Story Summary: Selmak did not die of "old age" and Martouf and Lantash were never za'tarcs. What really happened after
the replicators and most of the Goa'uld were finally defeated?
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Sam/Martouf/Lantash
"Italics" - Symbiote-Host communication
Jacob sat in the briefing room and stared at the wall. He wasn't happy about his little girl
and the problems she was having. He didn't care what she said; she wasn't happy with
this Pete guy.
“If she is not happy with him, then why is she marrying him?” Selmak cut to the center of
the problem with laser clarity.
“I'm not sure, Sel, but I think she might believe she's in love with Jack O’Neill. Knowing, or
believing, that she can’t have him, I think she's talked herself into believing she loves this
Pete-guy.”
“You, however, do not believe she does so.”
“No. No, I don't. I think he has a sense of humor and can make her laugh. I believe she
feels comfortable around him; she doesn’t feel threatened by him. She thinks that if she
marries this Pete-guy, she won’t have anything to worry about. She'll be able to talk and
think rings around him. He'll never challenge her. At least, I think that's what she
believes. Personally, I consider the fact that he ran a background check on her, and
followed her on a covert op, to be the actions of a more controlling kind of guy than she
realizes. He was stalking her for heaven’s sake. Those aren't the actions of an easygoing
person. I'll have to talk to her, but first I have to talk to Jack. He has to know where we all
stand.”
“I do not believe he will take kindly to your interference in his personal life.”
“That’s as may be, but I'm going to interfere anyway. He can lump it if he doesn't like it.”
“I will stand behind your opinion and your actions, Jacob. I am feeling much better as you
know.”
“Yeah, I do know. I still can't believe that Thoran thought he could poison us and get away
with it.”
“He almost did, Jacob. Fortunately, even the council has been brought to realize that his
actions would have caused the destruction of the entire galaxy had we failed to stop the
replicators. I am glad that they executed him. I am sorry for his host, however. He was
very distraught when he realized what Thoran managed to keep from him. It will take him
quite some time to recover.” Selmak sighed, as he thought of the host who Thoran had
traumatized so thoroughly. He hoped that his choosing to remain with the Tok’Ra would
help him to recover. They would certainly do everything they could for him. Thoran had
caused so very many, so much misery and pain; not perhaps, least of all Samantha
Carter, if she was correct and Martouf and Lantash could have been saved, if they had
only mounted a rescue right away. Thoran swayed the younger symbiotes to vote against
going for them, convincing them that he was already dead. Selmak honestly did not
believe they were…at that point in time. He still regretted that he hadn't listened to Jacob
and Samantha and gone over the council’s head to Per’sus, or better yet, simply gone
himself to see if he could save them. He couldn't have, of course and he and Jacob would
probably have died trying.
Leaving his own thoughts, he tuned back into what Jacob was saying to him, “I know, and
I feel bad about that, too, but Thoran couldn't be trusted. No one did any tampering with
his mind, Sel. He simply didn't want the Tau'ri-Tok’Ra alliance, and he worked for its
destruction from the day he turned Korra into a za'tarc and tried to halt the original treaty
from being signed.”
Jacob bit out his words as he continued, “Thank God, Lantash and Martouf were out of his
range at the time, or he would've used them instead of Korra. Much though I hate that
Korra was the one that he used, it would have been very much worse for Sam, if it had
been Martouf and Lantash that she had to kill. It was hard enough on her when the
Tok'Ra listed them as MIA and then as having died during a mission. Hell, they'd only been
seeing one another for less than a year. She's never forgiven the Tok’Ra for not mounting
an immediate search and rescue, as the Tau'ri would have done, I know that. She'll not
talk about it, and when she found out about Thoran, she was very bitter. It's the only time
she's spoken of them since they disappeared.”
“I agree, Jacob; however, we should be thinking of leaving. Regretting the past will get us
nowhere, nor will it help Samantha. There is little point of staying here, now. Malek, Anise,
and Janet managed to find not only the poison being used on us, but also the antidote and
we can now return to the tunnels. Do you not wish to do so? We have met Pete. There is
nothing left here for us to do.”
“That's where you are wrong, Sel. As I said, it's time I had a chat with Jack O’Neill. Past
time, actually. Someone needs to kick him in the ass, and it may as well be us.”
Selmak chortled. “If you say so, Jacob, but I do not think it will benefit either us or
Samantha in any way.”
“Like they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
Selmak sighed as he capitulated. “As you wish, Jacob. Furthermore, as I stated before, I
will stand by your side, or behind you, and give you all the support that I can, I assure
you.”
Jacob nodded decisively. “All right. Let’s do this, Sel.”
Standing, Jacob Carter made his way to General Jack O’Neill’s office. He knocked and
heard Jack tell him to enter. Taking a deep breath, he did so.
“Morning, Jack.”
“Jacob. You’re out and about early today.”
“Yeah, I am. Sel and I are returning to the Tok’Ra either today or tomorrow.”
Jack O’Neill frowned. “Are you sure that’s a wise move on your part, Jacob? Aren’t you
concerned that there may be others out there targeting you in order to break up the
alliance again?”
Jacob shrugged. “It doesn’t matter if there are. They need Selmak and I back there more
than ever now. The voice of reason, so to speak; although I have to admit that Garshaw
has always been on the side of the alliance, as have Ma’ashat and Per'sus. That's why it
was such a shock to have the council so divided over the break-up of the alliance. That
Thoran managed to bring that many of the younger symbiotes over to his side was
appalling. We have to see it doesn’t happen again, and that all of the Tok’Ra understand
the alliance, why we need it, and what it stands for.”
He paused, staring at the floor for a moment, before looking back up at Jack. “That's not
why I'm here, though, Jack. I'm here on a personal matter. Something I think should be
brought out into the open and taken care of before I leave to return to the tunnels.”
Jack frowned harder, if that was possible. He had no idea what personal matter Jacob
could want to talk to him about, but he was pretty darn sure he wasn't going to like it.
However, if there was one thing that Jack O’Neill did not lack it was courage. He nodded.
“In that case, have a seat, Jacob, and tell me what I can do for you.”
Jacob nodded once, briefly, and sat down. Folding his hands in his lap, he held one hand
with his other, to keep them from distracting Jack’s attention, he told himself, but he
didn't believe it. Moreover, truth to tell, if worse came to worst, then Selmak would take
over and keep him from doing anything stupid. Alternatively, Jack would take everything
well, and he would not do anything stupid. He hoped.
Moving his eyes from the point on the far wall he was now staring at, he brought them to
look directly into Jack’s, before saying quietly, “I want you to leave my daughter alone,
Jack. You have no business thinking about her in any way, other than a friend and
comrade in arms. You're her commanding officer, direct chain of command.”
He continued, his voice firm and steady, “You've had more than enough chances when
you could've changed your position, moved her to another team, retired, done any number
of things, if you were serious about her. Let her go, and make it clear to her that you don't
love her. It's time both of you moved on and got over your little infatuation. Your flirting
has come close to the line, at times, and you've lucked out that someone didn't bring you
both up on charges of fraternization. Life's too short to live a lie, Jack, but that’s what
both of you're doing.”
Still speaking in the same calm, quiet voice, he added, “I won’t have my daughter’s career
ruined because you need a safely net, a heart-guard to get between you and any chance of
a real, honest, emotional attachment. It's time you looked around you and allowed
yourself to feel for another woman, but that woman won’t be my daughter.”
Jack’s face flushed a crimson color before paling. “Where do you get off with these
remarks, Jacob? Are you threatening me? Because you'll find no evidence of
fraternization. None.”
Jacob shook his head, and sighed. “I get off making these remarks because she's my
daughter, and I know she doesn’t love you regardless what she may believe. I'm not
threatening you; I'm telling you. You've led her on and allowed her to believe there's more
to the looks and the remarks, the touches and the team nights than is really there. I
think she believes that you're waiting for her to decide to do something with her career, to
make a change so that you can be together.”
“So far, her love of what she does has won out. It may not always do that, and then you're
both going to be in for a rough time. Unfortunately, she's the one that'll be hurt the most
because she'll have given up what she loves for nothing. Before that happens, I’m telling
you, now, that I know there's nothing there, and all you're going to do is hurt her in the
end.”
Jack’s lips thinned and his temper rose. “Those are lies, Jacob. You don’t know how I feel
about her. You don’t know whether I’ll retire for her or not. For all you know, I would
retire and follow her anywhere she wants to go.”
Jacob retaliated. “Come on, Jack, I know you're lying, if not to me and to her, then to
yourself. Daniel and Teal'c are always there, always a buffer between you. You've never
taken her for a weekend get away as you have the two of them, just the two of you. You
can’t because you don’t want that fraternization label to hit you. Moreover, it would if you
ever did that. It would hit her, too, though, and it would hit her a lot harder than it would
you. Yeah, you might both end up being charged, but her career would be over; your
career would be put on temporary hold and you know it. However, that's not the point.
The point, no the truth, is that you use the frat rules as an excuse not to be with her one
on one; you know that not only would it not work, but if you did spend time one on one,
then you'd have to admit that there were no deep feelings there, and you'd lose your
shield.”
“Even when she's in the infirmary, and you're sitting with her, you never bring the chair
to the edge of the bed like Daniel and Teal'c do. You don’t want to be closer, because that
might shine a light on your true feelings for her. You once said that you care about Sam,
more than you're supposed to. That was a true statement. You do care more than a
commanding officer should. But then, you feel the same way about Daniel and Teal'c.
That's the part you didn't tell her. Her answer was the same. She cares more than she's
supposed to as well, but she does not love you. Not in the way that she cares about some
other men in her life. You can’t hide from it forever, Jack…and neither can she.”
“You're wrong for her, Jack, and you know it. The sad thing is that, even though you
know you're wrong for her, you're using her and the feelings she believes she has for you,
to hide behind, so you'll not have to find a real relationship. I've seen it in you for a long
time. I think Sam knows it, too, but she sees you as a safe bet, too, so she can hide from
the truth of her feelings, just as you can. Both of you need to do something. Preferably,
something that will make both of you take a long hard look at the feelings you do not have
for each other in the bright light of day.”
“The truth, Jack, is that you would make my little girl miserable, and she would drive you
out of your mind. You have nothing—absolutely nothing—in common. She's meant to be
with someone else. Not you.”
Jack relaxed as he allowed Jacob’s words to reverberate through him. He knew he was
right, but he couldn’t just agree to it. What was he going to do? He rubbed his face,
saying tiredly, “Aren’t you forgetting something, Jacob? Sam's engaged to marry Pete
Shannahan. That should tell you that at least part of your rant is just that…a rant.”
“I've seen my daughter when she's in love, Jack. She never admitted it aloud, and you
probably never saw the way she looked at them, but she loved Martouf and Lantash.
More than she will ever admit at this point, but it was there; I saw it. I saw it when they
went missing, as well, and it was a very painful thing to see. No, she does not love Pete
Shannahan and, in the end, I don't think she'll marry him. On the other hand, she
doesn't love you, either. There are only two men that I know of that Sam could marry and
be happy. Neither of them are you or Pete.”
Jack’s eyebrows climbed toward his hairline. “So, you think you know your daughter so
well you know who she loves before she does? Yeah sure, you bet’cha.”
“Yes, I do. If they were still alive, she would be with Martouf and Lantash today. Since
they aren't, I believe that Daniel could make her happy. Happier than you ever could, no
matter how hard you tried.”
“Just what is it that you believe is so wrong with me that she wouldn’t be happy with me,
Jacob?”
“Come on, Jack. Face reality. You can’t even allow her to finish a sentence if it has any
words longer than one syllable in it. You live and breathe the Simpsons, hockey, and
beer. She has astrophysics in her blood. You're a very intelligent man, Jack, but you
know, as well as I do, that you're not in her league, and she'd be bored out of her skull in
less than a week. Both Daniel and Martouf and Lantash could carry on a conversation
with her, and both of them were, or in Daniel’s case, are, physically attractive to her. Let
her go, Jack. You can’t live in the bedroom, much as you'd like to pretend that you can.”
Jacob watched as Jack flushed again. He could tell that what Jack really wanted to do
was punch him out, but he also knew that Jack knew that he was telling the truth and
making him face it, as well. It was time for him to let go and allow her to find her own
place in the world again. It had been long enough.
How in the hell did Jacob know all of this stuff? How had he seen through Jack’s
camouflage to the very heart of him? Damn it, the man was right. He loved Carter, not
Sam, or Samantha. He loved Carter as a sister, maybe even a daughter; certainly, he was
proud of her, as a mentor was a protégée. But, he didn’t love her in the way a man was
supposed to love a woman. Jacob was right about the other stuff, too. He and Carter had
nothing in common other than a somewhat limited amount of physical attractiveness to
one another, and they were soldiers. That was it. Game Over.
He sighed and nodded, but put up one last fight. “That's fine and dandy, and maybe you
can convince me, but I doubt you'll be able to convince Carter. She thinks she loves this
Pete guy. What's more, if she doesn’t, then she would probably be wasting her time
thinking she loves me. So, where does that leave us, Jacob? What now? You only have
one half convinced, and you know how stubborn she can be.”
“Yup, I know. I also know that she can see logic and reason. She may have to think
about what I'll tell her, but in the end, she'll see it, and I think she'll feel fine with it. Not
everything is instant, you know. It might take a while, but she'll see it, especially if you
distance yourself from her.”
“I guess you’re right, and it won’t hurt to try anyway.” He might know Jacob was right; he
didn’t have to like it.
The klaxons began blaring an off-world activation. Jack frowned, scowling in the direction
of the control room, as he came to his feet. “We don’t have any teams off-world today,” he
murmured, as he began his sprint to the control room. He arrived in time to see Chief
Harriman’s hand open the iris.
“It was a Tok’Ra IDC, sir, but it was a really old one. I, uh, well, since no one was here to
tell me, I ordered the SF’s in and took the chance and opened it. It was, well, it was the
one we used when Martouf and Lantash went missing,” he stated quietly.
Jack nodded as he looked down at him. “I’d probably have made the same call, Chief. An
old Tok’Ra IDC, especially that one, I'd have opened, too.”
“Yes, sir, er, sir,” he whispered as he stared out the control room window. The shock on
his face was plain to read.
Jack jerked his head up from where he'd been watching the Chief, to look out the window
himself, as he heard Jacob exclaim, “Oh, dear God. We did leave him behind." As he left
the control room at a run, he called back over his shoulder, “Chief, get Colonel Carter to
the gate room a.s.a.p.” Martouf stood on the ramp, swaying slightly, obviously barely
remaining upright.
His head bowed and when he lifted it, the tones of the Tok’Ra could be heard. “Would you
mind calling off your guards, Colonel O’Neill? I cannot remain standing for very much
longer, I am afraid.”
Jack’s “Stand down,” reached them as Jacob pushed his way through and caught the man
in his arms as they collapsed. “We need a medic to the gate room,” was the last thing
Lantash and Martouf heard before they became unconscious.
Selmak embraced Jacob and tried to sooth him, but he could not. This was a nightmare.
The man had been missing for a long time. That it was Lantash and Martouf; they had no
doubt, although they were sure the Tau'ri would want to verify that.
Jacob wondered if they'd even bothered to try to find the Tok’Ra, or if they'd simply come
to the one place they knew would not have moved. He'd bet on the second scenario.
Looking down at the very thin, obviously mal-nourished, and dehydrated man, Jacob
wondered what Sam would have to say, and how this would this affect her relationship
with Pete? He was fairly sure that was a foregone conclusion, and she'd terminate her
relationship to Pete. He didn't doubt that for a second.
What was more important, though, was how she would react to the fact that Martouf and
Lantash were, indeed, as she had insisted for so very long, still alive. Alive. They should
have listened to Sam. God, he wanted to kill Thoran all over again. If it hadn't been for
him, they very well might've listened to Sam and gone after them.
As she knelt beside him, Jacob looked up into the blue eyes of his daughter. She reached
out a trembling hand and caressed Martouf’s face, as she shifted her gaze from her father
to Martouf and Lantash. She took in his physical condition in one comprehensive sweep
of her eyes. Her jaw firmed and her eyes flashed with anger.
“She has every right to feel anger, Jacob, and we are both very aware of that fact,” Selmak
assured him that he understood both his and Samantha’s feelings about the situation. It
would be a very long time before Jacob and Samantha would be capable of being civil to
the council members that had vetoed going after them. He did not blame either of them
for their rancor; in fact, he shared their feelings, and as he had heard Jacob say, it would
be a cold day in hell, before he allowed any of them to have a final say in anything. He
was the eldest and most respected of the Tok’Ra still, regardless what Delek said. His
losing favor was a figment of Delek’s imagination, his wishful thinking, or a delusion he
was living under, he was not sure which. It did not matter; it was perhaps time he began
to “throw his weight around”, as Jacob would say. In fact, there were two or three
symbiotes who might find that they were no longer council members after this.
She stood to make room for the medics as her father released them as well. This would
finish a problem she was having recently. More and more she had begun to believe that
her feelings for Pete weren't as strong as they should be. She'd almost convinced herself
that she was in love with General O’Neill instead. Now, she knew for a fact that she was
wrong about her feelings for both of them. She didn't love either of them the way a
woman should love the man she marries.
Following the gurney as it raced toward the medical bays, she faced what she had known
all along. Something she'd forgotten, or perhaps buried, long ago. The man she loved
was there in front of her, but he might never know her true feelings. All she could do was
wait for them to wake up. Now that they were back, whether they made it or not, it was
time to stop hiding from the truth. She knew now that it was Martouf and Lantash that
she loved. There was no turning back. A small smile played around her lips. At last, she
knew exactly where she wanted and needed to be.
Martouf and Lantash slept for two days, while they were cared for and cosseted by the
nursing staff. Janet assured her that they truly were sleeping; they weren't actually
unconscious, now, although they had slipped into unconsciousness when they first
arrived at the SGC. Sam seldom left their side and when she wasn't there, Jacob and
Selmak were. Only once did she leave the SGC, and that was to explain to Pete why she
was breaking their engagement. He wasn't happy about it, but he wasn't completely
surprised. They parted ways and, if it wasn't exactly amicably, neither was it in a
viciously hostile manner.
When Martouf and Lantash finally opened their eyes, their Samantha was the first thing
they saw. Her blue eyes were shining with unshed tears, and her lips curved in a
tremulous smile. She was holding their hand.
“Samantha?” Their voice was raspy and their lips were dry.
She gave them some ice chips and then a sip of water, as she told them, “I'm here.” She
looked at them steadily as she continued, “I hope you'll want me to always be beside you.”
“It is what we have wished for since the day we met, Samantha. Your face was the one
thing that kept us from giving up and dying. You are the reason we survived. We swore
that if we lived and managed to return that we would tell you how much you mean to us,
how very much we love you.”
The tears slipped over the edge and made their way down her face. “I love you, too. Both
of you. When you disappeared, we were working on our relationship. Your disappearance
made me realize just how very much you both mean to me. I'm never letting you go.
Before your last mission, you asked me to be your mate, and I asked for time. Well, I had
way more time than I needed. If you still want it, then my answer is yes. No more
separate missions. I don’t think I could survive another separation like this. I know I
couldn't survive if anything happened to you again.”
Martouf smiled, as he listened to Lantash. “Tell her at once that she is ours. Never again
will we willingly leave her side.”
Looking at her with love in his eyes, as he gently pulled her towards them, he said softly,
“Lantash has requested that I make our feelings and intentions clear to you once and for
all time. Never again will we willingly leave your side, our Samantha. We love you more
than our own life. Forever.”
As their lips met to begin a soft sweet kiss that was long overdue, Sam whispered softly in
return, “You're both mine. I'll never let you go again. I love you both. Forever.”
The End
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