See No Evil
by ALC Punk!

"Sam?"

His daughter looked up from the reactor. "Hrm?"

"Earlier... There was something I wanted to ask you."

She put down the tool she held, "Ask me what?"

"About... False positives."

Her eyes widened. "Oh. Well, uh..." She paused, seemed to gather her thoughts, then nodded. "Colonel O'Neill and I were once suspected of being za'tarcs."

"You and Jack?" He blinked, taking that in for a moment. "But--how?"

She shrugged, "You mean Anise hasn't spread the gossip?" Her tone was almost bitter.

"No, this is the first I've heard of it, Sam." He paused, "You mean to tell me they thought you and Jack were assassins?" Were they stupid?

"Yeah." Turning back to the reactor, Sam picked up the tool again, obviously intent on going back to her work.

"Sam."

"There really isn't much more to tell, Dad."

But there was. It screamed at him in the way she held herself, the way her hand gripped the screwdriver tighter. For just a moment, he considered leaving it as she was requesting. But he was her father, damnit. And he had to know. "Tell me."

"They thought we were za'tarcs when we blew up Apophis' ship while wearing the armbands."

That much, he'd heard about--the armbands, anyway. Anise had actually tried to make it all someone else's fault (and he'd laughed in her face. And then been worried that Sam had almost died. Again.). "So, why'd they think that?"

"The Colonel and I were knocked unconscious at the same time."

Which said a lot, but not enough. "Sam..."

"There was a force field between us. He wouldn't leave." As if the memory was now running through her head, she looked down, her eyes closing.

"You're a part of his team, Sam. Isn't SG-1's motto: 'No one gets left behind'?" He was confused. There didn't seem to be any reason to suspect either of them as za'tarcs. This sounded exactly the way they all reacted. They didn't leave their people behind, and they didn't--

"I told him to go."

Selmak chose that moment to insert idly, ::She didn't want him to die.::

Well, that made sense. The man was her commanding officer, after all. And had saved the planet a few times. Jacob was reminded that she and Daniel had tracked him down to save Teal'c and Jack from a death in space.

Patiently, Selmak replied, her tone amused. ::Your daughter did not want Jack O'Neill to die for her.::

"You told him to go." Jacob prompted, realizing that Sam had stopped speaking and was back to fiddling with the reactor. "I'm not sure I understand how this could be construed as you being a za'tarc."

"We left something out. Apparently, the machine reacts to lies by omission."

"Left what out?"

Sam looked up at him, and her eyes were suddenly deep blue, seething with emotions. "That we couldn't... watch the person we cared about die." Her voice was low, as if she didn't want to say it aloud. Like the sounds would give the words more power than they already had.

"Okay. Sam, you're on the same team. Of course you care about each other. I couldn't watch you die, either."

A smile touched her lips, "Same here, Dad."

But it still didn't explain things.

::Jacob. You're being especially dense today, are you sure you didn't hit us on the head?::

It hit him, then. Cared... "Sam? You're in love with your CO?"

"No!" But her eyes dropped away. "I just... care about him." She said softly.

"Uh-huh. Like I 'cared' about your mother?"

::That was a low blow, Jacob.:: Selmak sounded irritated with him.

"Dad. Can we just drop this?"

"No. We can't."

"Why not?" Her tone changed, and she sounded almost angry now. Her eyes met his again, flashing.

"Because, Sam, this could--" He stopped. Looked at her. *Really* looked at her. "How long?"

"I challenged him to an arm-wrestling match." A smile touched her lips then was quickly gone. "Can we drop this now?"

"You challenged Jack to an arm-wrestling match?"

She nodded, "I was proving I could be just as macho as he was."

"Macho? Carter, you're as macho as they come."

Jacob looked over at the doorway to find his daughter's commanding officer standing there, leaning oh-so-casually against the doorjamb. His hands were in his pockets, probably to keep them from fidgeting with anything nearby. He wondered how much the man had overheard. Though he didn't appear to have any reaction, the man had a good poker face. Almost as good as Jacob's own.

"Why thank you, sir." Her tone was slightly mocking.

"So, Colonel, how long have you been in love with my daughter?"

::Oh, you're on a roll today, Jacob.::

He ignored Selmak's sarcasm, and watched Jack O'Neill. The man didn't move, didn't twitch an eyelash. He simply replied, "Well, I'm not sure. Carter?"

"I'm sorry, sir."

"Not sure?"

"Well, Jacob," Jack said, "I've adored her since she walked into the room and proved to be smarter than me."

"Way smarter, sir." Sam corrected him, her voice amused.

"Right. Way smarter."

The two shared a look, and Jacob blinked. How could he have *missed* this? How could he have seen this connection and not realized how deep it went?

::You did not want to see it.:: Selmak sounded sad.

No, he hadn't, he suddenly understood. Because if he saw it, he would have to watch his daughter and Jack O'Neill caught in an impossible situation. It irritated him to notice that they seemed to be more or less resigned to it.

"So..." He stopped, at a loss as to what to say.

His daughter half-smiled at him. "It's okay, Dad."

"You didn't--you haven't...." He trailed off, shifting uncomfortably.

"No, Dad. We haven't ever done anything." She rolled her eyes. "We've talked about it, Dad. Neither of us is willing to give up the Stargate program to pursue something which might not last."

Bald words, and Jacob suddenly felt guilty that this was the kind of thing he'd taught his daughter.

::Jacob...::

He wanted to tell her he was sorry. That she shouldn't be putting her career in front of her life, her heart. But he understood her, knew that she didn't want that sort of thing said. And that she wouldn't follow it. The Stargate meant too much to her, and Jack was quite obviously the same way.

Still, it hurt to know that she was turning away from what could be happiness. "Sam..."

A head shake, and she smiled, "It's all right, Dad. Just let it go."

"Jack?"

Shrugging, his hands still in his pockets, Jack O'Neill looked relaxed. "What she said."

"All right. I'll respect your decision. For now." He paused, speared his daughter with a look, "But I was kind of hoping for super-smart grandchildren, one of these days. I don't know if he qualifies."

"Dad!" Her eyes widened, and she blushed.

"Yeah, Dad," O'Neill said. "Isn't that putting the cart before the horse?"

"That's a cliche, Jack."

"Damn."

Jacob sighed. "Just... Don't wait forever, okay?"

::Aw, Jacob, I didn't realize you were such a romantic.::

Ignoring Selmak's jibe, Jacob continued. "I want you to be happy, Sam."

"I know, Dad." She came over and hugged him. "Now, please go away so I can finish refitting the reactor."

"She says that so nicely," Jack noted.

"And bluntly. This is your fault, Jack."

"Wouldn't have it any other way, Dad."

And if Jacob Carter wasn't precisely resigned to the idea of his daughter being in love with... Jack O'Neill... Neither was he completely averse to it. For now. And Selmak just continued mocking him.

-finis-

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© 2005 ALC Punk!