Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are not my property. No copyright infringement is intended.
When she started college, she wasn't sure what she wanted to do with her life. She only knew she didn't want the usual occupations that her friends were choosing. Wanting something interesting, exciting and something that wouldn't be the same old routine day after day, she had finally decided on a degree in criminal justice.
After graduation she had applied for and was accepted into the CIA training program and loved every minute of it.
She had met a man and fallen in love, a man she knew she could love forever, but he had not returned those feelings. Dealing with a broken heart, she devoted herself to her work and eventually the pain lessened.
She had sworn off men for the longest time, not willing to take the risk of going through all that hurt again.
Her life was cruising along happily while taking an extra training course at the Pentagon, when she was called into her boss's office, where she was introduced to an Air Force officer, Major Paul Davis.
The two of them went into a small conference room and sat down at a table where she was told that she would be leaving shortly on her next assignment in Colorado Springs. Major Davis opened a large package of documents, laid them out in front of her and proceeded to tell her about the stargate program.
At first she thought it was just a huge joke that someone was playing on her, but the more Major Davis talked, she realized that he was completely serious.
She had always thought that there could be life elsewhere and Major Davis had now confirmed it.
After signing a nondisclosure agreement, she was told that her assignment would be the investigation into Gou'ald still at large involving The Trust. In addition to the confidential documents, she was also given several files of mission reports involving SG teams, and in particular, SG-1.
Major Davis informed her that upon her arrival at Cheyenne Mountain, she would report to General Jack O'Neill.
She spent hours reading documents and mission reports, familiarizing herself with the Goa'uld and The Trust.
Out of curiosity, she had looked up General O'Neill's military record, or what there was of it. Most of the information was classified and for the past eight years, the information had been scrubbed except that he had recently been promoted and was working at NORAD. Only the President, the Joint Chiefs and the people involved in the program, knew that he had been fighting aliens for the past eight years.
Almost two weeks after meeting with Major Davis and packing up the things she would need to have shipped to her temporary residence in Colorado, she arrived at Cheyenne Mountain and was given a security ID. An SF escorted her inside and they got into an elevator, going down several floors. He led her to a briefing room where a group of people was assembling. She followed the SF across the room to a tall man with gray hair, chatting with a muscular black man. The SF addressed the man as General O'Neill and he turned to face them.
"Sir, this is Kerry Johnson of the CIA."
She immediately noticed how attractive the General was and found herself staring into his brown eyes as he shook her hand and smiled.
"Ms. Johnson, nice to meet you."
"Thank you, General. Since I was given this assignment, I've been reading a lot about this place and what goes on here."
"Is that so? I hope all that you've learned about our little secret base didn't creep you out too much."
She smiled. "No, not in the least. I think this is fascinating."
The General then introduced her to Teal'c.
She started to raise her hand to shake his but he had his hands behind his back, and instead gave a short bow.
"Welcome, Ms. Johnson."
She realized that this was the alien from another planet that she had read about in the mission reports, and she stared at the gold emblem in his forehead.
"Thank you" she managed to say.
"If you'll excuse me" the General said "I need to get this meeting of the geeks started. Feel free to stick around and we'll meet after it's over."
"Okay."
General O'Neill sat down at the head of the table and Teal'c sat to his right as everyone took their seats. Two men were in Air Force uniforms, a man with glasses was dressed in clothes similar to the General's and all the others were in lab coats. She sat at the opposite end of the table and watched as the General started the meeting.
"Daniel, what've you got for us?"
She watched as the man in glasses stood, began to speak and realized this was Dr. Daniel Jackson, the archaeologist who had deciphered the stargate. He talked for a few minutes, then finished what he was saying and sat down to the General's left.
She listened attentively as people discussed their work involving alien devices and new technology.
From the mission reports, she knew that General O'Neill had led SG-1 consisting of Dr. Jackson, Teal'c and Colonel Carter, until his promotion to commander of the base.
She knew that Colonel Carter was a woman and wondered where she was or maybe she just didn't need to be included in this meeting. She soon got her thoughts answered by a bald man in glasses sitting to her right.
"When Colonel Carter returns from the Alpha site, we'll get right to work on that, General."
General O'Neill nodded his head. "Okay, Dr. Lee. Is there anything else we need to discuss?"
The General looked around at everyone but the room was silent.
"Okay then. Before we go, I'd like to introduce you to Kerry Johnson of the CIA. She will be working on the investigation of the Goa'uld who are still at large."
Everyone turned to look at her and she smiled.
"You're dismissed."
The General stood up, immediately bringing the two military people to their feet. He went to his office, picked up his phone and punched in a number.
Everyone else slowly stood, Dr. Lee smiled at her and held out his hand to shake hers.
"Ms. Johnson, I'm Dr. Lee."
She returned the smile and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you."
She walked to the General's office and when he saw her standing at the door, waved her in and pointed to a chair. She sat down and waited and watched as he paced back and forth as he talked. She stared at the General, thinking what a very handsome man he was.
'Watch out, Kerry' she said to herself. 'You're here to do a job, not to fall for someone you'll be working with.'
The General finally ended the call and sat down.
"I understand from Major Davis that you just recently found out that we're not alone in the universe."
"Yes. I must say I was a little surprised at first but then again I've always felt that there could be life on other planets."
They talked for awhile about The Trust and the whole time she could feel herself being drawn to this man. He was not only attractive, she was finding out he was quite intelligent.
The General looked toward the door, raised his eyebrows and she turned her head to see a man holding a stack of files.
"Yes, Walter?"
"Sorry to interrupt, sir, but Major Adams and his team are waiting for their debriefing."
"Tell them I'll be right there."
"Yes, sir."
General O'Neill stood so she did too.
"Well, I'll be seeing you around. Let me know if you have any questions or need anything."
She held out her hand to shake his and he put his hand in hers. "Thank you. It's nice to meet you, General. I hope we'll be seeing more of each other."
"That would . . . that would be nice" he stumbled.
She let go of his hand as she felt herself start to blush. 'Get a grip, Kerry.'
She walked out of the office, hoping it wouldn't be too long before they met again.
********
As she unpacked a box that night, she was thinking of her meeting with General O'Neill when her cell phone rang.
"Hello."
"Ms. Johnson, this is Major Davis. Just wanted to see if you're getting settled in okay."
"Yes, thanks, and would you please call me Kerry?"
"And I'm Paul. How was your first day?"
"Went really well. Had an interesting conversation with General O'Neill about . . . what I'm here for" she said cryptically, realizing that they couldn't take any chances that there might be someone listening in.
"You'll have your hands full with this investigation so don't hesitate to call if I can help."
"Thanks, Paul. From reading the information you gave me and after meeting with General O'Neill, he seems to be have a huge responsibility of running the base."
"Yes he does and he does his job very well. He has been with this program since it started and I have a great deal of respect and admiration for him. He and his teams have put their lives on the line to save us many times."
"Is he married?" she casually asked.
"No, divorced."
She felt her heart skip a beat. "As busy as he seems to be, he must not have much time for a personal life."
"No, I doubt that he does. I think he spends most of his time at the base, from what I understand."
"Well, thanks for checking on me, Paul. I really appreciate it."
"You're welcome. Talk with you later."
"Okay. Bye."
She closed her phone as a smile came to her face. "So, he isn't married."
TBC