's visit?"
He looked at her in shock and confusion. "No. What? No, Sam was fine with Jack spending time with his son."
"Of course she was. Did they play happy families together?"
"No, Sam and Daniella didn't spend any time with Jack and your son the past weekend. I mean, Sam met Jack-Junior this morning, but there was no family time or anything."
"Daniella?" Laira said, taking the bag of JJ's essentials from the floor and heading towards the DHD. Daniel automatically followed her.
"Yeah, Jack wanted to spend quality time with his son, before he met his sister. And I think two children would have been too much of a handful for Jack."
"Jack-Junior's sister, Daniella."
Daniel nodded. "Yes," he said as he began to dial the Stargate.
"Who is Major Carter's and Jack's daughter?"
He looked at her in confusion, feeling as if he was telling her things that she did not even know. It then dawned on him that perhaps she did not know and that perhaps Jack had not been completely truthful. "Didn't Jack tell you?"
"No. No, he did not."
SG – SG – SG
Fidgeting with her hands slightly, Sam forced them into fists hanging on either side. She did not want him to see how concerned or agitated the situation was making her. So far the evidence against Jack was growing and it troubled her. She knew that he had not done it despite the fact that there was no love lost between him and the senator; Jack would never risk his family life, especially as he had been with his son for the weekend. It served him as having no witnesses in his cabin as JJ was too young, but anyone who knew Jack knew that he would not leave any child alone even if it were a secret mission from the air force. That led Sam to the only conclusion viable: someone was setting Jack up. Teal'c and Carpenter had already visited Jack, a few days prior and now it was Sam's turn. In some ways she had been avoiding this. She was not sure why. He was her commanding officer and friend, but he was also able to read what she was thinking without trying. Her face and body always betrayed her when it came to Jack. Sam kept trying to think of him as O'Neill in an attempt to keep her emotions slightly more in check, but that was difficult when her daughter missed him. It was the first time that she was actually glad that their jobs often took them both away from Daniella; she was used to her father being absent for a few days, perhaps a week, at a time. The hunt for the real killer of Kinsey had already led Sam to an overnight visit to Area 51, therefore abandoning her daughter, but resulting in the discovery that the mimic devices from an earlier foothold situation were missing. At least with Jack in jail, whoever had the mimic devices could only impersonate Daniel, Major Davis and a handful of airmen.
The door at the back of the cell opened and Jack soon appeared, giving Sam a very tight, forced smile. She had imagined the cell would look like a standard prison - dark, little light and soul-destroying. At least Jack's cell was light and he was not forced into an orange jumpsuit. "How are you doing?" she asked him, knowing that it was an incredibly stupid question.
He raised his eyebrows in an "I'm all right" gesture and she nodded. He moved closer to the bars and leant against them. "You find anything?"
"The mimic devices have gone missing. We think someone impersonated you, setting you up when you have no alibi and killing two birds with one stone."
"You need to find whoever threw that stone."
"I'm on it, sir." Their eyes met as the words slipped out. She had no idea if she was visiting him as his second in command or as the mother of his child. The complications that had always existed were getting worse, tangling together and forming impossible knots. "I have a lead to follow in Washington so I'm heading there after here."
Nodding, he asked her, "How long will you be gone for?"
"As long as it takes."
"It's just that it's Daniella's birthday in just over a week."
"I know," she whispered. It had almost slipped her mind that Daniella was about to have her first ever birthday. "We'll both be back home for it."
"I missed too much of her first few months, I don't want to miss anything else."
She wanted to reach through the bars and put her hand on his. She wanted to bring him some small amount of comfort, but she knew that she could not. Regardless of anything else, she was in uniform and there were cameras recording everything in the room. As far as everyone was aware, they were simply team-mates who lived together and had a child. As she had once said to Jack, they practically lived together when on missions and the differences were miniscule. Or that was the argument they made to others. She knew that it was not that simple. Trying to comfort him now whilst only a small, harmless action, would cross the line further than anything that ever occurred at home. Instead, she nodded at him. "We'll find out who's behind this." She smiled at him and then left him alone in his prison. Oddly, she felt as if she too were in a prison, alone.
SG – SG – SG
Breathing a very large sigh of relief, Jack slipped his key into the lock. It had been the longest few days and, sadly, the last two days had been the longest. After receiving the news that Kinsey was not dead, but in a coma to tease out whoever had tried to kill him, Jack had then been exonerated by the work of his team. He was freed from his physical cell, but asked to remain local for an extra day of two until the senator was well enough and the two of them could go on national television. Jack was no longer sure what experience was worse - being in jail or shaking hands with Senator-soon-to-be-President Kinsey. As he started to push the door open, it suddenly moved away from him, opening from the inside. Either welcoming him home or on his way out, was Daniel.
"Oh, er, hi, Jack."
"Hello."
"I was just leaving."
"Okay."
"Glad you're home. I'm, uh, sorry."
"Sorry? For what?" Jack asked, completely confused by the conversation.
"I gotta go," and with that Daniel disappeared past him. Walking into his house, Jack went straight into the living room where no one was present so he headed through into the kitchen. Sam and Sasha were sitting around the kitchen table, but as he entered, Sasha put her cup down and stood up.
"I'll go check on Daniella." It was nearing the end of her nap time. As Sasha walked past Jack she said, "Glad you're home."
Jack then looked at Sam and saw only anger on her face. "What's happened?" he asked, refraining from asking what it was that he had done. Sam ignored the question, continuing to look at her drink and refusing to look at him. "Sam?"
Loudly she stood up, the chair scraping along the floor. "Daniel took your son home. I thought it would be odd for me to and that Laira wouldn't take too kindly to it." She was randomly moving around the kitchen, putting things away, rearranging things for the hell of it as she spoke. "But apparently, according to Daniel anyway, she probably wouldn't have minded seeing me as she knows nothing about our living arrangements." She turned and looked at him, disappointment clear in her eyes. "Or the fact that we have a daughter together." He opened his mouth to speak, not that he had any idea as to what he should say. An apology seemed severely insufficient. "Lying about me, Jack, I can almost understand. But lying about your daughter." She shook her head in sadness. "I thought I knew you better than that." As she moved to leave the room, he grabbed her by the elbow purely as a means to stop her. She snatched her arm away and glared at him. "Don't." For only a few seconds, they both stood there until Sam spoke again, "I'm going out for the afternoon. To leave you with your daughter who you'd rather hide from the world." Jack was most definitely in the dog house all because he had not been able to keep his secret from coming out. Or perhaps he should not have lied, or at least told Sam the truth. It was not anything to do with her or their daughter, it was purely how Laira would react and the ramifications of that. Sam would calm down, Jack was sure of it.
Author's Notes: Summary: It's almost Daniella's first birthday, but Jack is arrested for Senator Kinsey's murder.
End Notes: Not an episode based chapter next, as I thought it was about time that she had a birthday! She was born somewhere around the episode 5.17 Fail Safe and I figure a season isn't necessarily a year. This chapter came quite easily, which is good because the past few have either been long or difficult. Hopefully, I'm back in a groove as I have a plan from here through 6.16 Metamorphosis. I do need to figure out when Christmas is though!
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 ]