You asked for this...Another new story, so don't say I didn't warn you. Hope you enjoy it. Updates may be a little slower than usual as this is all I've been able to write so far. I'll do my best not to keep you all waiting for too long.

General Disaster.

By LetitiaRichards.

Category: Angst, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Romance.

Pairings: Jack/Sam.

Season: 5

Spoilers: Maybe a few, don't know specifics yet!

Summary: On the orders of the Joint Chiefs, a special guest joins SG-1 on a routine mission.

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1; I wish I did! No copyright infringements intended. Just borrowing the characters for a little fun and I promise to return them just as I found them. Well, almost!

GENERAL DISASTER.

by LetitiaRichards.

Chapter 1 – Bad News.

"Glad you could join us Colonel!"

General Hammond's acerbic remark made Jack feel even more irritable as he took his place at the briefing room table. Another thing that Jack found slightly irritating this morning was that Major Davis was also seated at the table too. That usually meant problems. Problems with a capital 'P' and as always it indicated that they were about to embark on something distasteful that the Pentagon or the Joint Chiefs had cooked up.

Jack's scowl deepened.

Jack O'Neill could see it was already turning out to be one of those days. He was late for the start of the briefing. Okay, so it wasn't a scheduled meeting and he hadn't known anything about it until the last minute, but so far it had been a real doozey of a day, and it was still early.

The morning had started badly and was going downhill rapidly. To begin with he'd dropped his favourite mug, complete with hot coffee, onto the floor when it had slipped from his fingers and smashed to pieces as he'd moved it to the table from the counter top. He was running late anyway as for some unknown reason he'd slept longer than was usual for him and his alarm hadn't gone off; a known recipe for disaster, and he was literally all fingers and thumbs too which hadn't helped. That old cliché of 'More haste less speed' was buzzing around inside his head, and so far it had rung so true; this morning in particular was a perfect example.

Then as if that wasn't enough, in the middle of cleaning up the mess from his kitchen floor, the General had phoned him to say he had scheduled a meeting for first thing. Jack was growing more frustrated by the minute. He looked at the clock and grumbled, along with his stomach; breakfast would have to go by the wayside if he was to make it to the SGC in time. Then the truck decided of all days to have one of its tyres develop a puncture, so there he was all in a rush to get to Cheyenne mountain, and having to wait at the side of the road for the tow-truck.

Nope! It just wasn't his day.

Now the General's barbed comment about him being late was only adding to the stress that he was experiencing and his self-destruct level was climbing ever higher. He was sooo not in a good mood, and it was only 07.40hrs and a Monday morning to boot. Not a good start to the week. Could it get any worse than this? he wondered. If Major Davis had anything to say...then Jack knew the answer would be...Oh yeah!

Jack mumbled an apology looking sheepish but offered no excuses as to his tardiness when he sat himself down in the chair.

He could feel the eyes of his team as well as those of the Major and the General, watching him closely. He hung his head but his eyes glanced up at the rest of SG-1, Sam Carter's cerulean eyes held something between amusement and sympathy; Daniel Jackson on the other hand could barely contain his wry grin and his eyes showed that Jack wasn't going to be allowed to forget being late for once in the months to come, maybe never, who knew? Daniel was the one that was nearly always late, and it was totally unheard of in Jack's case; and this little incident meant he was never going to live this down any time soon.

Teal'c, the last but not least important member of the elite SGC team, gave nothing away to the casual observer, but Jack knew better than that. Over the years of working along side the stoic warrior, he knew what to look for under that steady gaze, and the slight lifting of that eyebrow gave him the idea that Teal'c was curious but also amused. Major Davis on the other hand had looked slightly embarrassed under Jack's scowling glare, and with visibly trembling fingers, fiddled with the papers spread out in front of him over the table, and cleared his throat nervously.

Then again, General Hammond, was being the typical Commanding Officer. His steely blue gaze, showed nothing but that superior, 'I'll deal with why you're late, 'later' look, that meant he was sooo in the 'dog house'.

Oh yeah, definitely a bad day, and Jack scowled at the thought of what Major Davis could possibly say that would totally piss him off today.

"Colonel!"

General Hammond's commanding voice brought him back to his senses. His thoughts had been straying, yet another reason for amusement from his team and frustration in him. Now Hammond had further grounds to censure him. This day just got worse.

"Sorry sir...bad day" Jack apologised, dragging his wayward thoughts back to the meeting at hand. "So, what's goin' on?" he asked, trying to concentrate, or at least attempting to show willing to participate in the briefing.

"Let's get down to business people, shall we? Major Davis?" Hammond commanded, bring the meeting to order.

"Er...yes sir," he began nervously.

"Would you like to recap and fill Colonel O'Neill in as to why we're here?"

"Yes sir...em..." Paul Davis stood up, cleared his throat, and shuffled a few of the official papers around on the table. Hesitantly, and a little apologetically, he launched into the reason he was there at this hastily called meeting. He cleared his throat again timidly and began.

"The Appropriations committee, has come to the conclusion that the SGC is spending far too much time and 'money' on...er...needless requests. They feel that there should be far less expenditure on items taken off-world, and that this base is wasting valuable taxpayer's money by simply losing expensive items, such as weaponry or...or by dumping them when..."

Davis broke off under the infuriated looks, from both General Hammond and Jack, that he faltered and cleared his throat once again.

"So what they're saying is that we're wastin' far too much money? And that we're spendin' waaay too much time doing it?" Jack asked irritably, getting the gist of the message, despite Davis' rambling; and not liking it one bit.

"Ah, i...in a nut shell Colonel, yes," Davis sighed, almost as if he was relieved that he didn't have to explain everything again and in more detail.

"For a start, they have no idea what it's like out there..." Jack snapped, jerking forward ready to defend the SGC's budget deficit.

"Colonel!" Hammond halted Jack's angry diatribe before it had really begun. Jack stopped, drawing back into his chair with barely controlled temper. Hammond frowned but returned his attention to Davis. "I'd like to point out that every penny that is spent in this command is duly accounted for Major. Be it under this mountain or out in the field. None of it is 'wasted'. May I remind you that this is a front line of defence Major, and that during a fight or flight situation, certain items are unfortunately abandoned or lost; including on occasions, good men's lives."

"Yes!" crowed Jack punching the air with his fist. 'You tell em George!' he rooted silently. Hammond ignored his gesture, his blazing eyes still boring into the unfortunate Major.

"The committee isn't disputing that fact General." Davis hastily placated the General. "It merely wishes to know why it happens so frequently and that your teams should take greater care with their equipment, thus lessening the cost, and the use of the Stargate must be limited so that means a cut down on needless missions."

Davis hesitated again, looking sheepishly at Jack, before he continued.

"Em...and...and SG-1 in particular, it seems, is the worst offender with regards to the loss of equipment in these instances," he squeaked. His voice losing some of it's quality, knowing that Jack was about to explode.

He could see Jack's face take on a strangled look, as he spluttered indignantly.

"How the hell would they know? I'd like to see them grab everything and run for the gate whilst getting shot at; or running like hell to avoid capture; or even worse. It's our asses out there on the line..."

"Colonel!" Yet again, Hammond's command stopped Jack from continuing. He was just a furious as Jack, and maybe Jack had more reason to be mad, but he didn't need him to overstep the line here. This wasn't the Major's fault.

Jack closed his mouth, pressing his lips tightly together in a straight line whilst snorting heavily down his nose, and shooting Davis an infuriated glare. He was frustrated beyond words. He'd like nothing better than to take hold of the little man and shake some sense into him.

Davis looked embarrassed but his features were sympathetic, and clearly read, 'Please don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger here'.

"I'm sorry Colonel, but I'm here merely to relay the facts. I don't make the decisions."

"So what exactly are they saying here? Because we can't cut down on people's lives Major! We need this basic equipment if we're to carry out our objectives. What are they suggesting that we do?" Hammond sounded a lot more calmer than he really felt inside.

"Ah..." he swallowed a gulp. "...um...supervision sir."

"What?" yelled Jack, now pushed past his limited patience. "You're suggesting that we need SUPERVISING?" he shouted, shooting to his feet absolutely stunned by the suggestion.

"N...not...not all the time Colonel. Just...once or twice. The Pentagon wants to see exactly what goes on out there..." his voice trailed off again. The fear of being lynched by the livid man uppermost in his thoughts.

"Colonel! Jack, sit down. Please," Hammond urged, trying to placate the furious officer.

Jack turned to face his CO and could see that General Hammond was just as shocked by the proposal as he was. He scowled but resumed his seat, quietly fuming.

Sam was furious too, and she would swear she could see steam coming from Jack's ears.

TBC