Higher Echelon: Part 5
Higher Echelon: Part 5
by Gater101
Summary: Set pre-Heroes post Evolution. Earth comes under threat from Anubis as he searches for the Higher Echelon spoken of in the Ancient's 'Prophecy'
Category: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Romance, Series
Season: Season 7
Pairing: Jack/Sam
Rating: 13+
Warnings: character death, minor language
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).
Archived on: 2005-01-08
Part 5
The two former members of Stargate Command sat in silence and stared at the tabletop in front of them. Neither was brave enough to look up to General Hammond in fear of seeing the truth in his face.
Jack pulled at the cuff of his leather jacket and rubbed his hand across his denim-clad jeans, unaware of the General's gaze on his face. Sam was reaching forward to pick up a glass of water from the centre of the table, thought better of it then stopped. Instead she cleared her throat and looked up to where the General sat at the head of the table.
"How," her voice caught in her throat and she cleared it before continuing. "How long... sir?" She asked before quickly glancing to her left side at O'Neill. What was she to call him now?
"We can't be sure, Major. From what the Asgard-" at that O'Neill whipped his head around and raised his eyebrows in question. Hammond nodded at the answer to O'Neill's unasked question. "Yes, Jack, that big." He let that sink in then continued the statement he had began. "From what both can tell us, Anubis is looking for something in particular: this isn't merely a power strut. And it's here on Earth. But he doesn't know that. He's systematically drawing around all of our allies and friends to find this thing. The Tok'ra haven't a clue what is happening because we haven't been able to contact them thus far. We're hoping they're just being cautious. "We can't be sure if the Tok'ra know, but from what the Asgard have told us I'd be surprised if they did." He stopped there and waited for one of them to click onto the words he had uttered.
Sam looked at him with wide eyes, her dank hair not lessening their piercing effect.
"But the Asgard know?" She asked at the same time that O'Neill uttered the words:
"The *Tok'ra* don't..."
She turned to him and was met with his stare, which turned from soft and familiar to steely and distant as they connected. She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked to Hammond.
Hammond nodded.
"They're unwilling to share this information at this point in time. Thor said that you would know what to do when the time comes," Hammond paused again and this time O'Neill was the first to understand the General's statement but kept his mouth firmly locked. "Yes, Jack, you. And Major Carter."
Jack's jaw tensed and his lips pursed together in an attempt to bite back a derogatory statement. Sam's face hardened but she was not so unwilling to speak her mind as Jack.
"Sir, with all due respect, Colonel O'Neill has retired and I have been reassigned. What good are we going to be?" Carter knew her statement was useless because she knew why they had been recalled.
"'Cause, Carter, we've just been recalled." Jack whipped his head around and stared icily at her. "I thought at least you would have figured that out," he all but leered.
Sam's eyes glazed over and she fought hard not to retaliate to O'Neill's idiotic behavior.
"That's enough Jack, you may not be formally recalled but this is still my base," Hammond warned and Jack simply shrugged his shoulders in an insubordinate manner. "The Asgard would not - and will not - elaborate on their cryptic message, however they did insist that you both be recalled to the SGC and put on the front line of defence. Again."
Sam sank further into her chair as her head was pummelled with information. She was going to have to tell the General about her... condition. She could not possibly be out on the front line; she would be a liability to both the team and her world. She angled her head slightly to her left and noticed that Colonel O'Neill was watching her, a concerned frown creasing his forehead. Then it snapped away along with his face. She felt like groaning loudly but decided against it.
"Now, I have a telephone meeting with the President about reinstating both of you into this facility. Until I notify you both, I am ordering you to stay the quarters assigned to you both for the duration of your visit." Hammond noted the look on O'Neill's face that quite simply said `You can't order me to do anything'. "I'll post a guard outside your door if that is what it takes to keep you there, Jack."
Hammond moved from the room and Sam stood and O'Neill stayed in his place. Sam stood for a few more seconds hoping that Jack would say something. When he didn't she pushed her chair back and left the briefing room and found the guard who had escorted her down standing outside the door waiting for the briefing to finish.
Jack stared at the retreating figure until she was out the door, then he banged his head down on the dark wood table. His anger was dissipating and he had to fight the urge to ask her if she was okay, if she was up to fighting the damn Goa'uld, how was she dealing with the fact that Anubis could quite possibly have wiped out the Tok'ra - maybe even her dad? But he couldn't do that. Couldn't allow the mask to slip, couldn't allow her back into his life. For both their sakes.
{~}
Sam stared icily into the mirror on the cheap, military dresser and frowned at her complexion. Her eyes were ringed with dark circles, her hair was greasy and limp, her face pale and drawn. She searched the closet to her left and found a clean black T, and clean Air Fore Blue shirt and matching pants. She checked in the shower room to ensure there was shampoo and shower gel and clean towels. Noting that all were present, Sam stripped and entered the shower, not caring that it was far too hot and she would look like a lobster when she exited.
She spent no more than five minutes in the shower, in fear that she would miss the General's call for her and O'Neill to go back to the briefing room. She threw on her old undies and her clean clothes. She hated not wearing clean underwear when she came out of a shower but at the moment, it was all she had.
She slumped onto her bed and lay staring at the ceiling. She recalled the ice-cold tone of O'Neill's voice and knew that he was still angry with her. He had every right to be. And she had every reason to be apoplectic with him. He had been the one who started whatever the hell it was when they were on the planet. He had taken the cowards way out of their situation and left her to deal with the Court-Marshall on her own. He had glared at her the moment he had seen her. He was the reason she was hidden in some basement at Area 51 and not out there fighting with him. And she was reason that he was a retired Air Force Colonel who had no idea he was going to be a father again.
She groaned as that thought entered her head and thought of how she was going to tell General Hammond.
`Oh yeah, General, I can't comply with the request of the Asgard sir.' `Why's that Major?' `Well... I'm pregnant with Colonel O'Neill's child.'
She laughed at the irony of it all.
She lay for ten minutes when suddenly there was a loud wailing as the klaxons sounded, which could mean only one thing: there was an unscheduled offworld activation. Sam stood and was about to run to the gateroom when she remembered her position within the SGC - or lack thereof. She sank back down onto the bed and winced at her mistake.
Another twenty-five minutes past before Sam heard the announcement that she had to return to the General's office.
(~)
"General Hammond, sir," Jack bounced around the door into Hammond's office two seconds after the older man had picked up the red phone.
"Jack, what can I do for you?" Hammond asked after a frustrated silence of two seconds.
Jack cleared his throat before continuing.
"I can't work with Carter," he stated simply and flinched before Hammond could even move a muscle in his face.
There was a thick silence after the young man's words where Hammond dropped the red phone and stared at Jack.
"Jack... I know this is undoubtedly hard for you. I know how you feel about this woman-" Hammond began but Jack cut him off.
"It's not that... well it is but..." he flinched again, a result of not knowing what to say. "I know I won't be able to keep a straight mind when I'm out there on the field. I can't begin to imagine what it is going to be like. I mean come on General, you saw us in there! You know what she was like before... well before... you know what I mean," Jack flustered and Hammond nodded.
"Son, I-"
"General, please, just consider it. Tell the president my argument and if he can't handle that then tell him I'm not coming back and I'm going to go and catch those fish in my lake that have managed to evade me for the last forty odd years of my life."
Hammond sat in silence again after Jack's outburst and didn't know what to say. He opened his mouth several times but the words seemed never to rise from his throat.
They stared at each other for five more minutes, neither knowing what to say when the klaxons sounded. Hammond moved then.
"Jack, go to your quarters. This is all classified from you until further notice," Hammond said swiftly and moved past Jack signalling the Airman to enter the room and escort the older man to his quarters.
"Yeah, I'm moving, I'm moving," Jack grumbled when the young man attempted to move him by gripping onto his arm.
(~)
The three were standing in the briefing room, Jack and Sam aware that something was very, very wrong only by the fact that Hammond would not look into their eyes, or anywhere near their faces.
When he finally spoke, after a long silence that none of them felt was pleasant, he continued to stare away.
"The President has ordered that you be reinstated back into the SGC and back into the commands that you once held." Hammond's voice was devoid of emotion and he still would not look at them. "You are both," Hammond looked fleetingly at Jack as he said the words then away again to the Stargate in the room below, "to be reinstated onto SG-1."
Sam and Jack didn't rejoice. They didn't move. They simply stood and waited for Hammond to continue.
Another long, awkward silence continued and Jack was about to burst when Hammond turned to them, tears glistening in his blue eyes.
He ducked his head once again, swiped at his face and cleared his throat.
"Teal'c is dead."
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