He stood straight, determined not to be intimidated. Jack didn’t flinch away from the anger in the boy’s eyes. Ry’ac visibly tensed, as if he were bracing for the rebuttal.

“There was nothing we could do,” Jack said, knowing it was the simple truth although it wasn’t what Ry’ac wanted to hear.

“You had men… and weapons.”

“Not enough. Not for a direct assault on that encampment. We needed a diversion.”

“You stood by and watched. They tortured him! If you had been the one being whipped to near death my father—”

“Would have done the same thing!” Jack yelled.

Ry’ac blinked but didn’t back down. Jack waited, knowing the young man had more to say. This was something he needed to get out. Jack had seen it in his eyes when he’d answered the knock on the door to his quarters and had found Ry’ac standing in the corridor.

“He has pledged his life to you and to your world.”

Jack heard the hurt hidden behind those words. Ry’ac had spent nearly half his life growing up without Teal’c at his side.

Ry’ac advanced towards Jack. “How will you repay him for the sacrifices he has made?”

“I can’t!” Jack replied. “Your father…” Jack’s voice faltered and he shook his head. “Your father,” he repeated, lowering his voice, “has saved my life more times than I can count. I can never repay him for what he has done. But what he has done, he has done for you… and your people. Not for me, not for the Tau’ri.”

“So he has told me on many occasions.”

“It’s the truth.”

“I did not ask for it. It is not worth the cost of his life. How many injuries will he be able to endure without a symbiote to protect him before one of them takes him?”

“Do you think his chances were better with Apophis?” Jack demanded. Ry’ac didn’t answer. “Service to the Goa’uld? Is that the life you want for your father? Is that the life you want?”

“His service to your world keeps him from the life for which he was destined. He is a great warrior—one worthy of leading our people in the fight against the Goa’uld. Master Bra’tac has often expressed his desire for my father to assume his place. He is worthy of such honor.”

Jack considered Ry’ac’s words as he crossed the room and sat in a chair. He gestured for Ry’ac to take a seat as well, but the boy remained standing, nearly as rigid as any Academy recruit on a first assignment.

“You think we don’t give Teal’c the honor he deserves,” Jack said finally. It wasn’t a question. Ry’ac opened his mouth to speak but Jack cut him off with a wave of his hand. “No. Just listen,” he ordered. “I owe more to your father than you can possibly imagine. There is nothing—nothing—I wouldn’t do for him if it were within my power. Without him…” Jack shrugged, continuing, “I don’t know where we’d be. Dead, most likely. We would never have made it out of the prison on Chulak if he hadn’t helped us. I never regretted offering Teal’c the choice to return to Earth with us. Until he told us about you.”

At that, Ry’ac’s composure finally cracked.

It was brief, but Jack didn’t miss the way the boy’s gaze shifted away, his expression softening. Still, Ry’ac recovered quickly enough and his expression hardened again.

“He made a choice,” Jack said. “I think I know your father well enough to say it wasn’t one he made easily. He did what he thought was right. He did it knowing the personal cost- knowing that it meant he might never see you or your mother again.”

“And now?”

“And now,” Jack echoed, “he still does what he thinks is right.”

“What you think is right!”

It was too much. Jack jumped to his feet, moving to stand toe-to-toe with Ry’ac.

“Do you think so little of your father?” Jack bellowed. Ry’ac had to look up at him but the boy met his gaze.

“I do not,” Ry’ac replied, his voice firm and steady.

“Then it’s me you hate. Is that it?”

“You are a great warrior. A leader among—”

“Don’t pull that crap on me, kid! I know bullshit when I hear it. I asked you a question.”

“Master Bra’tac—”

“I’m not asking what Bra’tac thinks. I’m asking what you think. You came here to have your say so speak up.”

Ry’ac stared at him for a long moment.

“I do not…” Ry’ac hesitated and Jack saw a flash of panic in the boy’s eyes.

“You can speak freely,” Jack assured him. “Whatever you say stays between us. I won’t go running to your father or Bra’tac to tell them you’ve shown me any disrespect. You’re no longer a child, Ry’ac. You’re entitled to your own opinions.”

Ry’ac slowly inclined his head, a gesture so like his father it hit Jack like a punch in the stomach. Jack stepped back and sat in the chair again.

“I do not understand why my father chooses to remain in your service.” Ry’ac looked at him and Jack nodded for him to go on. “I have listened to the stories told by father and Master Bra’tac. Many of the rebel Jaffa who have joined our cause have spoken of facing SG1 in battle or have recounted the tales of others who have done so. Master Bra’tac often says we are living the legends the grandchildren of our grandchildren will tell to their wide-eyed sons and daughters.”

“And I don’t exactly live up to your expectation, do I?” Jack asked.

“No, you do not.”

“Of course I don’t! I’m just a man, Ry’ac. Nothing more. I’m not perfect. I make mistakes. I just do the best that I can and trust in the people around me to be there when it all goes to hell—which it does… on way too many occasions.”

“My father trusts you.”

“And you think I misuse that trust?”

“You are no Goa’uld, bending and shaping my father’s will against the anvil of his faith in you.”

Jack couldn’t stop the smirk that twitched the corner of his mouth up.

“Well, thank you,” he said, adding a muttered, “I think.”

“Yet you have placed his life in jeopardy many times.”

“Yes, I have,” Jack said. “And he’s put my butt in a sling more than once himself.” Ry’ac looked puzzled. “Your father has done things that have put all of us in danger too,” Jack explained. “He’s no more perfect than the rest of us.”

“I do not make the claim that my father is perfect.”

“No?” Jack wondered if Ry’ac really understood all of his feelings for Teal’c. Despite Teal’c’s best attempts, Ry’ac had grown up more with the legend rather than the reality. “Look,” Jack continued. “What happened in that camp was something no man should have to experience. If I could have stopped it without putting every other person under my command in danger I would have done something. And your father knows it. It’s part of that trust we share.”

“He might have died.”

“He didn’t.”

“If he had, would your heart be at ease with the knowledge that you had done nothing? Is the cost of my father’s life worth less than your own life or that of another of the Tau’ri you command?”

“No, it isn’t. But Teal’c wouldn’t have wanted people to die in a rescue attempt that would probably fail. And there was you and Bra’tac to consider. As well as all the other prisoners. Your father wouldn’t feel his life was worth much if you were taken from him. Trust me on that.”

“In the camp, he told me I must survive. He was certain a rescue would be attempted.”

“And as soon as I felt it safe to try, we did everything we could. I wish it could have been sooner but things don’t always work out the way we’d like. That’s something Bra’tac and your father can’t teach you. You’ll lead men yourself one day. I’d like to say I know it won’t be necessary for your generation but experience tells me I’d be wrong. You’ll make decisions that you’ll hate yourself for making. If you’re lucky, you’ll learn that second-guessing those decisions is a bad move. You just do the best you can with what you have and you hope you don’t get someone killed.”

“What of the consequences if the decision you make is wrong?”

“Then you learn from your mistake… and you live with the grief and the regret and you tell yourself that next time it will be different. You tell yourself than next time you’ll be faster, or stronger, or smarter and you’ll know you’re only fooling yourself because you can’t possibly predict every outcome—every possibility.”

“This is not advice one would expect from a legendary warrior.”

“Legendary?” Jack snorted. “No legends here… just a man struggling to do what he thinks is right while keeping himself and those around him alive. And if you ask your father or Bra’tac, they’ll tell you pretty much the same thing. Of course,” Jack shrugged, “they’d probably say it all a lot better than I have. They have quite a way with words, ya know?”

Ry’ac smiled.

“Bra’tac says if you would judge the measure of a man then judge him by his deeds, actions, and the strength of his heart rather than his words.”

“See what I mean?” Jack asked.

“Colonel O’Neill, I must apologize,” Ry’ac said.

“For what? Being concerned for your father? For being angry with me?” Jack shook his head. “I can’t blame you for feeling the way you do. After all, you really don’t know me.”

“Perhaps it is time for me to know you—to understand the man my father names as brother.”

“Maybe so,” Jack agreed. “I think I’d like that.”

“As would I.”

Jack laughed. He stood up, reached out his right hand to grasp Ry’ac’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

“You are definitely your father’s son.” Jack let his hand drop. “So, what d’ya say we go see how he’s doing? Maybe we can talk him into a little fishing trip during his recovery?”

“Are you referring to your cabin in Minnetosa?” Ry’ac asked as they walked toward the door.

“Minnesota,” Jack corrected. “Wait… he told you about the cabin?”

“Indeed.”

“Really?”

“Yes. In truth, he had quite a lot to say about it.”

“I’ll bet he did,” Jack muttered, pulling open the door. “Ry’ac, you know… just because he’s your father you don’t have to believe everything he tells you.”

“Are you implying that my father would lie to me?” Ry’ac asked, grinning at Jack as they stepped into the corridor.

“No! No, of course not,” Jack said, letting the door close behind them. “I’m just saying... you want to be sure you have all the facts, right? I mean, you don’t want to jump to any conclusions without having the opportunity to weigh all the evidence for yourself. Do you?”

“No. However—”

“However nothing!” Jack interrupted. “Let me tell you all about the art of fishing.”