He watched his daughter. She sat on the couch, a loving expression on her face as she stroke the hair of the beautiful little girl that slept in her lap. She looked sad, Jacob decided and the other presence in his mind signalled her agreement on that observation.

~Why does she look so sad?~ he asked Selmak through the link which their minds shared.

~She's a wonderful young woman, with a lot of love to give,~ was the Tok'ra's enigmatic answer.

~What do you mean by that?~

~She wants children Jacob. Her own to care about, to hug and love. She knows however that she cannot; not with the war we fight on your doorstep. She has every right to be-~

~-sad,~ Jacob finished for her. He opened his eyes, only then realising that he'd closed them; it was an unconscious gesture to close his eyes whenever Selmak spoke up without warning.

Across the living room, in the door to the kitchen stood his son watching him watching her. He and Sam had arrived unexpectedly at his son's home a few hours ago after the battle with Seth. He'd been so glad that Mark had accepted him back into the family. There'd been some tension when he couldn't explain how the cancer had been healed but Sam had stepped in and had with a commanding presence uncommon for her, ordered them to stop worrying about petty things and just be glad to have each other. They had, under her blazing gaze, accepted that and talked for a long time afterwards. Most of it had been awkward and when they'd started to get into their usual argument about the military and accusing guilt Sam had stood up so abruptly that her chair had tripped over and landed with a muffled thud on the fluffy carpet. She'd left the room without sparing them a glance, her silence clearly stating her anger at their behaviour, more explicitly than actual words could have done.

Both feeling guilty now they had called a truce and agreed to disagree on those touchy subjects. They had talked some more then, about more neutral topics.

"I'll go see where Sam has gone," Jacob had said afterwards and had stood as well, albeit slower and more carefully than his daughter. Mark rose with him and smiled wearily.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you're healthy again." Jacob had to fight the enormous joy those words had provoked and allowed his symbiote to calm his emotions a little. He still felt teary and with a huge grin enveloped his son in his arms.

"I'm glad we are talking again, Mark. I regret missing so much of your life. Both yours and Sam's, I hope we can do better from now on," Mark detangled himself from his fathers arms with smile.

"I'll go check on Jess, I'm sure she's bored playing on her own upstairs," Mark left the room to check on his daughter. His wife and son were visiting her parent's to help her mother with some work in the garden while he and Jessica had stayed at home since Jessica was supposed to go to a birthday party later in the afternoon.

He'd found them both, Sam and Jess, sitting on the couch in the living room, arms around each other. The last remains of tears had clung to Sam's cheeks as she'd gazed at the sleeping girl. She had looked so sad...

"Dad?" Sam's whisper drew him out from his ponderings and his eyes travelled from his son to his daughter.

"What is it, princess?"

She made a face at the decades-old nickname but continued speaking, "Could you check the door? The Colonel will be here shortly and I don't want him to wake Jessica by using the doorbell."

"Okay, but we have another thirty minutes until they pick us up," he said a little confused at Sam's request.

"He's always early dad and even Daniel can't find anything here to be late for. He's probably catching up on sleep anyway. Teal'c can read in the car as well as at base camp so he won't care when they're leaving."

He nodded and went outside wondering about the soft expression he'd seen on her face as she'd talked about her friends. He realised how little he actually knew about his daughter. Selmak had said that she wanted children, he knew from Sam's childhood that she wanted a family, but he had no idea if she was involved with anyone. They had been in closer contact during his cancer, but they never had enough time to really talk about her private life at lengths.

His musings were once again cut short as he heard a car door slam shut. He grinned at how accurately Sam had predicted her friends' behaviour. Jack seemed bored and nervous at the same time, although Jake couldn't figure out how the man projected both emotions simultaneously. Daniel was sitting on the backseat slumped against the window fast asleep with Teal'c sitting next to him reading a book.

"Hi Jake!" Jack greeted him and he could only shake his head at the lack of military discipline the Colonel portrayed.

"Colonel, you're early. We have another-" he checked his watch, "twenty-three minutes left," he grinned briefly to let Jack know that he didn't really mind his presence and then motioned for him to follow him into the house. "My granddaughter is asleep, so keep it silent, Colonel."

"Yes, sir."

They walked into the house and found Sam next to the stairs still holding Jess in her arms. Jacob saw Jack come to an abrupt halt next to him. He turned and saw the Colonel stare at his daughter with an unreadable expression as she, obvious to her audience, calmed the stirring girl with a few well chosen words and a caress. Jessica settled down again and Sam walked up the stairs quickly to put her to bed.

"Everything all right Colonel?" Jacob asked as soon as Sam was out of earshot. Jack seemed to shake himself back to reality, looking at Jacob with wide eyes.

"Ah, sure General, nothing's wrong, sir," Jacob raised his eyebrow at Jack's sudden use of his rank, but decided to let it drop and introduce him to Mark who was standing in the kitchen doorway again.

"Mark, I want you to meet a friend of mine, Jack O'Neill, Colonel this is my son Mark Carter," he looked at both of them and with a little surprised saw them shake hands and smile.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Carter," Jack said with an honest smile that was mirrored by Mark.

"Likewise Colonel, can I get you anything to drink?"

"Thanks, but no, we're just here to pick up your father and sister; our friends are waiting outside."

"Oh, well I'll get your coats then," Jacob stared after Mark, disbelieve clearly written all over his face.

"Excuse me a second, Jack, I'll go talk to my son for a moment."

"Okay, I'll just wait for Carter to get down here."

Jacob nodded distractedly before he went after Mark into the kitchen and the adjoining hall.

He found his son walking back towards the kitchen with both his and Sam's coat already in his hands.

"Hey Mark, you got a minute?"

"Sure, dad," Mark looked him with a curious expression.

"Why were you so nice to Jack?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you usually treated my Air Force friends like they didn't exist and now you are so... I don't know... friendly," Jacob shrugged his shoulders, trying to figure out why it bothered him so much that his son was acting so differently.

Instead of the angry words he had anticipated Mark just smiled, "You're right, I would probably have reacted differently to him if I hadn't seen him look at Sammy the way he did."

"What?" Jacob was more confused then ever, Jack looked at HIS daughter in a certain way? When? Why? And what way?

Unexpectedly Selmak spoke up ~Yes, always and because he cares about her, in that order Jacob, you have to look for yourself to see HOW he looks at her.~

"Dad? Are you all right?"

"Yeah, just dizzy, sorry," he apologised quickly. Selmak's sudden words had left him a little disoriented "Now about what you said about Jack..."

"I can't say that like him, dad, but he wants to protect Sam and make her happy; I saw it in his eyes back there. That's good enough for me not to hate him."

"Okay," Jacob answered, still feeing uneasy.

Mark pushed the door open and came to an abrupt halt, after two seconds he stepped back and motioned for Jacob to take a look through the door, but be quiet.

He followed his son's instructions and nearly chocked on his next breath at what he saw. Sam had obviously returned from her niece's bedroom since she stood in the middle of her brother's living room hugging her commanding officer.

Jake's first instinct was to barge in there and demand what Jack was doing there holding his daughter, his second was to barge in and ask the Colonel what he thought he was doing so close to his second in command. Thankfully Selmak overruled his mind in both aspects and instead told him to wait and see before he judged the scene before him. As the first shock subsided he realised more details about the scene before him than the simple fact that they were in close physical proximity. Jack stood with his back to him, one hand around Sam's middle the other in her hair, stroking softly, his head leaned to hers and he spoke soft words of comfort, which weren't loud enough and too far away to understand. Only then did he realise that Sam was crying, silent tears streamed down her cheeks despite her tightly closed eyelids and her body shook from her grief.

He quickly shut the door and stepped back into the kitchen where Mark sat on one of the chairs by the breakfast table. "Why is she so upset?"

"I have no idea, she seemed fine. She had a tough mission and was exhausted, but nothing happened that would explain such a display of emotion. At least nothing I know of would."

"You know Sam, she never tells us anything. Least of all about her feelings."

"Yeah," he had to agree with that, Sam had never been open about what was going on in that brilliant mind of hers. That was another thing that made what was happening in the living room so unbelievable; why should she turn to O'Neill when most of the family she had left was in the same house?

~Don't resent Samantha for her choices, Jacob. Don't resent her for whom she loves.~

~LOVES?!~

~They are her friends, she loves them dearly. They are all she has had in the last years. I don't like to remind you, but some of that is your fault. You have to accept that they know more about her, understand her better, and even are the ones she turns to in a crisis. She is not only your little girl anymore, she also has her own life.~

~You certainly deserve to be called the wisest, Sel,~ Jacob sent her a chuckle and thanked his internal friend for sharing her wisdom with him.

"She is very close to the people she works with, I guess I have to work hard before I am as close to her again as I want to."

"Yeah, me too," Mark answered and then grinned, "See, we can agree on some things."

"Yeah all we need is Sam, a swift kick in the behind and a little time," they smiled at each other, before Jacob looked back to the door, "I'll see if they are ready to go; their friends will wonder where they are and we don't want to miss our flight back to Colorado."

"Yeah, dad? - I'm glad you stopped by, let's do this more often then every ten years."

"I promise," they hugged again and separated with a smile. Silently they moved to listen at the door for signs that they could go back in there without embarrassing the two officers. Faint voices could be heard through the door and Mark pushed the door open slightly so they could eavesdrop a little.

"…not that big a problem, Carter. You'll have all that. You find yourself a nice guy and if Teal'c, Daniel and I approve of him you are good to go. You start that family of yours and we'll all be uncles to spoil your kids rotten."

Both men in the kitchen wondered about their topic, Jacob had a fair idea what they were talking about, but Mark was totally oblivious as to what could have brought the subject of a family up between the two soldiers.

"You know as well as me what Janet said about kids; there's just a slim chance that I might be able to conceive, much less carry to term. My damn body chemistry is just too screwed up," she stopped to draw a breath and Jacob used that opportunity to draw Mark back away from the door, not wanting him to hear what was going on while he himself didn't want to hear it as well. His daughter couldn't have children? The thought was too cruel to ponder right now. Mark looked at him with well-known anger but as soon as he saw the shocked expression on his father's face that anger vanished and only confusion remained.

"What's going on, dad?"

"I have no idea, I-" they stopped whispering as soon as Sam continued talking.

"I'm thankful for the memories Jolinar gave me, they allowed me to save dad and to get Seth today, as scary as it felt, it's another advantage, but for doing this to me I hate her, I really do."

"Don't give up on yourself, Carter. You know as well as I do that this is all new territory, no one, not even Fraiser can be a hundred percent sure what effect that protein marker will have on you. Don't let this rule your thoughts; you're a young, intelligent, beautiful woman with your life ahead of you, you'll show them all what you're capable of, you'll show them big time."

Silence settled over the living room and Jacob risked a glance inside. They had sat down on the couch and Sam leaned into him with her head on his shoulder, just as he wanted to give them some more privacy Sam raised her head and he couldn't avert his eyes as she slowly closed the space between them. The kiss they shared wasn't what he'd expected when he'd seen the fire in both their eyes. Their lips' contact was just brief, not more than the kisses between friends that seemed to be so popular.

"Thank you," Sam whispered and Jack's smile was short of breaking his face in halves.

"Your welcome Carter. I like the way you say it."

She ducked her head between her shoulders, but didn't stop smiling either. Jacob quickly shut the door again and turned to Mark, who shot him a questioning look, but Jacob only shook his head.

"You can't tell me, right?" Again he just moved his head in the negative. Mark sighed deeply, but obviously had enough of their arguments and left the matter alone.

"Promise me, should there ever be an opportunity to tell me you will take it."

"I promise, Mark. I wish things were different, but it's better this way, for all involved. Just forget what you heard, pretend it never happened and everything will get back to normal soon."

"Wouldn't be much use, I guess, I know nobody would tell me and Sam's obviously upset about it, so I won't drag it up unnecessarily. I only understood half of it, anyway," he shrugged and then walked towards the living room with heavy footsteps.

Jacob followed only a few steps behind him and when they came into the room Mark's feet had obviously made enough sound to alert them to their arrival. Sam was still sitting on the couch, but Jack had switched to the comfortable chair opposite her and they seemed to be waiting. There was no evidence of Sam's tears left on her face and Jacob wondered how she did that as well as how often she managed to hide her tears from him this way.

"We were afraid you had finally killed each other back there," Sam spoke up, her voice light and giving nothing away of the sorrowful thoughts that must go through her head. "What took so long?"

"Can't a father, who hasn't seen his son in ages, have a little private time to say goodbye to him properly?"

Jack just shrugged and looked at Sam, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," she rose from the couch and went to Mark, took the coat he gave her with a brilliant smile and when he looked close enough he could see that her eyes were just slightly red rimmed, the only evidence of her earlier anguish. They hugged and he promised to be a better big brother and call more often and she said she'd hold him to that promise.

"Let's go, Teal'c's probably waiting."

"Where's Daniel?"

"Oh he's fast asleep, you know how he gets when he has nothing to do, reminds me of someone, actually," both Jacob and Mark watched as he threw her a pointed look at her that she met with a feigned shocked expression as she pointed to herself and shook her head in denial.

"She seems to be in good hands, doesn't she?" Jacob asked his son, who nodded.

"Yeah, let's try to help with that."

"And we agree again," he hesitated for a second before he enveloped his son in another hug, "I love you son."

"I love you, too, dad. See you soon?"

"As soon as I can, I promise. Good bye."

"Goodbye," with a final wave of his hand he turned around and followed the other two, who were still teasing each other mercilessly. It was hard to believe that only ten minutes ago they had gone through a highly emotional moment unknowingly revealing a few secrets to Jacob.

~They are good together, aren't they?~

~Yes, Selmak. They are. They can't be anything else, but they are the best of friends.~

~Why can they not be more than friends? I know that you would approve of your daughters choice. She did indeed choose well and the feelings are mutual.~

~That's a completely different matter, let's delve into that another time.~

And with a smile on his face General Jacob Carter watched his daughter greet Teal'c and ruffle Daniel's hair to wake him and make room for her. He saw the young archaeologist look at her sleepily, but his expression showed concern as well, he obviously saw that she'd cried immediately. He leaned his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes again and spoke. His faint words were carried to Jacob's ears by the wind.

"What ever it is Sam, it'll be okay again. You've got us."

As he saw her smile and the small tear escape her eye which was caught by an uncharacteristically gently smiling Teal'c, whom she thanked with a mere look, he realised something.

~She's happy with them all to protect and love her.~

~And now she has us back again as well.~

~To love and protect her.~

FINI Re-established Ties

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