Jack's Day

Disclaimer: I don't own or profit from this story.

0500 Hours, Georgetown, Home of Maj. Gen. Jack O'Neill

Jack O'Neill, Major General in the United States Air Force and Director of Homeworld Security, woke to the sound of his obnoxious alarm going off a mere foot from his head. Groaning, he reached blearily over and turned the damn thing off and then flung himself on his back with one arm over his eyes. It was Monday and he hated Mondays with a passion. Granted he hated all work days now, but he really despised Mondays. Three years now, four if you counted the year he had been in command of the SGC, that had been the case. He moved his right hand across to his bedside table and grabbed his dreaded blackberry and turned it on, quickly bringing up his day planner.

"SHIT!" he said loudly.

That was always the case. The same word said in the same tone for the same reason. Meetings. Four this morning alone and then a big one with the President and the Joint Chiefs that afternoon. Then, joy of joys, he was meeting with a group of candy ass Senators to discuss further funding requests. He'd be lucky to make it out of his office before 2100 hours.

"This is fucking bullshit!" he snarled as he pulled himself out of bed and trudged to the shower.

As usual when he entered the bathroom he turned to his right and saw himself in the mirror. "God dammit!" he groused. He always got angry when he saw just how much he had let himself go since taking on this job. Granted he was still in better shape than most soldiers half his age, but he felt like he was going to pot. He was a bit heftier than he used to be, and the hair was now white. Leaning in closer he spotted a small cluster of crows feet clawing their merry way next to his eyes. He had to restrain himself from smashing the mirror. Instead he made his way to the shower and turned it on. Cold. That's how he always took them nowadays. It just figured that the minute he finally gets a sex life again after living like a freaking monk for practically a decade, the absolute love of his life gets transferred to command a base in a completely different galaxy. For some unknown reason Carter loved him and had finally given him the badly needed swift kick in the ass so he would give them a shot. Once the preliminaries were done, she had whisked him straight to bed and really rocked his world. It was mornings like this that he was absolutely certain that God hated him. Instead of waking up with a woman that defined the word 'HOT', he was stuck relieving his pent up frustrations with an entirely too frequent visit from his right hand. Stepping into the cold shower, he stayed in long enough to let Jack Jr. calm down and wash the previous days grime off, though how anyone could call what passed for unclean at the Pentagon 'grime' was beyond him. He doubted if any of these chair warming pansies knew what real battle really was.

His anger at his life grew even further when he opened his closet and pulled out his dress uniform. He hated that damn thing. Hated everything it represented. He would much rather be wearing BDU's and combat boots with his 9mm strapped to his leg and a few blocks of C4 for added measure. A P90 wouldn't be so bad either.

Ten minutes after putting on the uniform he grabbed his briefcase and laptop bag. Heading out the door he went straight to the waiting limo that was assigned to him, courtesy of President Hayes, and headed in to work. Hopefully some emergency would come up requiring his presence at the SGC or maybe on one of the ships currently in orbit. That would at least get him out of the office. Sighing deeply, he pulled out one of the files in his briefcase and started reading once he had his reading glasses on.

0745 Hours, Pentagon, Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Jack stared down at the half a grapefruit that was placed in front of him and cursed a blue streak to himself. He hated this damn diet that Carter had put him on once the results of his last physical and blood work had come back. Sure he had put on a few extra pounds, and his cholesterol was a few points on the high side, but who was counting? Carter, obviously. Now she had the Joint Chiefs pushing all the health food on him. The thing he couldn't figure out was that Carter swore up and down that they had discussed this whole diet thing and he couldn't remember it for the life of him. Obviously somewhere along the way it had been decided, though he was damn sure that he had missed that particular discussion or he would have had a few things to say about it, that Carter was in complete charge of his health situation. He couldn't even keep a box of fruit loops in the cupboard without the maid service throwing it out, for crying out loud!

"Something wrong with your breakfast, Jack?" the Chairman asked with a silent chuckle and smirk.

"You don't want to hear my answer, Sir," Jack answered dryly.

General Francis laughed. "Get used to it, Jack," he advised his friend. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know Jack's opinion of him, but he held the younger man in the highest regard. "My wife took over my food and drink years ago and there's not a damn thing I can do about it. I'd imagine Colonel Carter would be pretty pissed if you deviated from 'the plan', so you better get used to it."

"Pissed is the understatement of the millennium," Jack responded. "She has this freaky talent for blowing things up that you would rather have left intact, like a sun or an Asgard Battle Cruiser."

Francis almost lost his juice as he spluttered in good humor. "Wasn't that the ship that the Asgard named after you?" he asked.

"Oh yeah," Jack drawled. "And before the damn thing's even finished she just up and blows it all to hell. And the second one and the third. Thor mentioned that they are about to finish a fourth one and this time I'm going to make damn sure Carter doesn't get anywhere near it."

"It's tough living with the one you love, isn't it?" Francis needled. His own days were long and tedious, so he got enjoyment where he could, and listening to Jack O'Neill grouse was about as entertaining as it got.

"Well I wouldn't know about that, now would I?" Jack grumbled as he took a bite of his grapefruit and made a face. It actually wasn't bad, but he preferred his fruit loops. "One month! One lousy month and then the chair warmers decide to reass her to Atlantis. How long did I wait to have a relationship? Ten years! Ten miserable years in which she almost married some schmuck and I got to live like a monk. One month of bliss and then another full year of sleeping alone."

"You could always go to Atlantis and visit," Francis suggested.

Jack looked at the man in horror. "And have her think that I was checking up on her?" he asked. "Hell no! She'd give me a big hug and kiss, and then kick my ass in front of everyone. I know which side my bread is buttered on, thank you very much."

"But you don't get any butter anymore, Jack," Francis pointed out, clearly referring to the diet and Jack's current lack of a sex life.

"Damn!" Jack exploded in frustration. "This is even fucking up my cliches!"

1030 Hours, Pentagon, Office of Major General Jack O'Neill

Jack's office was a large room with a massive desk, a conference table in one corner, a couch and coffee table in the other, and a large en suite bathroom off to the side. He even had a small refrigerator in his office which he had stocked with bottles of water, as per Carter's strict instructions since he despised diet sodas. He dutifully chugged down twelve bottles of water every day. His secretary even kept a running count! Thank God for her, though. She kept his office running smoother than Walter had at the SGC, and that was saying an awful lot.

Most of his paperwork he kept on the conference table and would plow through it with his three aides. His desk he kept almost completely empty except for his phone, laptop, and three photos. One of Carter, naturally, one of the original SG-1 taken in the Gateroom early on, and one of Charlie.

Jack, who had just finished a meeting with a group of scientists, oh joy!, was sitting on his couch with his cell phone against his ear talking to Daniel.

"Oh come on, Daniel," he whined. "You've been bugging me for four years now to get you to Atlantis and when I finally offer you a chance you say no??"

"No, Jack," Daniel said from the other end. "You and I both know that Sam would see through that one in a nanosecond and know that you sent me to check up on her. I want to be able to explore Atlantis, not spend my time in the infirmary recovering from a serious ass kicking from Sam. Be a man, Jack, and go yourself."

"Listen, Space Monkey," Jack growled. "I would like to actually have sex again before I die, and going there myself will kill that dream in a flash. How can I help it if I worry about her?"

"Way too much information, Jack," Daniel said instantly. "How Sam is interested in an old guy like you is beyond me. As for your sex life, you're the one who spent the last decade ignoring what was right in front of you and all you ever had to do was ask."

"Now hold on," Jack interrupted. "She's the one who said to keep it in that damn room after the whole thing with the Ashrak. How was I supposed to know that she didn't mean it? And I am not old, just well seasoned."

Daniel laughed. "Keep on saying that one Jack and you may convince yourself," he told his best friend. "Just go there and see her. I know she misses you. You're in charge of it all anyway. You can go anytime you want."

Jack snorted. "Yeah, I'm in charge," he groused. "And whose damn fault is that one, huh Space Monkey? 'Take the promotion and you can do what you want, Jack.' I sure took it in the ass on that one, Danny Boy. I was happy as a Colonel. Now I'm just fucking miserable every day."

"I'm not going, Jack," Daniel said finally. "But let's get serious for a minute. Outside of Hammond, you are the only one really qualified to head up Homeworld Security. Landry is a good man, don't get me wrong, and he's done a great job here as your replacement, but he's not in you guys league. The President made a good choice, Jack, and I only wish that you could see how damn proud everyone here is of you and what you're doing. Now I've got to get back to work. Give me a call on Friday and I'll see if Teal'c and I can come out there for the weekend."

"Yeah," Jack said to his friend. "Thanks, Daniel. I know I can be a real prick when I'm in a bad mood."

"Anytime, Jack," Daniel said and the hung up.

Jack closed his cell phone and leaned his head back. He knew Daniel was right. There was no one else who could do this damn job as well as he or Hammond could, and Earth deserved the best, though he was still embarrassed to think of himself in those terms, his ego driven sarcasm aside. At least Space Monkey was willing to listen to his grumbling and help him shore up his flagging spirit.

"General, Colonel Davis and General Kerrigan are here for your meeting," his secretary, Gladys', voice came over the intercom.

"Send them in," he said out loud, knowing that the sophisticated intercom system was now voice activated, thanks to a gift from Thor. It was, unfortunately, time to get back to work.

1330 Hours, Oval Office, White House

"Let's break for a quick lunch and meet back here in 45 minutes," President Henry Hayes said to the Joint Chiefs and Jack O'Neill. "Hang on a minute, Jack."

Jack waited until the other General Officers had left the room and he was left with Hayes alone.

"Yes, Sir?" he asked. He was bored to tears. A thirty minute briefing for the Joint Chiefs delivered by Davis and now it was lunch time. Then there would be almost two hours or more of back and forth as the other generals tried to contribute to something they had no fucking clue about. A pure waste of time in Jack's opinion.

"I just wanted to touch base and see how you're doing, Jack," Henry told his friend. He had not thought it possible that the tough as nails Air Force officer would ever forgive him for the colossal blunder of relieving Hammond of command of the SGC four years previously, but Jack had proven to be willing to give him a chance, and he had worked damn hard not to piss off the General since then. Now they were pretty good friends.

"Hate my job, hate DC, hate being alone," Jack said promptly, making bullet points out of his complaints.

Henry leaned back in his chair casually. "I can't do anything about the first two since I need you here doing what you've been doing so well the last three years," he began. "As for the last, I know it's been hard on you since Colonel Carter was reassigned to Atlantis, but you've got to admit she's succeeding better than any of us could have hoped for."

"I know, Sir," Jack admitted. "I'm damn proud of Carter. She's almost wiped out the Wraith and the Replicators and once they're gone, and now that the Ori are toast, we can get on with exploring the Pegasus Galaxy."

"For the time being, we need Colonel Carter right where she is," Hayes said firmly, though he knew that Jack was not happy about it. "I think you know that as well as anyone."

"Oh yeah," Jack said with a sigh. His normal sarcasm was now replaced with resigned boredom.

"A couple of things are going to be happening in the next few days, Jack," Hayes continued. "First off, your being promoted to Lieutenant General as of this Friday. I'd give you a fourth star, but we need to do things in their proper order, though we are trying to give you the rank you need to deal with some of the more petty issues raised by more senior officers. Second on the list is that Colonel Carter is being promoted to Brigadier General. I know it's very soon after two promotions in the last four years, but she's more than earned it after this past year on Atlantis. It also looks good to have a General Officer in command of such an important base. Finally, a full review of the military status of Atlantis is needed and I'm sending you to do the job. You'll have a one month inspection and that should also give you some time with Sam to catch up and maybe deal with some other outstanding issues."

Jack perked up when a promotion for Sam was mentioned, which he felt was more than earned, and then he was doing mental cartwheels at the thought of going to Atlantis to see her, and by someone else's orders so he would not piss her off. His own promotion was nice, but not something he was actively looking for. He was happiest as a bird colonel, if truth be known. Three stars would make things easier all around, though.

"Do you think you could hold off the announcement of Carter's promotion and let me tell her and present her with her new insignia when I go to Atlantis?" Jack asked.

Hayes smiled. He knew that Jack was only thinking of Sam Carter and not his own new rank. "No problem, Jack," he told the newly promoted General. "Do you think you could clear your schedule enough, and brief your second in time to leave for Atlantis next week sometime?"

Jack grinned. "No problem," he drawled.

"You head on to lunch and I'll see you back in here in a little bit," Hayes ordered.

"Yes, Sir," Jack said as he left the Oval Office, already thinking of all the ways he could make his dreams come true. He and Sam weren't even engaged, but he was going to make damn sure that by the end of the month, he would be married to the love of his life once and for all. If anyone tried to interfere with those plans, they wouldn't know what hit them after Jack would get through with them.

1745 Hours, Pentagon, Office of Major General Jack O'Neill (Lt. Gen. Designate)

"Listen Hank, I don't give a rat's ass how much it screws up a couple of mission profiles," Jack said loudly. "I am taking Teal'c, Daniel, Mitchell, and Vala with me to Atlantis and that's final. I'll be God damned if I ask Carter to marry me and not have our closest friends, who we consider family no less, there to witness it andsaid wedding. Send that new girl that Daniel's been raving about with SG-5 and send along a squad of Marines with SG-6 to replace Teal'c on that mission."

"I always knew having you as my boss would be a nightmare," Major General Hank Landry, the SGC Commanding General said over the phone.

"Live with it," Jack said smugly. "You may not think it's easy on your end, but try this job for a few months."

"No thanks," Landry said very quickly. He knew if he groused too much, then Jack would make him his temporary replacement while he was at Atlantis. That was definitely something that Hank Landry wanted to avoid.

Jack chuckled. "Just tell Daniel to call me ASAP," he ordered. "He isn't answering his cell phone."

"No problem, Jack," Landry replied.

Jack hung up his phone and turned back to his conference table. Another curse escaped his lips as he surveyed the amount of work left to be done before he could leave for the night. Taking out his reading glasses, he put them on and grabbed the first file folder to read. "God I hate my job," he groaned as he noticed it was a quarterly review of the requisitions for the SGC.

2000 Hours, Pentagon, Office of Major General Jack O'Neill (Lt. Gen. Designate)

Jack threw down the last file in complete relief. He had really burned through them as fast as he could and he wanted to throttle the person who decided that this kind of shit had to be done to justify that the important work was actually being completed. Before he even had a chance to stand up and stretch out the kinks, he heard his cell phone ringing. He grunted and pulled it out of his pocket, looking at the tiny screen. Daniel.

"How nice of you to finally call, Space Monkey," he drawled.

"I was busy, Jack," Daniel protested.

"It's always something," Jack sighed exaggeratedly. He loved teasing Daniel.

"You've known me for close to a dozen years, Jack," Daniel said with a chuckle, not taking the bait. He really was busy. "Now could you explain why Landry canceled my trip with SG-5? I was looking forward to exploring those ruins personally."

"Get packed and bring your best duds, Space Monkey," Jack said with a smile. "You're going to Atlantis with me on Monday."

"You finally grew some balls and are going to see Sam!" Daniel crowed. Then he realized what had just been said. "Oh no you don't Jack! There's no way in hell I'm going to be your human shield when Sam kicks your ass for checking up on her!"

"Would I do that?" Jack asked innocently, though he loved the genuine sound of fear in Daniel's voice. Sam could be damn ferocious and downright frightening when she was pissed.

"Yes," Daniel said bluntly.

Jack winced. He hated being so transparent even to his closest friends. "You got me there, Space Monkey, but I'm not this time. The President himself ordered me there for a month, and I plan on asking Sam to marry me the first second out of the Gate and leave a month later legally hitched," he explained.

Daniel laughed very loudly.

"What's so damn funny?" Jack demanded.

"You are so whipped, Jack," Daniel said between laughs.

Jack was more than willing to admit that in the privacy of his own mind, but not to the head of gossip central on the other end of the line. Daniel was worse than any gossiping woman Jack had ever known. "I won't even dignify that one with a response," he shot back grumpily. His job woes and earlier surly mood was reasserting itself. "Just get your shit packed and tell Teal'c, Mitchell, and Vala to be ready bright and early Monday morning. And one other thing. If you tell Carter about this little visit I will so kick your ass."

"No problem, Jack," Daniel said as he hung up.

2230 Hours, Georgetown, Home of Major General Jack O'Neill (Lt. Gen. Designate)

Jack yawned as he settled back on his bed and pulled his laptop to him, booting up the secret file that allowed for some enhanced Asgard communications capabilities. He did this almost every night, but tonight seemed more important than others. Clicking on the icon, he patiently waited for the person on the other end to come on the line. It was a visual program that would make even the SGC science geeks drool with envy. It sure was cool having Thor as a best buddy. After only two minutes a familiar face appeared on the screen.

"Jack?" Sam asked as she smiled widely. She'd been hoping that he would contact her. It had been a couple of days and she missed him.

Jack smiled. "Yeah," he drawled.

Shifting a bit to get comfortable for what he hoped would be a long conversation, he began to do what made his world possible. He had discovered a lot of hidden things about himself when he and Carter had finally got together, but the most important thing was that just talking to her relaxed him and allowed him to forget the living nightmare that his professional life had grown into. He could handle the hellish field work that comes with being a battle hardened soldier, but the constant bureaucratic warfare he now faced was beyond him, no matter how well people said he did. Sure he would curse and wail at the turns his life gave him each morning and day, but for now in the safety of his sanctuary, he felt good.

"Tell me about your day, Jack," Sam said in a knowing voice. She settled back to listen to the love of her life unburden himself.

Jack did, though he left out a couple of details that would be made clear the following week. Being 'The Man' came with a few benefits, after all. A little secrecy was one of them.