Never Alone
Rating: PG (correct me if I'm wrong)
Word Count: 1,175
Disclaimer: I can't own anything. The pygmies and debt collectors own me.
Summary: Jacob muses during "Death Knell."
Pairing: Slight Sam/Daniel. Blink and you'll miss it. So don't bother with flames. All you'd do is burn your own finger on the match.

Never Alone

With a Tok'ra symbiote, Jacob Carter was never really alone. Still, when that symbiote was working to heal his injuries, it was unusually quiet in his head, giving him time to think. Had he been without Selmak, his thoughts might have been concentrated on his injury because without Selmak, it would have been fatal. Selmak's efforts to repair the damage had kept him alive, kept hope alive. Sam would make it through this. Sam would make it through this. Sam would survive. If Jacob survived, then Sam could survive. He was glad Selmak was too distracted to remind him of the odds against his daughter surviving an encounter with a kull warrior on her own.

It was Sam's survival that kept Jacob hoping, that kept Selmak fighting to keep them both alive. Wherever she was, Jacob's thoughts were with her, and she was not alone.

Jacob hovered near the edge of losing consciousness, just barely on this side of the blackness, when the rest of SG-1 found him. They freed him from where he'd been trapped, and he told them where to find Sam. Jack and Teal'c would be the most capable of finding Sam and defending her against the super soldier, but Jacob didn't miss the look of disappointment in Daniel's eyes as they told him to stay. Daniel wanted to help Sam as much as Jack and Teal'c. Jacob couldn't help feeling that Daniel had as much of a right to be on the rescue team as anyone.

Daniel's disappointment would have seemed to be brief, quickly buried and over. He sat down next to Jacob, taking the field med kit all members of an off-world team carried and bound Jacob's leg. Assistance would soon come to get Jacob back to the gate, but Daniel insisted on giving Jacob the best medical attention possible under the circumstances.

"They'll find Sam," Jacob told Daniel confidently.

Daniel looked at Jacob, smiled slightly, and said, "I hope so."

Jacob wondered at Daniel's doubt. Jacob was the one less likely to hope, but Daniel seemed to have lost his earlier confidence. Here was the man who had been convinced that he would get his wife back up until her death, but he couldn't believe that Sam would be found alive.

Daniel's attention to Jacob's wounds and almost cheerful conversation distracted the older man, bringing to mind the other times that Daniel had cared for him while he was injured. The first time had been after the Reetu infiltrated the SGC. Jacob hadn't been under Daniel's care then, but the young archeologist had stopped by to check on him while he recovered. The gentle, intelligent man considered by many to be the conscience of the SGC had a track record of caring, visiting friend and enemy alike in the infirmary. Still, Daniel's presence was always welcome, his good and kind nature pleasant to someone who was recovering. And Jacob knew that he and Selmak owed a debt to Daniel, who had risked his life along with the rest of SG-1 and Martouf/Lantash to rescue Jacob from Netu. But Daniel had also cared for Jacob when Apophis took Sam. He'd helped him after they crashed trying to reach the Tok'ra base and rescue Sam, Jack, and Teal'c.

When Jacob thought about it, Daniel had quite the record of taking care of him, and not just him, but also Sam. Sure, in a firefight, you wanted Jack or Teal'c by your side, but after the fight was over, whether the wounds were physical or emotional, it was Daniel you wanted by your side.

No wonder he'd come to look at Daniel almost like a son. With Daniel Jackson as your friend, you were never alone.

There were times when Jacob missed being alone. Selmak's outrage and indignation over the actions of the Tok'ra council knew no bounds. He still believed that their best chance of eliminating the Goa'uld threat was in the alliance between Earth, the Tok'ra and the Jaffa, an alliance that had now crumbled. The Tok'ra and the free Jaffa had withdrawn, and now the Goa'uld would seek out and destroy what little remained of each group.

The Tok'ra had grown arrogant, like their brethren and enemies, the Goa'uld. Confident of their own superiority, they had not paid attention to their growing losses. Few Tok'ra remained, and they placed the blame for this on their alliance with Earth. But the Tok'ra had been hunted for years before their alliance. The Goa'uld had made them targets long ago. But they had not fallen in as great a number as they had now. They blamed the alliance, blamed change. But Anubis would have risen with or without the interference of Earth. Of that, Jacob and Selmak were certain.

Jacob was still fuming when he reached Sam's bedside. He looked down at his daughter and smiled. "Howdy, kid. You were asleep for a long time. You gave me quite a scare."

Sam looked at him. "I'm sorry."

"Jack told me what happened. I'm proud of you," Jacob said. He always was. He always would be. "Look Sam, I may not be able to come around as much for the next little while."

Sam looked confused, maybe a little frightened. "What do you mean?"

Jacob sighed. "Things kind of got screwed up while you were out there. The alliance is in trouble."

"I don't understand."

"You don't need to know the details right now. Let's just say we're going our separate ways for a while. If I stay with the Tok'ra, I can at least try to mend some fences," Jacob hoped this would be enough to satisfy her.

"You sure?"

"I'm not ready to give up on this just yet," Jacob said. The alliance had to be restored. He kissed her. "Don't worry, I'll be back eventually."

"I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too. Bye."

"Dad," Sam began, and Jacob hated to deny that look in her eyes. She was a grown up woman with an amazing career in the Air Force, but she'd been through hell, and her eyes pleaded like a child's. Daddy, don't leave me.

A career in the military had trained Jacob to put the needs of his country above those of his own and his family, and now he considered not just a country but a world, even a galaxy. He could not deny that, at the moment, it seemed far greater a concern than his daughter's comfort. He sighed and walked out of the room.

He almost ran into Daniel, who was in a hurry—to check on Sam. Jacob looked at him, again admiring the archeologist's loyalty, remembering how Sam's welfare had become Daniel's chief concern after Jacob was safe in the infirmary. Jacob turned back and watched them from the doorway.

Sam's face lit up when she saw Daniel, and Daniel looked at her so tenderly that Jacob wondered how he hadn't seen it before. He smiled. He didn't need to worry about Sam. When Daniel Jackson loved someone, they were never alone.