Author notes: I'm sorry, I just can't bring myself not to like Kerry. She is pretty, smart and has spunk. No surprise Jack was attracted to her. And it's not her fault that Sam's an idiot.
I love writing Jack. He flows right out of my brain into the keyboard; this should probably worry me. It's harder to write a character we don't know that much about. I will do my best to be true to both of them. For you the reader, I know you already know and love Jack as well, so I won't bore you by writing a ton of character development on him—but some though, through Kerry's eyes. And a bit more of Kerry, both from her own point of view and through Jack's. I think we will end up liking her.
Bear in mind this not an AU story and all good things yada, yada.
Here's my take on the romance that almost was.
ooooo
Agent Kerry Johnson looked up from her reading to acknowledge the single sharp rap on her closed office door.
"Come."
The door opened and her CIA supervisor, Dennis Neal, stuck his head in.
"Is that it?" He nodded at the assignment brief open in front of her.
"Yeah," she responded, although she couldn't help but shake her head to show her disbelief. "Pretty crazy stuff. Are you absolutely sure they're not pulling our legs?"
Dennis came the rest of the way in, closing the door behind him. "I know. Alien symbiotes taking over politicians and military commanders, not to mention the population of a small town. The whole traveling to other planets thing. But the Air Force colonel who briefed me on this was not a man with a sense of humor, so far as I could tell."
"That was Samuels, right?" She double checked the name on the sticky note stuck to the front of the folder. "He's supposed to meet me at the entrance to the base and escort me down to Stargate Command."
"Where you will meet with the facility commander, General O'Neill."
She nodded. "I've never met a general before."
"You may wish you hadn't. According to Samuels, he's a real asshole."
"Colonel Samuels said that? About a superior officer?"
"Not in so many words. He didn't come out and say 'loose cannon' or 'megalomaniac' either, but I got the picture."
"Great. Remind me, how did I get picked for this assignment?"
"I recommended you. I can't think of anyone else who wouldn't be totally freaked out."
"You think I'm not?"
"Come on, you love all that Science Fiction stuff. Tell me you wouldn't want to have been told about all this."
She grinned at him. "You're right. If I found out you had given this to someone else, I would be totally pissed. And if it means getting to see real-life alien stuff, I guess I can put up with dealing with some military jerk."