Title: To Promote or Not to Promote, That is the Question

Author: Lorr

Genre/Rating: General – Missing Scenes

Character: O'Neill, Landry

Disclaimer: The characters and universe do not belong to me. Having lots of fun with them, though.

Spoilers: None, unless you haven't seen Intruder.

Background: I love filling in the missing scenes, so you'll probably see more of these from me. Let me know when you get tired of them.

"She wants what?" Gen. Jack O'Neill stopped mid-twist on the beer bottle in his hand. He looked at Gen. Hank Landry in disbelief.

Landry almost laughed at the expression on O'Neill's face. "Just what I said. Dr. Weir wants Sheppard as military commander of Atlantis. She wouldn't even discuss Col. Caldwell taking over."

O'Neill finished opening the bottle and swallowed a mouthful. "Oh, for crying out load. Sheppard was in Antarctica as punishment for disobeying an order. He has problems following the proper chain of command. Besides, a Major can't be in command of a project like Atlantis."

"I know. Weir said we'd just have to promote him." Landry held up a hand to stop O'Neill's protest. "Her words, honest to God. Then, she got up and walked out. I knew her reputation, but, wow!"

"Feisty, isn't she?" O'Neill chuckled. "Well, they are out there in another galaxy, at least eighteen days from any help from Earth. I suppose she has the right to ask for whoever…whomever…whatever…she wants. And, they have been working together for the last year."

Landry frowned and pursed his lips. "You've met him haven't you? What's your take on him?"

O'Neill took a long drink of beer and looked around his living room while he thought. "I really only flew with Sheppard between McMurdo and the outpost that one time, but I've read the reports from Atlantis. And, I talked to a couple of people that know him. Apart from the authority issues, he's supposed to be smart and dedicated to his men. I know first hand he's a damn good pilot. It was his fast thinking that saved our asses when the drone was after us. You know, I'm actually not completely surprised that Weir is adamant about keeping him in charge of the military contingent."

"Well, he has done a hell of a lot better than I would have expected given that a year ago he was just a pilot that had no command experience beyond his unit. I know Marshall Sumner was not happy about having him in the team." Landry sighed as he remembered the dead Colonel. "Damn, I don't know if I could have done what Sheppard did."

"Yeah." O'Neill agreed somberly.

The two men sat in silence for a moment. O'Neill spoke first.

"What was your impression of him at the debrief?"

Landry sipped his own beer and raised an eyebrow at his host. "I remember sitting there thinking that he reminded me an awful lot of you, a hotshot pilot with authority issues. But, it is interesting. It was obvious everyone from Atlantis respects Sheppard. Despite everything, I'm impressed by how sharp and articulate he is. He had no trouble keeping up with Dr. Weir, Dr. McKay and the others. He's definitely not just a guard dog."

"Well, anyone that can hold his own with McKay has my respect. I can't even believe Sheppard has him on his away team." O'Neill shook his head slowly. "The man is a royal pain in the ass."

"He is a piece of work. He's even geekier than Col. Carter." Landry smiled at O'Neill's sudden frown. "Okay, okay. Look, Jack, I have to take this one to President Hayes. I need to be more than reasonably sure that I'm making the right choice. If I am going to promote this kid and recommend him for the job, I have to be able to make a case for it. If not, I'm going to need a hell of an argument to convince him Dr. Weir is wrong."

O'Neill leaned forward as he spoke. "Okay. You've seen the reports. They didn't read like Weir, or Sheppard, left anything out. He could have easily not said he shot Sumner and no one would have known. They have had disagreements, but she also has a lot of praise for him. Like you said, he was just a pilot a year ago. His command experience was very limited, but he has done a good fairly good job under extreme conditions."

"I spoke with Dillon Everett when he came back through the Gate. Sumner was a good friend of his, you know. Everett was not feeling the most charitable toward Sheppard when he left for Atlantis, but when he came back, his attitude had done a one-eighty. He was very impressed by this kid." Landry paused, looking at O'Neill. "Have you seen Everett? My God, Jack. I thought the Goa'uld were bad. These Wraith are something else. They brought kids back through the Gate that were in their twenties but looked like they died of old age."

Both men sat and sipped their beer for a minute. O'Neill drained his and headed for the fridge as he spoke. "Yeah. But can you justify promoting Sheppard?"

"I was thinking of reassigning him back to Earth, but…"

"Because he has the Ancient gene and uses the technology better than anyone else, you can't." O'Neill finished the thought.

"Right. The only real arguments against him, which are enough in of themselves, are his lack of experience and that he's a little too independent in nature. But, he has the most experience in the Pegasus Galaxy, and they're so far away, he would pretty much be Dr. Weir's problem."

"And, she is the one demanding he be assigned there." O'Neill handed his friend another cold longneck and sat down again. "You know, Caldwell's not going to be happy about this."

"Well, he's got command of the Daedalus. That's nothing to sneeze at." Landry twisted the bottle top off his beer and took a drink. "I just hope this doesn't come back to bite me in the ass."