I sit back and gratefully drink some more water and suggest a vacation to Alaska.
Sam smiles and shakes her head, but I can tell her attention isn't on me.
The object of her focus is stretched out near me, stoically enduring what must be crippling pain. I feel for him, but Selmak has enough to do to heal herself and me without adding Jack's ruined knee to the mix.
He glances up and shares a grim look with me - we both know this particular injury could mean the end of his ... colorful career.
A small part of me wouldn't be sorry if Jack retired, although I'd rather he wasn't sidelined by injury.
Now don't get me wrong. I like Jack. He can be brash, sarcastic and irritating, but this is tempered by a goofy sense of humor and the deep respect and fondness he has for his 'kids'.
This brings me to my problem.
It isn't exactly a fatherly tenderness that shows on his mug when he looks at Sam.
Nor is it a father-figure liking Sam has for him.
These two are heading for a boat-load of trouble and all I can do is watch and pray that the fallout isn't too hard.
A low groan issues from Jack at that point and I wince - that staff blast wrecked his knee but good.
"Sir ...," Sam utters worriedly.
"I'm okay, Carter," he replies, the white face and narrowed eyes giving the lie to his claim. "Just moved wrong."
Sam shakes her head with a small fond smile. She knows him far too well to buy his BS. Then she addresses Aldwyn, who has been unusually quiet since our rescue. "Do you have a healing device?" she asks.
Aldwyn visibly cringes when Teal'c raises an eyebrow in his direction. I don't know what went on in this teltac while we were on Netu, but it's rare to see Aldwyn so subdued. "I ... I'm afraid not, Major," he replies.
"Damn," Sam mumbles, slumping downward and pulling up her knees to hug them to her chest - much like when she was a little girl.
Jack clasps her shoulder. "Never mind, Carter," he says, projecting a false air of cheer. "I retired before - maybe the second time's a charm, huh?"
"Colonel ...". Sam is now visibly distressed.
Jack winces then closes his eyes, purporting to shut out the whole world.
Sam and I have now been released from the Infirmary - although that tiny little fireball of a medico was making noises about me relying too much on Selmak's healing abilities. I sigh when Sam's head turns to look at the cubicle where her CO lies recovering from the surgery on his knee. "You want to see him," I say knowingly.
She flushes slightly, possibly sensing the slight accusation in my tone. "He's not just my CO, Dad, he's my friend too."
She's this close to an all-out pout. I could hug her right now. "Go." I give her a little shove. "Doctor Fraiser said he could have visitors."
She disappears behind the curtain, and I see her silhouette as she settles down next to Jack's bed. "Hey, sir," she says.
"Hey, Carter. Where ya been? You missed the cake."
"Well, damn." I can almost hear her grinning at that, and I share the grin. The man does love his cake. "I hope you saved me a piece, sir."
"C'mon, Carter; this is me you're talking to! You snooze, you lose."
Sam giggles then I see her bend her head. "I'm sorry I couldn't do anything about your knee."
"You're hardly at your best at the moment, Carter. You need to get yourself well."
I can't believe it. The man is facing weeks of physio and pain, but his first thoughts are always for his team. He's a good man.
Selmak:
I also observe Samantha and Jack interacting and I like what I see.
I am a patient being.
When you have lived many hundreds of years as I have - from one body to another - you tend to see the 'bigger picture'.
That is why I worry so much about you humans.
Your functional lifespan - from maturity to senility - is so short. Can you truly understand the long-term consequences of your actions?
But perhaps your short lives are the very reason you have so little patience, why you fling yourselves into things without considering all the ramifications.
And why in a few short years your forces have made such a name for themselves amongst the System Lords.
When it was first proposed that I merge with a Tauri, I had my doubts. I had never before blended with a human who had always been free, had not been cowed into submission by the Goa'uld. But I chatted with him and decided that he was a good man who could be an asset to the Tok'ra.
And surely I could 'sand down' the rough edges.
It didn't work out that way, though.
Jacob's rough edges invigorated me, his masculine viewpoint a big change after years of being with Saroosh, whom I loved dearly and still miss more than a year later.
When I blended with Jacob, I had the privilege of getting to know his lovely daughter and the three men who had accompanied her. They were very different to each other, yet they all cared for Samantha ... Sam ... greatly.
In different ways.
Teal'c, the Jaffa, is a watchful big brother yet very respectful of the fact that Sam is a warrior, just as he is.
Daniel Jackson shares her love of learning, is a very close friend and loves her deeply. There is a tenderness between them that is not generally found between siblings yet I don't see the potential for something more ... passionate.
Which brings me to the other man.
Jack O'Neill. He is cynical, quick-tempered, sarcastic, brave, thoughtful, intelligent, and a host of other contradictions.
He loves Sam. And is in love with her.
I have had many a fight with Jacob about this. He is concerned about their age difference, Jack's troubled history and the fact that Jack is senior to Sam. Yet even that stubborn old man has to admit that they love each other.
Yeah, yeah, he grumbles playfully. Doesn't mean I have to like it, though.
Grouchy old fool, I shoot back. I wasn't talking to you.
Now, where was I?
Ah yes. Jack and Sam.
Sometimes, just to annoy Jacob, I make kissy noises while I am around his daughter and Jack. I do so now, and he grumbles something uncomplimentary in his native language that I choose not to understand.
Besides, I don't think it's anatomically possible.
Jacob:
"You say something, Dad?"
I see Sam's head lift up, her attention drawn from the weird not-quite-flirting thing she was doing with Jack.
I clear my throat. "Oh ... ah ... snake in the throat."
Take that, old woman!
"Jacob! C'mon over - don't be a stranger," Jack invites.
I walk over to his cubicle and pull back the curtain. Jack looks a lot better than when we were on the teltac, although he still has a lot of healing to do. Thankfully, the knee wasn't damaged as badly as I'd feared and he should be able to return to active duty as long as his ox-like constitution doesn't let him down. "Hey, Jack," I say, sitting down on the other side of the bed. "I ... ah ... Thank you. For everything."
Jack shrugs and looks embarrassed. "S'okay," he mutters. "You really think I could've left you there? Even if you weren't Sam's dad?"
I gloss over the 'Sam' and think about his file. As a two-star General, albeit retired, I have a lot of connections and was recently able to read Jack's unvarnished file. He'd done a lot that would haunt a man, but he had a motto that was tattooed into all of his dealings - never leave a man behind. I wonder how much greater that belief was after his stint in Club Med in the 90s.
"Well, I'm still grateful, and I know Sel is too." I feel her pushing at me, wanting to speak, but I resist. Jack has never been comfortable with the host-symbiote relationship, and considering he came within a whisker of being made a host by Hathor, I can't say I blame him.
I understand, Jacob, Selmak replies sadly. Please let him know how much I also appreciate what he did. I consider him a good friend - not just for this reason, but because of who he is.
That gives me pause. Selmak is not exactly shy about her appreciation of the male gender, although I sometimes think she does it just to yank my chain. "Uhh ... Sel said she wants you to know that she considers you a friend."
"Oh! Ah ...". Jack fiddles restlessly with his IV line. "Well ... thanks, Selmak." He looks up from his oh-so-fascinating study of the IV. "Anyway, didn't I hear you were planning a vacation? Alaska or something?"
"Yes, sir," Sam replies.
"Well, shoo then! Go. Have fun. Just bring me back something." He closes his eyes.
"Okay, then." I pat Jack's hand as I stand up, once again feeling grateful for Selmak. No arthritis. "Be good, Jack. I'll see you next week."
Sam stands also and gives me a warm smile filled with approval. For what?, I wonder. "Look after yourself, sir. I'll see you soon."
Jack opens an eye and pretends to glare at her. "You're still here?"
Sam giggles once more. "I can take the hint. Bye, sir."
"Bye, Carter," he replies softly, the love shining in his eyes for all the world to see.
Inside of me, Selmak is making kissy noises once more and gloating. I groan quietly. The universe is vast, infinite. There are billions of people over millions of planets.
So why - out of all those possibilities - did Jack and my daughter have to fall for each other?