NADIR
NADIR
by Leana Effrenus
Title: NADIR
Author: Leana Effrenus
Email: rbbr10664@blueyonder.co.uk
Category: Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Season: any Season
Pairing: Sam/Jack
Rating: PG
Warnings: adult themes, minor language, violence
Summary: Follows 'MEMORIES', Jack's past rears it's head.
Sequel to: MEMORIES
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
NADIR
PART - 1
"What ya doin?" Colonel Jack O'Neill was about 6'3", he had well-muscled shoulders, without being stocky, and a slim waist, with short dark grey hair, and expressive chocolate brown eyes, he had an easy smile and deceptively young face which made it very hard to pin any age on him, he had been finishing his shower when somebody had come up behind him and started washing his back, after his initial heart attack he realised it was Sam, Major Samantha Carter was an experienced fighter pilot with a degree in theoretical astrophysics, about 5' 9" with short, wavy, blond hair surrounding a pixie-like face with bright blue eyes which sparkled when she smiled, which was often, as her easy-going nature and vivacious spirit was never kept down for long, and she was grinning from ear to ear, "Oh don't start that, its not like we didn't do this last week." Jack looked at Sam as if she had lost her mind, "That was on a fishing boat in Minnesota, not in the locker room showers where anyone could walk in and see!" Jack was obviously not a happy person, they had just come back from a training mission to a friendly planet after a week off when they had gone fishing together, spending their first week alone in a long time.
A little over seven months ago the SGC had been invited to send a delegation of scientist and engineers to a new planet, but when they came out of the Stargate with S.G.1, 9 and 12, they were caught in a cage. A rescue party bought most of them back, and it turned out to be a test by their new allies, but Jack and Carter were caught on the wrong side, with a non-functional Stargate, and presumed dead. While they were there a doctor had mistakenly assumed that they had lost the internal communicators that all military had on his planet, and given them 'new' ones. These communicators allowed them to think what they wanted to say to each other instead of actually saying it, which was a bonus neither had expected, however it had turned out to be 'very hard' to remove as they were tied into the brain stem, so Jack and Carter hadn't told anyone about them. If General Hammond ever found out, they would be taken off of active duty until they could be removed, and that could be forever, which neither of them wanted so they kept quiet about the communicators but still found them useful. During the six months they were stuck on Valoura Jack and Sam had become a lot closer than military regulations allowed and they couldn't tell anyone about that either, but they had stayed close since their return, on their trip it had begun with Sam turning up in his bunk because she was 'cold', and things had gotten gradually better from there on in. Jack had met Sam over five years earlier and the chemistry had started almost immediately, but they were both in the Air Force, and more importantly, he was her commanding officer, the regulations were not open to interpretation on these matters, it was very cut and dry, if they wanted to let anyone find out about their feelings for one another then one of them would have to leave SG1, the team they were both in.
This wouldn't have been too much of a problem for most Air Force officers but in their particular circumstances it was not an option. SG1 was the 'Flagship' team of the SGC, Stargate Command, a covert base in Cheyenne Mountain, which housed the biggest secret in America, the Stargate. The Stargate is a portal to hundreds, if not thousands, of other worlds, it, along with it's counterparts on other worlds were made by a race known as The Ancients, the Gate formed a wormhole, connected to another Gate of your choice. Each gate originally came with a devise used to chose the Gate you wanted to visit, aptly dubbed the 'Dial Home Device', or DHD, you plot your course by choosing, in the correct order, seven symbols, which each depict a constellation of stars, six for the destination and the last one for the point of origin. When Earth's Stargate was found at Giza, the DHD had already been removed, and so they had to build a computer program to run the Gate instead, which turned out to be a mixed blessing, as they now new more about the system than they would if they had just used a DHD, but they also made some rather nasty mistakes by overriding safety protocols which the DHD wouldn't have allowed them to make.
One nasty part about the Stargate was that the event horizon of the forming wormhole would destroy anything in its path and knowing that anything or anyone, like the Goa'uld, could come through the Stargate at any time the SGC decided to protect its self from unwanted guests with the Iris, the Iris was designed so that any matter coming through the Gate would hit it's back before it could properly reintegrate back into it's original form and was only opened after receiving a GDO signal which was specific for each SGC team, which, while stopping unwanted guests, most of the time, was not something you wanted to do to your own people as their death was a little harsh, and permanent.
The Goa'uld are a snake like parasite, that need to be in a human host to survive, many thousands of years earlier, some Goa'uld had broken from the main group and decided to be peaceful and co-exist with their host, instead of completely dominating them and trying to take over the universe in any evil way they could and called them selves the Tok-ra, which literally translated, means against Ra, which was the name of the head Goauld until he was killed by Jack and Daniel Jackson on their first mission through the Stargate, Daniel had later suffered a fatal dose of radiation while saving the employees of an alien bomb facility, and even though they might have been able to save him, he was visited by a being called 'Oma de Sala' who had once been human, but since risen to a higher plain of existence and lived as pure energy, able to manipulate nature at will, who, on their previous meeting had started to teach Daniel how to join her.
Oma de Sala had offered to finish guiding Daniel to her higher level of existence, so he had asked Jack to let him go, and however much he knew they would miss him, they couldn't deny him the rise to another plain, so they let him go. Most Goa'uld, however, are capable of doing anything to make themselves a little bit more powerful, and have a group called the 'System Lords', who are the most powerful, so the SGC decided to protect its self from unwanted guests with the Iris, the Iris was designed so that any matter coming through the Gate would hit it's back before it could properly reintegrate back into it's original form, which, while stopping unwanted guests, most of the time, was not something you wanted to do to your own people as their death was a little harsh, and permanent. General Hammond is in command of the base and Jack O'Neill, head of SG1, is his second in command, which only made the chances of a relationship with Sam, his own second in command, even more remote, until last week. The month before SG1 had been on a friendly 'meet and greet' mission which had not gone smoothly, while being forced to make a rapid retreat back through the Gate Jack had gone through too quickly and, on coming out the other end, had turned his knee badly, tearing a ligament and putting himself out of action for a few weeks, General Hammond decided that it was the perfect opportunity to give Sam a much deserved chance of command for three weeks followed by an even more greatly deserved week off for the entire unit.
Teal'c, the third member of their team, is a Jaffa warrior, a race used by the Goa'uld as soldiers, who have little choice but to obey them as they are dependent on an infant Goa'uld, or Primta, in place of their immune system, and have been under the false belief that the Goa'uld are Gods, is 6'3", heavily muscled, bald, and black with broad shoulders, a narrow waist and deep brown eyes, and had used his time off to visit his son Riy'ac on their home world of Chulac, and Jonas Quinn, the last member, who had been the ethical supervisor of the facility that Daniel Jackson had saved is about 5'8" with black hair and brown eyes, and had used his time to get acquainted with Earth and the American customs, but Sam had suggested that Jack take her fishing, and Jack was not one to turn down fishing, rather, he spent every free moment trying to persuade one or other of his team mates to go with him, so when Sam suggested it he jumped at the chance, but as it turned out they actually spent very little time fishing, not that he had complained, but when Sam had decided to join him in the showers on base he had thought it a little odd to say the least. Unfortunately for Jack, or very fortunately depending on how you look at it, Sam was very persuasive when she wanted to be and as she was already in the shower with him it didn't take long to bring him around to her way of thinking, which didn't turn out to be a very bright idea, they had only stopped arguing about it for five minutes when a sergeant walked into the shower, saw them there and left very rapidly, "Crap," Jack looked down at Sam as he realised they had been seen, "I knew you were trouble the first time I set eyes on you." Sam glared at him in an attempt to look wounded, "I don't know what you are talking about." Jack grinned at her, he just couldn't help himself, "No, I'm sure you don't, but General Hammond will if that sergeant goes and tells anyone that he just saw us in here, wont he?" Sam grinned up at him with pure mischief in her eyes, "Well we had better hurry before anyone comes to check on his story then, hadn't we."
PART -2
So saying Sam grabbed his head and pulled it down to her mouth, cutting off any argument before it could start, Jack, however, had other ideas, if they moved fast enough they could put this down to the over active imagination of a Sergeant, but if anyone else saw them they would be toast for sure. "I think that's enough, don't you?" Jack asked as he finally managed to pull away from Sam, he couldn't believe she was being so careless, he knew that her career meant as much to her as his did to him, so why would she put it in jeopardy for something that could wait until they were off duty? They had waited over five years to do anything about their feelings, why push things now? "Why bother, we've already been seen, it'll be around the base by the end of the day." Jacks face darkened like a storm had just moved in, "It better not be." And even the way Sam was, she couldn't help but stop, and feel sorry for the young Sergeant if he opened his mouth. Sam finally spoke, "Well, this is nowhere near as much fun as I thought it would be, I'm off." And with that she went, it was almost as if he had dreamt it. It didn't take him long to get dried and dressed and by the time he was finished he had decided that Sam was not behaving normally, and even though he couldn't exactly go to General Hammond and say, 'she tried to seduce me!' he could go and see Doc Fraiser and ask a few questions, then he considered what those questions would have to be and almost went to General Hammond instead, this could quite possibly be the most embarrassing conversation of his life, but it was for Sam, how could he do any less than everything?
So he headed off to the infirmary to find the Doctor. When he finally found Janet she was stood over a microscope, it appeared she was busy and Jack wondered if he should come back later, then he realised that if he didn't do it now he never would, so he cleared his throat to get her attention, when she looked up Jack really paid attention to her for the first time in years, she was a very petit, pretty woman, around 5'6" with shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes which smiled almost all the time, and he thought about the stupidity of the human heart, if he had fallen for the Doctor they would have had no restrictions placed upon them at all, life would be easy, for that matter there were millions of other women in America alone, why did he have to want the one he wasn't allowed? As he looked down at her she said, "Oh, sorry sir, I didn't realise you were there." Jack grinned, "Not a problem, you busy, or can I bend your ear?" As Janet said, "Oh, this is nothing that can't wait a decade or so." She looked at Jack with a smile that spread from ear to ear, because she had already lost interest in the tedious job, and Jack realised that he had still been hoping to put this off, indefinitely, but he had no real choice, so he took a deep breath and said, "You know about," And loosing all bravado in a nano second Jack paused, and Janet was sure she could see him blush under his tan, "Women's," Again he paused and his hands didn't seem to know what to do with themselves, "Things, right?"
If Jack hadn't looked quite so serious Janet would have laughed right then but she could see just how hard it had been for him discus the subject let alone bring it up. "Yes." She answered in her most professional voice; she knew Jack would find it easier to talk to her in her professional capacity than as a friend, "It can make you cranky, right?" Janet was never more thankful for the years of training she had gone through than in that moment, all the grief counselling lessons and how to tell a family member nothing without being obvious about it, and even the odd poker game, had really paid off when she actually managed not to laugh. "That's right, the hormonal changes that some women go through can cause mood swings and erratic behaviour." Janet was almost dying inside trying not to laugh at the whole situation, not that it was a funny or stupid question, far from it, it was actually a relief to find a man who actually asked about the subject instead of assuming that he already knew everything there was to know, but he just looked so serious and cute, stood there wanting to know about 'women's things', and he was so totally serious, she just wanted to hug him, then laugh for an hour, but she really didn't think he would appreciate either reaction, so she remained the perfect picture of professionalism and hoped he was finished, only he wasn't, and it was almost painful watching him try to word his next question, "Can it make you, for instance, kind of, active?" Janet was slightly confused by the question and the emphasis he had placed on the last word, "Well, some women find that exercise is helpful when they get cramps, but it has never been connected with hyperactivity or anything like that."
Jack looked at her and she saw he was more confused with her answer than she had been with the question. "Hyperactivity? No, I mean, you know, kind of active!" Jacks face was an unbelievable collage of emotions and Janet only wished she had time to recognise them all before they were replaced by another, she recognised the confusion immediately but it was a while before she recognised the other main emotion, concern, and as she finally realised what it was, she understood what was bothering him and what he was trying to ask her. A few years earlier, during preparation for a summit between the U.S. President and the High Chancellor of the Tok-ra, the proceedings were interrupted when one of the SGC members tried to kill the High Chancellor. It turned out that the Goa'uld had compromised the man, along with other members of the SGC. The Tok-ra had a devise, somewhat like a lie detector, which reads the conscious and the sub-conscious mind and compare them, to discover if the person's memories have been altered. This process depends on the complete honesty of the person being questioned, and reads emotions as well as facts. When Jack and Sam were tested they failed, and were presumed to be Zatark's, but when Sam realised that they had unintentionally been lying, by hiding their feelings for each other, they were re-tested and cleared.
Dr Fraiser and Teal'c had been witness to Jack's statement admitting that he would rather die than lose Sam, Janet also knew that Sam had not been her self lately, and only that morning she had heard a rumour that two people had been seen taking a rather less than standard shower in the locker room, nobody knew any names, the actual witness had apparently said that he liked his features and limbs just as they were and, until he felt it was the time for suicide, he had no intention what so ever of sharing their identities, he would not have mentioned it at all but he was so surprised when he retreated from the shower that he had blurted something out to the first person he had seen, though luckily for them both, in his opinion, he had not mentioned any names. As with most base rumours Janet had ignored it, until now. "Right! Well, it has been known to happen, some women get very hormonal and intimacy can be very desirable, both physically and emotionally."
Jack looked so relieved that Janet was not sure which had pleased him more, knowing that Sam was probably just hormonal or finishing this conversation, but then another look of horror flew across his face as he began to think, "Uh, if you get, um, active, is it all the time or can it change, you know, month to month?" "Oh it definitely changes, and it can be day to day, not just month to month, sometimes it can be the only thing a woman thinks about, and others it could be the furthest thing from her mind, it might only happen once in a woman's lifetime or it could be all the time, but there are hormone treatments for that kind of problem," Janet realised that she should not have mentioned that, and wondered how to put Jacks mind at rest without coming out and saying Sam was fine, she really didn't think that would be a good idea, there was a lot of good sense in the Sergeant who refused to name them. "Nobody I know has ever suffered from anything like that." It didn't take a brain surgeon to realise that Janet had guessed why he was suddenly asking questions he obviously didn't want to about the female anatomy, but he was still glad that she hadn't said anything too personal, that was the best thing about Dr Fraiser, there were plenty of Doctors out there just as good as her, academically, but she had the perfect attitude, sentiment, and personality to make her every body's friend and confidant as well as Doctor. Jack looked her straight in the eye and nodded to her with a small smile spreading across his face, his gratitude was plain to see and a hundred times more sincere than the heartiest of thanks, "Thanks Doc." And he walked out of the infirmary; leaving Janet trying to continue the work he had interrupted.
"Hey Carter." After leaving Janet, Jack had finally managed to track Sam down outside her Lab just as she was talking to Jonas, Teal'c and two technicians. "Colonel?" Sam sounded really annoyed and Jack began to wonder if this wasn't the conversation he should have been avoiding rather than the one with Janet. He turned to Teal'c and Jonas, "What ya doin?" Jack tried to sound light hearted, a little jovial, just to lighten the atmosphere a little, but to no avail, Sam butted in before either of the men could answer. "Nothing you would understand, why?" Jack looked at Sam, he knew he had somehow annoyed her, and he had his suspicions that it was the shower incident, but he also knew that she was not being rational, and Sam was nothing if not rational, so he knew there was something else wrong as well. Jack turned slowly to Teal'c and said, "Would you mind giving us a minute please Teal'c?" Teal'c looked at Jacks eyes and even Jonas couldn't miss the anger in them, Jack would take a lot of horseplay from his men, he afforded every courtesy to Sam, and he allowed her to get away with a lot of things that no other person under his command would dare even think of doing, but this time she had pushed it too far.
Teal'c nodded to Jack and signalled the rest of the party to move away and as they were going Jack heard Jonas say, "Boy is she gona get it!" unfortunately for Jonas this was a saying that his predecessor had been very fond of using and it hit a sore spot in Jacks already thinning nerves, "Quinn, my office, 08:00, tomorrow, I don't want to see your worthless hide till then, do you understand?" Jonas was as much stunned as anything else, along with everyone else in hearing distance, which was not many, with the way Jacks voice tended to lower the angrier he got, even Jonas only just heard it, but he didn't answer fast enough. "Are you loosing your hearing, or are you ignoring me Boy?" Jonas finally realised that there was something very wrong when Teal'c moved past him and stood before Jack. "O'Neill, Jonas Quinn was only voicing the beliefs of everyone here, he should not be punished for using the freedom your country has given him."
Jack looked at Teal'c and for the first time since they had met Teal'c actually wondered if Jack might try to harm him, because whatever the strength and training differences, in the mood he was in at the moment he could undoubtedly have inflicted serious damage, but he was not quite angry enough to try taking Teal'c on just yet, "Then take him out of here and teach him what it means to join the Military, this is an Air Force base, you may not wear the uniform but you follow the rules, everybody follows the rules, Daniel may have been a Geek but even he knew the rules." Jack turned away from Teal'c and faced Sam, she had been stood there in the doorway displaying all the attitude you could possibly wish for in a mal-adjusted adolescent, but his mood even got through her own, and by the time he turned to her she was standing at parade ground ease, and moved back through the doorway into her office to let him pass. Jack stormed into the lab and slammed the door, making Sam jump even though she had known it was coming. "Do they have security cameras in your lab as well as everywhere else, Major Carter?" Jacks voice was dangerously low still, which was much worse than when he yelled.
When Jack yelled you knew there would be trouble, when he went as quiet as this, it was too late to hunt for cover, you were going to get the full force of his wrath whatever you tried, only Sam decided to test that theory. "No Sir, there are no cameras in my lab, what I do in here is my own business," She started to walk towards him in measured, military, steps and stopped directly in front of him, within an inch of his chest, then in the stupidest move of her entire life, she put her foot around the back of his ankle and shoved him unceremoniously on the floor, only to drop down and lay right across his chest. For a moment she thought the element of surprise would stay in her favour, but Jack soon proved her wrong, in under two seconds Jack had flipped her off of his chest onto the floor and rolled himself onto her, pinning her down, and however much she hated it, he had almost five inches and several pounds on her, and a good deal more experience at fighting dirty, but she had one last trick up her sleeve, she managed to get her hands free and, grabbing his hair, pulled his head down on to her mouth, which quite adequately put a stop to the fighting.
It took a long time before either one of them came up for breath, and even longer to actually let go of each other. "Sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me, I've felt so hemmed in and suffocated the last few weeks, it's driving me nuts." Jack looked down at her and grinned, "Yeah, no kidding, it's driving me nuts too, and we've only been back at work for one day, why didn't you say something last week?" Sam sat up and pushed her fingers through her hair for about the millionth time that day, "I felt fine last week, all the open air, and the fishing." Sam's smile was like a beacon of light in an otherwise grey world, and then Jack had a really disturbing thought, "Oh crap, I suppose you do realise that I might actually have to apologise to Jonas now." Sam's smile just grew at the thought of Jack squirming out a half felt apology because it was the right thing to do. "Nah, forget it, he'll just be glad he didn't get called into your office."
The conversation went gradually down hill from then, when it was a conversation, which was only in the rare moments they were trying to catch their breath. Unfortunately, reality broke in on them all too soon, in the form of a lab technician trying to get into the room to finish the experiment she was in the middle of. Jack stood up and offered his hand to Sam who grabbed hold while he pulled her to her feet, then they let the tech in and headed off to the infirmary, at some point in their antics Jacks leg had been damaged a little more than it already was, and he hoped that if he got Doc Fraiser to look at it quick enough he might not need any more time off work, because doing nothing was starting to drive him insane. Sam headed of to the control center as Jack went to find out what the General had in store for them next, when she entered the room Siler looked up at her and smiled, "You come for those figures Major?" that was one of the reasons Siler was still working in the SGC, his attention to detail, and Sam loved working with people who took their work seriously. "Yep, how are you?" "Fine, I'll just get your stuff." As they were talking a Sergeant walked in and over to Siler with an envelope in his hand, "Here's another one Sir." Siler looked at the envelope and sighed, "Great, now what am I supposed to do? I don't suppose you have any ideas Major?" Sam looked at the envelope while Siler explained that it was the third one that month, they just didn't know what to do with them, "Don't worry about it, I'll take it over to General Hammond, I'm headed that way now." Siler thanked her and handed over the figures she had come for and Sam left to find General Hammond. As Sam reached the door she knocked and waited for an invitation, "Come." And she walked into General Hammond's office to find Jack there as well, "What can I do for you Major?" The General asked her, "Well Siler gave me this envelope Sir, it turned up in the mail today and I thought you might know what to do with it." General Hammond looked a little confused, "Well who is it addressed to?" Sam looked at the envelope, "All it says is 'Jonathan, SGC, Command center.' but we don't have anyone called Jonathan up here, and apparently this is the third time one of these has turned up in the last month." Jack looked at Sam and his welcoming smile turned into a worried frown, "What do you mean three in the last month?" Sam looked at him and wondered why he was so agitated.
PART - 3
"Siler told me that this was the third one they had received this month, the first one came just over three weeks ago and they thought someone new must be transferring here so they kept it back for him, then the second one came but he still hadn't turned up, they had almost forgotten about it, then this morning the third one turned up while I was there and they asked me what I thought they should do with it so I said I'd bring it to General Hammond, find out why this guys transfer is taking so long and why this person obviously doesn't know about it," Sam paused for a moment and looked at the envelope, "You'd think they would have put a bit more information on the envelope wouldn't you." Jack walked over to her and by the look on his face he was not in a good mood, "They didn't need more information Major," as soon as he said that Sam knew that something was really not right, he never called her Major. "This should have been sent straight to General Hammond, the man who sent this knows as well as he does that there is only one Jonathan on the command staff here."
Jack practically snatched the letter out of her hand as he walked past, "Where are the others?" Sam was stunned, she had known him for years and he had never acted like this before, "Siler has them Sir." And she watched as he stormed out of the office. Sam looked at General Hammond, who looked down at the table then back at her with a completely blank face, "Was there anything else I could do for you Major?" Sam knew she wasn't going to get an explanation, she hadn't really expected one but you could always hope, "No Sir, just these test results you wanted." Sam handed the tests over to General Hammond. "Thank you Major." It was clear from his tone that it was as much a dismissal as anything else and she walked out of the office, when she was a little way down the corridor she made up her mind and ran after Jack, her curiosity winning out over the more cautious self which was telling her to run as far away from Jack as possible while he was in this mood. By the time she caught up with Jack he had already began ripping into Siler, but Siler knew how to deal with an officer in a bad mood, not everyone he had worked under had been as even tempered as General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill usually were, but he was surprised at it coming from Jack, as was everybody else in the room.
When Jack finally stopped ranting about the incompetence of the Air Force in general, the SGC, and Siler in particular, he demanded that Siler hand over the letters. While Siler collected them Sam realised that Jack was actually more worried than annoyed, the way he went on about everything, not just Siler, made her realise just how worried he was, then he confirmed it buy muttering, "Three weeks, anything could have happened in three weeks. Crap, three weeks! How the hell am I supposed to explain this? Crap!" It was so rare that Jack got this badly agitated that it really started to worry Sam. When Siler finally returned with the other two letters Jack snatched them out of his hand and again stormed out of the room with Sam following, she was determined to find out if she could help, and she wouldn't mind knowing what was going on either.
Jack started walking down the corridor and before long he was lost in his memories of a less than perfect childhood, always trying, and failing, to please his father, with all that Jack had accomplished in his life the one thing he could never do was gain the respect of his father. He had joined the Air Force because it was expected of him, his father being a General, and he had done the special opps because he thought that might do it, he had been married and given him a grandson, which was ok, but then he had 'ruined' that by loosing Charlie, after that he had accepted the Abydos mission, and that was supposed to have been the end of it, but he had even managed to screw that up by surviving, then to top it off he failed even further by 'allowing' Sarah to walk out.
After the first Abydos mission he had thought he could drop no further, so he gave up caring about what his father thought, then he had landed one of the best jobs in the Air Force, second in command of the best kept secret in America, and since he had re-joined the SGC he had rarely if ever even thought about his father, but it turned out that he couldn't stop caring what his father thought, he had just stopped thinking about it, and now he would think he was being ignored, or if Jack tried to explain he would just think they were incompetent. When Jack finally came out of his revere he realised he had no idea where he was, as he began thinking about his surroundings he also realised he was being followed, he turned and frowned at Sam, then he realised that she must have been following him since he had left the command center, and he smiled, grateful that she cared enough to stay with him, even in this mood.
Sam watched as Jack stormed his was down corridor after corridor and wondered where he could be headed, then it struck her, he had no idea where he was going, he was just walking, he must be trying to decide how to deal with something that troubled him very greatly, he never got this wound up about things, even when a senator from the 'appropriations committee' had tried to shut down the SGC he hadn't gotten this worried, he had just done what he thought was right, completely ignoring General Hammond, and a Presidential order, going through the Gate to stop an attack by the Goa'uld, When she saw the glare he sent her way Sam started to wonder if it wouldn't have been better to leave him on his own, but then he smiled and she knew she had done right, quickening her pace she caught up with him and he glanced at her saying, "You do realise that I have no idea where I am?" Sam smiled, "Yeah, I kind of guessed, our changing room is just round the corner."
When they were sat next to each other on the bench in the middle of the room, Jack put his elbows on his knees and with his head hanging, told her in a very quiet voice that the letters were for him. "What?" Sam wasn't quite sure what to make of that, "Is it someone from one of your undercover missions?" Jack almost smiled at that; they both knew that Jack had spent ten years in undercover work or other equally dangerous and classified missions. "I wish, no, only one person ever called me that, they're from my father." Sam sat bolt upright, "What?" "Yeah, he chose the name but mom didn't like it and always called me Jack, it kind of stuck." Sam didn't know what to say, "Obviously. So what does he want?" She paused for a moment, "And for that matter, how does he know about this place, I wasn't even allowed to tell dad when he was dieing." "Yeah, but Jacob was only a General, my father's not only a General, he's also a senator on the appropriations committee." Sam looked at him stunned, "You're joking?" "Yeah, ha, ha, I wish." Since they had sat down Jack had barely raised his eyes from the floor, and Sam knew there was something bad about this, "So what does he want?"
Jack looked up at her for a moment and finally said, "I don't know, I haven't read them yet, but it probably has something to do with ripping me a new one, maybe he's dying and wants to let me know that he's definitely leaving everything to someone else." Sam wasn't sure what to say after that, she might have thought he was joking, but he was being way too serious. "Why don't you read them and find out?" Jack looked at the letters in his hands and realised that it was the first time he had actually thought about reading them, he lifted his head again and looked at Sam, "Here, you read them." Sam was speechless as Jack handed the letters over to her, but there was no doubt that he meant it, and she was almost certain that if she refused the letters would sit in a draw somewhere for years, until some curious mourner sorted Jacks things. Sam opened the first letter and, though she was surprised at its brevity, read it out loud to Jack, "Jonathan," She just couldn't get used to that, "You will return home immediately to discus your future."
Jack didn't even look up at her when she finished reading, she couldn't understand how he took this so quietly, not even General Hammond would have dared to speak to Jack like that. "That's all there is in the first one, do you want the rest?" Jack nodded and Sam opened the other two envelopes to find much the same in each. "Jonathan, You will contact me immediately and explain yourself." Jack slowly shook his head while Sam unfolded the last letter and began to read, "Jonathan, Due to your lack of response I have no choice but to inform you that if you are not here on Saturday the 14th of June at 14:00 hours I will contact your superiors and have your commission suspended." Sam was in a total state of shock, how anyone could talk to their son that way was enough of a mystery, but how he got away with doing it to Jack she did not know, then something else occurred to her, "Uh, I hate to say it, but its Saturday the fourteenth today, if you want to go you are really gona have to haul yourself, it's almost half one now."
Jack stood up, as if galvanised by her words, "We." He stated, Sam followed him out of the door and then realised what he meant, "What, no, take Teal'c with you, take Jonas, take General Hammond for Pete's sake," Jack paused and looked back at her with a small grin, "Don't look at me like that, no I am not going with you." Jack walked around the corner into General Hammond's office and barged straight in, "Sir we need to go now." Jack handed the letter to General Hammond who read it and nodded his head, I'll have a chopper waiting for you outside, it can drop you right in his back garden, lets just hope he has guests." Sam looked at the General in surprise, he was not even trying to conceal the venom in his tone, and she assumed he must already know Jacks father, in which she was right, and he really did not like the man, very few people did, and most of those who did were just as ruthless and mean spirited as he was, Senator O'Neill was the type of man whose funeral would be very quiet.
It took them a matter of minutes to reach their changing room and Sam was tempted to bring her weapons belt, but she didn't think General Hammond would let her off base with them, as she started to get ready she noticed that Jack was just standing there, "What's up?" Jack looked round at her with an expression of utter confusion, "What am I supposed to wear?" Sam laughed, "It's not a date." But Jack was not laughing and he looked genuinely worried, "But my blues aren't here." Sam realised just how much this man had Jack worried, even about his clothes, "Wear this, it's fine, if he doesn't like it I can always shoot him for you." Sam handed him his plain Khaki trousers and jacket, along with a black t-shirt, and then dressed herself in the same. When they were both ready Sam turned to him and unexpectedly pulled his head down to kiss him, and it lasted a while, but as he lifted his head Jack actually smiled, "That's much better." Sam said as she smiled and walked out of the room to catch a chopper ride to Jacks fathers. When they got to the house Sam couldn't believe her eyes, it was enormous, it was an old colonial style house, but a lot bigger than most. They were shown through the patio doors by a man of about fifty in a dark business suit and when they were announced to Mr O'Neill Sam decided that Jack must have got his looks from his mother, he was as different from the man in front of them as night and day, or ebony and ivory, basically, they were both male and there the similarity stopped, Jack had more in common with Teal'c. Mr O'Neill was about five ten, only slightly taller than Sam, his hair was Jet black and closely cropped to his head, much shorter than Jacks, his eyes were a piercing blue and his high cheek bones and pale complexion couldn't have been more different from Jack if you tried, and as soon as Sam saw his expression she realised that their personalities must be similarly different.
All Sam could read in this mans face was contempt, disappointment, and even resentment. Sam knew just how shattered Jack had been when he had lost his son Charlie, but she couldn't see this man feeling anything but annoyed at the inconvenience if he ever lost Jack. Sam knew her own father was not one to show his emotions very easily but she had never been left in any doubt that he loved her, she really couldn't begin to imagine what growing up had been like with a man like that, and her heart broke when the unbidden picture of Jack as a small boy, trying so hard to please his father but getting nothing but contempt in return, came flooding through her mind, and even before she had heard his first words she knew that she was going to seriously dislike this man. "So you made it Jonathan." Sam had never known Jack seem so small, and worried before, "Sir." "It was inconvenient having to write three times, I expected more from you." "I was off world or on leave, and if you'd put O'Neill on there they might have known who it was for."
This was the first hint of the Jack she knew that Sam had seen since Jack had first seen the letter. "Making excuses now are you, pathetic, but then I shouldn't expect anything else." He looked Sam up and down and said, "Airman, you will wait outside." Sam looked at Jack without moving, there was no way she was going to be ordered about by this supercilious, condescending and egotistical idiot, and Jack just shook his head, ever so slightly, so she ignored his father and stood her ground, eyes never moving from directly forward once she had turned back. Mr O'Neill looked at her and waited for her to leave, when she didn't he tried again, his voice getting louder and harsher, "Airman, I said you will wait outside." This time Sam didn't even bother looking at Jack; she knew he wanted her there so she was staying. Mr O'Neill looked at Jack and said, "You have a very insubordinate subordinate. Is she deaf or don't you teach your airmen to obey orders any more?" Jack actually grinned, he felt the strength of resolve and the companionship coming off of Sam in waves, "No Sir, not to me, she obeys every order I give her without question or hesitation." Sam could feel Jack coming alive again, even in the presence of his father, and hoped that in some small way she could help him.
"Then order her to get out of this room, now." Jack looked right into his father's eye and said, "No." Mr O'Neill smiled, "What's wrong boy, you need the little girl to keep you company?" Sam felt Jacks body stiffen, and she knew how easily insulting his men, and especially her, could end up in a fight, Jack's eyes hardened and as he glared at his father he replied, "You do not talk about my men like that Sir, I don't care who you think you are, but you do not even think about my men that way." Sam could see that Mr O'Neill was badly shocked by Jacks anger, it was easy to see that Jack had never stood up to his father before and Mr O'Neill backed down quickly, "Well if you are both staying you will need seats." Mr O'Neill pressed a button on his desk and the door opened, emitting the well-dressed man who had shown them in. "We need another chair Somers." The man nodded and backed out of the room, "Yes Sir." The three of them stood in silence waiting for Somers to return, which didn't take long, when he did he put the two chairs down behind Sam and Jack who both thanked him but remained standing, Mr O'Neill seemed to take this as waiting for permission and said, "Sit."
Sam didn't even look at him but Jack said "No." Then added as an afterthought, "Thank you." Mr O'Neill glared at him but Jack just looked him straight in the eye and finally realised that his father was only human, just like everyone else, the only power he had was the fear he had instilled in a small child, but that child had grown up now, and he was a much better man than his father would ever be, he might not be a General yet, but he didn't want to be, he wanted to be right where he was, the commander of SG1, and his father could see the change wash over his face, as did Sam. For the first time since they had arrived Sam smiled and seeing this really infuriated Mr O'Neill. "When I say sit down you will sit down Colonel." Jack just looked at his father and smiled, he no longer had any hold over Jack and he knew it. "You wanted to see me Sir?" Jacks father walked over to his desk and sank into the big leather chair behind it. "I have a problem, you have to sort it out." Mr O'Neill tried to sound commanding but they all knew he was finished with bullying Jack, who nodded at the statement. "Somebody has decided they like me even less than you do, they have threatened my life if I don't get you out of the SGC."
Jack looked his father right dead in the eye, Mr O'Neill had never liked Jack being in the SGC, it was too good a job for him as far as he was concerned, Jack looked at him and said, "Your story is so touching but it sounds just like a lie." Mr O'Neill looked straight back at him and for the first time in his life Jack actually thought his father was telling the complete, unvarnished truth, and it was quite disconcerting. For the first time since they had entered the room Sam spoke, "Sir, Ten o'clock." She had been covertly searching the room and the gardens outside the windows, and had seen movement and colour in a large bush were none should have been, Jack nodded, "I see them." Mr O'Neill looked out of the window and asked, "Are they here already? I didn't expect them until later, I was supposed to keep you here until three o'clock, then they were going to grab you on the way out, you were supposed to come alone." He was looking at Sam accusingly, as if he blamed her for everything. "Sir. Seven and eleven. Ditch him?" As soon as she said it Sam realised how her warning could be misinterpreted, she was informing Jack that the men outside were growing in numbers and spreading out, then she suggested he get his father out of the possible line of fire by putting him on the floor, or 'ditching' him, but Mr O'Neill, probably on purpose, took it completely the wrong way.
"I suggest you stay out of this girl, or I will have your career in tatters by the end of the day." Jack was furious; Sam had not seen him so mad since their first visit to Valoura, when a commander had called her virtue into question. "Major Carter is a fighter pilot Sir, she flew more combat runs over the Gulf than you did in your entire career and the things she deals with everyday would make your head spin, she would have left you standing in your prime, let alone now, you will do nothing to ruin her day let alone her career, she is ten times the officer you ever were, you don't even deserve to be in her presence, how dare you threaten her?" Mr O'Neill was quick to jump to his own defence, "How dare she talk about me like that in my own home?" Jack looked at him with a curious mixture of pity and contempt, "There are men outside your window and you are in the potential line of fire, she was suggesting I try to protect your worthless hide and you know it." Mr O'Neill was totally shocked to hear his son speak that way, Jack had always verged on being timid in his presence and he had no idea what kind of man his son really was, "You will not speak to me like that Jonathan, you will do as you are told." Jack looked in his fathers' eyes and for the first time in his life spoke his mind to him.
"There is not another person on this planet, or any other, who ever intimidated me, but then you never cared enough to know that did you? I have faced and beaten Goa'uld System Lords, I have faced down slavers, bounty hunters, Jaffa and God know what else, and that's just in the last five years, I can hold my own with the Goa'uld, the Nox, the Tolan, and even the Asgard, and countless others I cant even remember, I am not going to be intimidated by you any longer." Even Sam was surprised by the passion in Jacks voice and his father was stunned into silence. "You are nothing compared to the people out there, they mean something, and if the Asgard think I'm good enough to represent this entire planet, then I think I'm doing just fine, I can't have gone to far wrong can I? Whatever you might think, or try to make me think, I have done more than you can even imagine, Christ, I've forgotten how many times we've saved the planet, so don't try telling me what to do, Sir." Sam had never heard so much contempt as Jack put into that last word, and if Mr O'Neill hadn't been the person he was she might have felt sorry for him, but as far as she could see he deserved everything he got, and more, but there would be time for that latter, right now they had more important things to think about, like how to get out of here in one piece, and who was trying to stop them.
"Colonel, we may have a problem here." Sam thought through the communicator, as she had watched more men had joined the group outside the window and there were now at least six people out there, and they probably all had guns. Jack looked covertly out of the window and hoped the men out there were stupid enough to think they hadn't been spotted. After thinking for a while Jack turned to his father and asked, "Where is your car?" Mr O'Neill looked at him in horror. "You think you're fine, but you run away from a few amateurs like those? I could take them out my self." Jack glared at his father, "But you wont, I want them to follow us, not get mown down by some idiot with a gun, and speaking of which where is yours?" Mr O'Neill opened his desk draw and Jack could see the gun lying there, he casually walked round to the draw and, leaning over the desk as if to inspect some papers, picked up and pocketed the weapon. "Is it loaded?" His father looked at him with contempt, this whole thing had put a bad dent in his ego and he wanted to hit out at someone, "Of course it is, I don't have children in the house." Jack stopped mid stride in horror and Sam didn't even realise what she was doing until she felt her feet connect with the arrogant chest in front of her, she had jumped across the desk and knocked Mr O'Neill flat on his back, she couldn't believe the man was so cruel, Jacks son, Charlie, had found his personal gun in their house and accidentally killed himself with it, and even though it was over six years ago, it was not the kind of thing you forgot and Mr O'Neill had known how much it would hurt Jack who still blamed himself anyway.
"You rotten stinking Bastard." Sam didn't think she had ever hated anyone as much as this man at the moment, and it was obvious that her attack was totally unexpected. "You patronizing, conceited, pompous, overbearing, self opinionated, pretentious, egotistical, arrogant piece of shit." Even Sam was impressed with her own insults, "How dare you speak to him like that, he has been to hell and back for this planet, and don't think I mean that figuratively, he risks his life every day to make sure that arrogant idiots like you don't have to worry about who lives in the next solar system. He has spent his life trying to please you, and you can't even keep your poisonous remarks to your self." Sam's face told him in moments what she was trying to convey in words, "You disgust me." Mr O'Neill tried to look superior and unafraid, but it didn't quite work while he was trying to get up of the floor, "So he's been whining to you has he? Telling you all about his terrible childhood?" Sam stepped forward and hit him again, knocking him straight back to the floor, she had never hit an unarmed man in anger before but this one really deserved it. "No, he didn't have to, I can see it written all over your face, you worthless scum." "Carter." Sam heard Jack in her mind and looked over to him; it was the first thing he had said since his fathers comment. "We're going." As he thought it he started walking toward the door and his father, not knowing what he had thought, called out to him. "Jonathan, I haven't dismissed you boy, get your self back here right now." Sam looked at him with contempt, "He doesn't take orders from you, and his name is Jack."
Mr O'Neill looked slightly desperate and Sam almost started to feel sorry for him until a nasty cruel look came over his face once more. "You think you know him do you? Well let me tell you, pilot, it wont be long before he lets you down, just like he has everyone else." Sam looked at him and felt pity for this pathetic man who would never know the amazing, heroic man that was his son. "I've worked with him for almost six years and he has never let us down, we have come home where other good soldiers have failed, he has even bought us home where the Tok-Ra have failed, I'm not about to start worrying about him now, and nor will any other member of the SGC, try what you want, you can't touch him now." Mr O'Neill looked at her and a sly malicious smirk flew across his face. "I don't have to touch him, do I? I can get you instead; I think that would bother him even more, wouldn't it? Do you think I'm blind, don't you think the two of you are obvious? I can get you kicked out of there so fast you wont know what hit you."
Sam just looked at the man in pity and shaking her head said, "If you weren't so pathetic I'd laugh, I have a doctorate in Theoretical Astrophysics, how are you going to persuade them to get rid of me? And as to the other, there's not a person on base who doesn't already know, and they would still swear it wasn't true." Sam looked at his shocked expression with pure pity. "You really have forgotten what the Air Force is about, haven't you? You stick together and people stay alive, there isn't one person on that base who can't say that Jack O'Neill has saved their life at least five times, because he has saved this planet from annihilation at least that many times, if not more, and that's not mentioning the other times he has saved so many of us, so while you're trying to think of ways to hurt him, just remember how many times you owe him your life." Sick of the sight of him Sam turned around and ran after Jacks fading footsteps, and heard Mr O'Neill saying, "Bloody scientists." If Sam hadn't already respected Jacks attitude toward life she would have now, the fact that he remained a sane, useful member of society after a childhood with that man was nothing short of miraculous.
When she finally caught up with Jack he was on his way out of the patio doors heading for the helicopter whose pilot started its engines as soon as she saw them, they got into the chopper in silence and put on the headphones, "Straight back to base." Jack called to the pilot, who nodded her head and took off. They were half way back to Cheyenne Mountain when Jack looked at her and thought, "Well, you've met the in-laws, what do you think?" Sam looked straight back at him and thought, "At least you have one thing in common, you both hate scientists!" Jack looked at her and the beginnings of a smile passed over his face, "Nah, I just don't get science, scientists can be kind 'a cute, and really amazing when you need them, now lets get back to General Hammond and let him in on the news." Sam grinned and Jack leant forward, put his hand round the back of her neck and pulled her toward him for a long gentle kiss before thinking, "Thanks." It wasn't long before they were back on the base and they went straight to General Hammond's office where Jack burst in, as usual, and started talking before he could even see General Hammond let alone his guests, "That stinking son of a bi..." Jack stopped suddenly as he saw the two guests sat in front of the Generals desk. "Sorry Sir I didn't realise you had company." General Hammond looked at Jack and shook his head in despair, "That is why they invented knocking Colonel."
General Hammond looked at his guests and said, "Colonel Sharpe, Major Fog, I would like to introduce you to Colonel O'Neill, my second in command and the head of SG1, and Major Carter, his second in command." Jack took his first real look at the pair and wondered why they were there, Colonel Sharpe was around five nine, the same as Sam, but her hair was black and tied back in a tight bun, her eyes were bright green and shone with intelligence and she was wearing a sensible trouser suit in navy blue, Major Fog was only slightly taller than his superior, and with his slightly curly blond hair and blue eyes, he looked way to young to be a Major. As General Hammond was finishing his introductions the pair stood up and Colonel Sharpe held out her hand to Jack, "Colonel O'Neill, it is a pleasure to finally meet you, I have heard a lot about you recently."
Jacks eyebrows went up, and his head tilted slightly at her English accent, "Don't believe a word of it Colonel, I'm actually a nice guy." Sharpe smiled and nodded at that but out of the corner of his eye Jack could see that Fog was not happy, though he wasn't sure why. Sam held her hand out to Sharpe and shook it saying, "Glad to meet you Sir." Sharpe looked slightly put out by this and said, "If you're that glad you can stop calling me Sir, I can't stand it, Ma'am will be fine, or even Colonel, but not Sir." Sam smiled, "Ok Ma'am." And Sharpe was smiling again, then she turned to Jack and said, "We appear to have interrupted you on your way in Colonel, do you want us to leave?" Jack looked at the General, who slightly shook his head, and replied, "No need Colonel, I was just going to inform the General that my father is his usual chipper self and his garden roses are just exploding, he may not want to see Carter again for a while though, she got so excited that she may have accidentally crushed one or two of them, or possibly three, I'm not quite sure, I had to leave in a bit of a hurry, something came up."
Sharpe smiled, she thought this was lovely, a military man who still visited his father, "Well, it's nice to see that even now some men visit there parents, and I thought families were going to pot." As she smiled at Fog she realised that General Hammond was looking too questioningly at Jack, watching the silent by-play and remembering what Jack had been saying when he entered she realised that the conversation had been about more than just visiting parents, Hammond had understood most of the cryptic comments but Jack had had to be careful of what he said so he didn't quite understand what he meant about Sam.
What he did get was that there were intruders at his fathers home, and they were not friendly, so as Jack looked at him questioningly he knew he wanted to send reinforcements, and he authorised it with a nod, Jack nodded to Sam and she politely began to excuse her self with, "Would anyone like a coffee?" And although the two visitors declined along with General Hammond, Jack thanked her and she left to get his 'coffee' and set up a team to go to his fathers house and make sure he was all right, not that she really cared, but she knew Jack would inevitably feel guilty if anything did happen to him, so she set up the team and took Jack his coffee, when she came back into the room and handed it to him she thought, "Every thing's set up Sir, I can go whenever you want." Jack looked at General Hammond who nodded, knowing that Sam was ready and for the visitors benefit Sam said aloud, "I'll just go and start on your meal Sir, I'm sure it wont take long, If you'll excuse me Colonel Sharpe." And she left the office looking for a little fun.
"Isn't it a little early for a meal Colonel?" Fog asked, his tone of voice was almost argumentative and with the mornings activities Jack was just in the right mood for a fight. "It's a big meal, it might take a while to sort out." Fog was obviously not happy with this answer, "In England we wouldn't expect an officer to prepare our meals for us, we would make use of the kitchen staff." Jacks eyes narrowed slightly and General Hammond wondered how he could avert an incident without bruising any egos, "So do we Major, but some meals have to be prepared in a specific manner, for these we use the person best suited to the job." Sharpe had already decided that they were not talking about food and that just confirmed it, but whether Fog understood what he was being told or not he was not going to let it go, he wanted to see how far he could push Jack and General Hammond, it was why he went everywhere with Colonel Sharpe.
At the beginning of her career she had pushed her opponents herself but she found that it sometimes promoted bad feelings and resentment, so it was easier to have someone that she could send away do it instead, then she remained the nice guy, and her job got done faster, but she got the impression that it would not be a good idea to push these two men any further than necessary, the trick was to get that across to Fog, she had chosen him because despite his looks he was very capable of winding people up, and he enjoyed it, especially when it was a challenge, like it obviously would be with O'Neill, so she decided to just sit back and watch the fireworks. "In England we call it sexism Colonel, thinking that women are only good enough to be in the kitchen." Jack had realised that Fog was trying to wind him up, and he remembered the last man who had done the same, it had been the embodiment of the old saying 'be careful what you wish for.' The man had ended up in critical condition, but then, he had bought Sam into it and that really bothered Jack, which did not bode well for Fog.
"I know Carter's good enough to take you out in under a minute Major, and her cooking abilities are not being used right now, though she is a damn good cook, it's her organisational skills that are needed for this particular meal, and believe me, it's her favourite part of the job." Fog looked at him with distain, which unfortunately reminded Jack a little too much of his father, "And I'm sure you know her that well Colonel, to be aware of her preferences?" Jack smiled that feral smile that so many people knew meant it was time to run for cover, "Yes Major, I do, she has been my second in command for over six years, just like I know that when she gets back she will be quite willing to take you to the exercise room and teach you a few of the skills she has been using for this meal, unless I have already done it, though I'm sure you would prefer Major Carter to show you, she has a real way with teaching." Sharpe watched Colonel O'Neill and she was sure that twenty years ago Fog would have been unconscious by now, it was only through years of hard work and self discipline that he had contained the temper she could see boiling beneath the surface, but she did think it strange that he had bitten so quickly, what she didn't know was that Jack was already extremely wound up from the short visit to his fathers home, and so he was easily sparked off again, she also didn't realise that Fog was very lucky that Sam wasn't there, because she would have given him the same treatment Jacks father had got, only worse.
PART - 4
Just as they were finishing talking about her Sam walked into the room with a huge grin across her face, "I guess things went as planned Major?" Jack asked, "Yes Sir, your meal is ready at your convenience, and there's a fruit basket in the conference room, only I think it may have started to turn already, it seems to be a bit sour." Jacks smile faded as he realised that she had also bought his father back. "Why did you allow rotten fruit into the base Major?" By now Colonel Sharpe was looking very interested in their conversation, "The currier insisted Sir, the only way to stop him would have been to forcefully restrain him, and I didn't think you would want that."
Jack could hear the disappointment in her voice and knew that she had been tempted, and he was glad she had resisted that temptation, the last thing they needed was to give the old man more ammo, especially in front of witnesses. "Why don't you go and deal with that yourself Colonel?" General Hammond suggested. "Thank you Sir." As Jack turned to the visitors and give his apologies Colonel Sharpe stood up and said, "I enjoy sour fruit Colonel, why don't I come with you and see what we can share out? You don't want to waste it after all, do you?" Jack looked at General Hammond who merely shrugged his shoulders, it was his father, he could do as he saw fit. When Jack looked back at Sharpe she was smiling at him, daring him to let her join the fun, little did she realise it wouldn't be much fun, so he decided to educate her. "Sure, why not? I never did like to waste food, and it'll give Carter a chance to see how you Brits deal with things."
When Fog stood up and began to follow them out the door General Hammond called him back, "Major Fog, I thought you might like to see some of the mission reports." And he knew when he was being given an order, he looked at his Colonel who nodded then turned back to General Hammond saying, "That would be wonderful General, Thank you." And Jacks smile just got bigger. "This will take a while Colonel, some of the corridors are closed for renovation." Sharpe smiled, knowing that she was being led away from the more sensitive areas of the base. "That will give us an opportunity to discus some of your missions Colonel, what can you tell me about the Indians you met?" Jacks grin was rather cryptic, and Sam coughed trying not to laugh, "You mean Tonanys people?" She looked down at her list of notes and replied, "Yes." The first they had seen of Tonanys people was an arrow, which had come flying through the Stargate, through the conference room window, and embedded its self in Jacks shoulder. "Well, they sure know how to use a bow and arrow." Jack said, and then Sam piped up, "Actually Sir, the Salish were Native Americans, not Indians." Colonel Sharpe looked at her and nodded very seriously. "Of course, how very remiss of me, I do apologise Major, I'm just getting used to not calling you lot 'Bloody Colonials', but I will try." The last was said with such a cheeky grin that neither Jack nor Sam could help smiling. "And if you will insist on calling me Sir, not ma'am, I will have to insist you call me Colonel." Sam grinned at her, "Sorry Sir."
Sharpe tried to give her a filthy look but failed miserably, largely due to the huge grin on her face. When they walked into the conference room everyone got a surprise, though not the same one, Sharpe saw the man sitting at the conference room table, and not believing Jack had been speaking of his father all along spoke without thinking, "Good afternoon Mr O'Neill." Jack and Sam were surprised that she knew him and Mr O'Neill was even more surprised that she was here, as nice as pie with his son after she had tried to have him killed. "How do you know him?" Jack asked, all manners and etiquette out of the window. "I had to see how easy it was to coerce your team Colonel, as the second in command I knew you would be the hardest to influence, so I tried to find out what it would take. Obviously a lot more than I used, usually a parent is the best target."
Sam practically snorted at that and even Mr O'Neill was vaguely amused, Jack openly laughed, "You didn't do much homework did you? I haven't spoken to him in almost six years, you'd have got a better result using my paper boy, or Carters dad." Sharpe looked from one to the other of them and realised that they were all in perfect agreement. "We have been looking for General Carter, but we can't find him." Sam was shocked, "You really do have to learn to do some research, he hasn't been planet-side much for years, and if you can get to him, good luck on keeping him. You'll be begging me to take him back in two days." Sharpe frowned at this, "Believe her." Jack said, "I love him like a brother, but you don't want to be around him for too long, especially when he's in a bad mood." Jack nodded his head towards Sam and said, "He's worse than her." Which got him a glare off of Sam that could have buried an ox. Sharpe thought the by-play was wonderful but Mr O'Neill was not so amused, it was the first time he had ever known his son to be a man, as a child and even an adult, Jack had always avoided him, and been quiet when he couldn't, so this charismatic, playful man was a complete stranger to him, and he didn't like the threat he posed, his self confidence was enough to rival even his arrogance, which meant Jack could no longer be bullied.
"Well, next time I will have to suggest we approach high ranking officers through their paper boys." Sharpe told Jack with a smile. Jack glanced at her and grinned then looked at Sam who was glad to have him behaving normally again, and if Sharpe hadn't been there she would have kissed him, as much to annoy his father as anything. "So." Jack said, "Now we know the threat is over I suppose Colonel Sharpe is going to want her people back." Sharpe looked over at him then, she had almost forgotten that her people had been watching the O'Neill house, and she looked at Sam with more than a little trepidation, she had read Sam's file and knew just how efficient she was.
Jack also thought about this and looked questioningly at Sam, who gave the smallest shake of her head, telling Jack that nobody had been hurt, except maybe a few egos. Jack looked over at Sharpe and Sam could see the tiny grin on his face, she knew he was liking Sharpe more with every thing he learnt about her, she was obviously worried about her people but she was still trying not to let it show, and it was then that Jack remembered his father was in the room, he had actually forgotten him, after all the years of intimidation and hurt he had actually forgotten the man while he was sat right there in the same room, it definitely was a step in the right direction. Sam shuffled her feet to get Jacks attention and with raised eyebrows but not a single word, asked him if she should take Sharpe to her men, just as wordlessly, with a single slight nod, Jack gave her the go-ahead and she turned and left the room to prepare the 'prisoners' for their boss.
Sharpe looked at Jack and wondered if she had really read this man correctly, if she had then she would soon see all of her men alive and well, but if she hadn't she could be facing lengthily negotiations and the possibility of some dead men, but she seriously doubted it, then Jack grinned and she had her answer, "Shall we go and see your comrades Colonel? I have got to hear their excuses for being caught." Sharpe breathed a huge sigh of relief and smiled at Jack once again, "I would like nothing better than to hear those excuses myself." And by her tone Jack knew there were some people in for a serious ear full before their de-briefing was over. They left Jacks father without a backward glance and by the time he realised they were actually leaving him they had already gone, he jumped up out of his chair and stormed out of the door, or at least he tried to, as he reached the door frame a large, armed, Air man stood in his way, and for all of the good it did him he should have kept his bluster to himself, the Airman was still under orders not to let him go anywhere, so he wasn't going anywhere, which really didn't go down well.
As they were walking towards the holding cells Jack and Sharpe met up with Sam who had a huge grin on her face, and they soon found out why, "Sir, I took the liberty of telling Colonel Sharpe's men that she was here." Sam turned to Sharpe and said, "They didn't sound too pleased to hear it Colonel, I get the impression they're not looking forward to seeing you." Sharpe smiled sweetly at Sam and said, "Thank you Major, I'm sure they will be as pleased to see me as you would be to see Colonel O'Neill under the same circumstances." Sam openly laughed at that, "No Sir, I'd be clawing my way out of the cells by now if he was coming." And Sharpe believed she might at that, Jack was a reasonable man but he expected one hundred and ten percent from all around him, probably more from Carter as she was his second in command, and he wouldn't appreciate finding her in a cell after a relatively simple mission like the one her men had been sent to perform.
When they reached the first cell door Sharpe looked at Jack but seeing the relish in his eyes at the thought of seeing this meeting she decided not to ask them to wait outside. When the guard opened the door Sharpe could see the sparsely but well furnished holding cell which had housed her men for the last half hour or so, there were four bunks and a small table and chairs where Lieutenant Colonel Granger, a spare man of thirty or so with black hair and brown eyes, had been sat in the middle of a conversation with his second in command Major Davenport, Davenport was bigger built than his commander and his blond hair and blue eyes couldn't have been any more different, two more of Grangers' men were lounging on the bottom bunks, but as soon as the door began to open the men stood up and waited to find out what their commander thought of them.
As they had known they would, they soon realised they really didn't want to know just how disappointed Colonel Sharpe was. She walked into the room with Jack and Sam behind her and looked them over with disappointment on her face, "Granger? She's a Major Granger." Her disappointment was shadowed only by her disbelief, "How could you let her capture you so easily? I really expected more of you." Granger looked at the floor and wished he was anywhere but here and Sam took pity on him, she knew how she would feel in his position, which was why she made a rule of not letting Jack down. Granger glanced at Sam, "No excuse Ma'am, they knew where we were and had us surrounded before I knew they were there, it was a perfect strike Ma'am, the planning was above reproach." Sharpe nodded, though Jack and Sam were surprised that Granger was so ready to praise Sam, she expected nothing less, she had always told her men, if you couldn't appreciate other peoples work you were doomed to early failure and probably an early grave in the military.
Sharpe shook her head and excused her men. "You're dismissed Granger, Colonel O'Neill's men will deal with you, there will be a full de-briefing tomorrow, I expect your report by then." Sharpe turned to Jack and said, "Shall we Colonel?" And walked out of the door leaving her men to consider their reports. When they were walking back towards the conference room Sharpe turned to Jack and said, "I suppose you think you're pretty smart taking my men out?" Jack looked at her in genuine confusion, then realising what she meant he frowned and replied, "I had nothing to do with their capture Colonel Sharpe, Major Carter was in charge of the operation, I was in the Generals office with you if you remember." Jack really didn't like the way that Sharpe assumed that he, and not Sam had organised the strike and he didn't intend leaving her in the dark about it. Colonel Sharpe looked a little shocked at his vehemence, "I'm sorry, I thought you would have planed the attack and only sent Major Carter as you were speaking to us." Jack was still not happy, "No Colonel, Major Carter is more than capable of dealing with that kind of situation, as you can see, I wouldn't have bothered going back at all except Major Carter insisted it could be harmful to the SGC if I left him there, he knows too much." Colonel Sharpe looked at him, for the first time she realised just how he really felt about his father, and it was very close to hatred, then Sam spoke, "Sir, we should get back to the conference room, there could be trouble there." Jack grinned at that, knowing his father he probably had General Hammond there taking a complaint already.
When they came to the corridor near the conference room Jack realised that his father really was making his opinion of the SGC known, and it was a very bad one. "You will bring your General here immediately, I will not be treated in this manner. I will have your job for this Airman." Jack shook his head and turned to Sharpe, "You really want to be here?" Sharpe grinned and replied, "Wouldn't miss it for the world." And Jack shrugged and looked over at Sam thinking, "Do you want to go back in there? I don't mind if you want to stay as far as possible from him, I know I do." Sam grinned at him, "What, and miss you putting him in his place? I don't think so." Jack looked at her curiously, "I don't know that I'll be doing any putting." But Sam just carried on grinning and thought, "Oh, don't worry, he'll push you far enough this time, it's not like it'll take much now is it?" Jack grinned at that and realised that Sharpe was looking at them strangely, wondering what they were thinking about. "Lets not keep you waiting them." Jack thought as he turned in to the room.
The first thing Mr O'Neill said as he saw Jack was, "Where the hell do you think you've been?" Jack just looked at him then turned to the Sergeant and said, "You can go now Airman, I'll deal with this." Mr O'Neill really took exception to this, "You'll deal with me? 'Deal' with me? Who do you think you are boy?" Jack looked back at his father and said, "You know what I meant Sir, there was no need to take it out on my men." Sam could see that Jack was starting to slip back into the old habit of letting his father rule over him and wondered how to give him a boost, "Don't let him get to you, he can't hurt you anymore, he's nothing compared to you." Jack couldn't help turning to look at Sam and smile and when Mr O'Neill saw it he was incensed, he knew that Sam's influence over Jack was a lot stronger than his was, and probably ever had been. "And you can get that creature out of here too." Jack had already had a really bad day and that would have made him mad on a good day, he turned on his father and hit him, punched him straight in the mouth, Mr O'Neill had thought it hurt when Sam had hit him, but as soon as Jack's fist connected he realised that however hard, and well, Sam had hit, Jack was worse, he flew half way across the room and landed on his back just as General Hammond walked through the door. As soon as his fist connected Jack felt angry that his father had driven him to it and remorse that he had actually hit his father. Jack looked at the floor and said, "There is absolutely no excuse for the way I just behaved." He paused for a moment and then looked at his father with contempt, "Scratch that, your behaviour is more than enough excuse."
General Hammond stood in the doorway in shock, he had known for years the kind of fear Mr O'Neill held over Jack and despised it, even hated the man for it and had waited expectantly for this day, but he hadn't really expected it to ever happen, it had taken a long time but it was definitely worth the wait and he was just glad he had been there to witness it. Sam looked at Jacks father and smiled thinking, "Well done, that was a nice swing, you could have put a little more thought into the trajectory though, a little further to the left and he would have had to pay for the chair as well." Jack looked over at her as she began to speak and he was still in shock at his own actions but by the time she had finished he was grinning at her, "Yeah but it could have damaged the carpet and I like the carpet." Sam almost laughed and had to turn away from everyone to try to hide it, by the time she turned back Mr O'Neill was on his feet saying, "You saw that General, he struck me." Mr O'Neill sounded as much surprised as anything else and it only got worse when General Hammond answered him, "I didn't see a thing Senator and nor did anyone else, nothing happened." Mr O'Neill started to bluster but soon gave it up when he realised it would get him nowhere, General Hammond turned to the sergeant who had followed him to the room and said, "Sergeant, please escort Mr O'Neill to the surface, it appears he has had a long day, it wouldn't surprise me if he started falling over."
When the Sergeant had left with a very quiet Mr O'Neill the General turned to Jack and said, "I think you could do with going home too Colonel, SG1's missions have been scrubbed for the week, I think you need more time after what you've been through, go home and get some rest." General Hammond looked at Sam and said, "You to Major, I don't believe that fishing trip was long enough." Jack and Sam looked at General Hammond in wide-eyed shock; they all knew he was telling them to go home together, he just couldn't say it outright. Jack glanced at Sam and thought, "Well?" Sam just nodded at the room in general then thought, "Lets go before he changes his mind." Both of them looked at General Hammond and said, "Yes Sir." And headed out of the door as fast as they could walk, "Your place or mine?" Jack thought, "Oh, yours definitely, the bed's bigger." Sam replied and Jacks father was forgotten again for a long time.
General Hammond turned to Colonel Sharpe and said, "I don't suppose you saw what happened here?" Sharpe smiled at him and replied, "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean General, all I saw was a family reunion, and a very touching one at that, I haven't seen so much emotion in two men for some time now." General Hammond smiled back at her and knew she wouldn't cause any problems for Jack and Sam, as they left the empty room to find Major Fog and send them on their way the General knew his two best people were getting back on track, he just hoped sending them home wouldn't back-fire on him, they had spent this long working together without a problem, it might even make their lives a little easier, and with the work they did and the dangers they faced every day he could not in good conscience deny them what little 'normal' life they could find.
PART - 5
When she woke up the following morning Sam wondered where she was for a moment, then she felt the warmth of Jack lay behind her and his arm over her waist and remembered everything. As she considered the disruption of the previous day and the turmoil Jack had gone through she wondered again how he had turned into the man he had, her own father wasn't perfect by any standards but she had known that he loved her and would always be there for her. As Jack began to shift behind her she remembered the months they had spent on Valoura and the life they had left behind there, and she knew they had been right to come home, it was where they belonged, and where they were both happiest. When Jack moved again and called out in his sleep Sam remembered their first night together on Valoura and again wondered what he was dreaming about, she could see he wasn't happy and knew he had plenty of bad memories to chose from, she carefully turned over and his arm tightened around her waist, pulling her closer to him, "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." She whispered to him and he sighed then put his head on her shoulder and settled down again. Sam knew she could never take away the memories that haunted Jacks sleep but she could be there when they threatened to take over, she would be by his side always, by day his Major, protecting the world, and by night his Omasha, protecting him, because whatever happened, wherever they might be, they were and always would be
S.G.1
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