Chapter 2

Wow I can't believe the response to the story, hope this doesn't disappoint. Thanks to all who have reviewed and alerted, really made me smile.

The morning wore on slowly. Every knock on her glass wall made Sam jump and the gate activating to let Major Lorne's team come home sent her into a silent panic. Sam was not in a good state and by lunchtime she'd had enough. She made one of her sergeants get her a plain sandwich from the commissary and took it to her favourite balcony to eat. However, after having only eaten half, the gate began to turn and she got a message through her earpiece that it was the Midway Station and General O'Neill would be coming through. It was almost enough to make her head for the nearest toilet again but her training kicked in and she brushed down her BDUs and strode from the balcony and down to the gateroom.

On hearing who was arriving, the top Atlantis team had also assembled to wait for the General. The wormhole rippled and General O'Neill stepped through, followed by Daniel and Teal'c. Sam, along with the other military personnel, snapped to attention at the General's arrival then quickly glanced at her friends and former team mates. Daniel was smiling but Sam was too nervous to smile back. Teal'c nodded in acknowledgement at seeing her then cocked his head to one side when he noticed how nervous she was. But the General barely gave her a glance when her gaze turned to him.

Sam took a deep breath. This was it. Damn, did he have to look so good?

"At ease," General O'Neill said to the group, and most people stood down.

Sam moved forward to greet her guests. "Welcome to Atlantis."

"Colonel Carter," Jack replied, his cold tone stopping her forward move.

"Hi, Sam!" Daniel moved from behind Jack and wrapped his arms around Sam. "It's great to see you."

"Hi, Daniel. I missed you, too," Sam said as she wrapped her arms around him and looked over his shoulder, smiling from the safety of his arms. "Hi, Teal'c."

"You can all go back to your duties now. My meeting is with Colonel Carter." Jack's order, without any warmth, cut through the gateroom, and caused Sam to jerk away from Daniel. With only a few words, uttered in such a cold, unfeeling way, he'd confirmed her worst fears that this was not going to be a happy reunion.

The people in the room gradually dispersed, surprised and a little put out at the attitude displayed by their normally friendly commander.

Sam decided that she needed to take control or she'd end the day with not only no personal life but also out of a job. "Sir, if you would like to come to my office, it's this way."

Jack merely nodded and made his way up the stairs in front of her, just to show her who was boss. Sam sighed, linked arms with Daniel, who simply rolled his eyes, and followed her CO up to her office.

Jack didn't sit, so neither could Sam, but Daniel relaxed on a soft chair while Teal'c stood in the corner.

There was a very uncomfortable silence until Daniel spoke. "How're you doing, Sam?"

"Good thanks, Daniel. Are you guys well?"

"Sure. Vala's still driving me nuts but, you know, I'm kind of used to her," Daniel replied.

Teal'c inclined his head slightly when Sam looked at him. "Indeed, Colonel Carter. I am well."

Everyone waited for Jack to respond but he simply glared at them and finally sat down.

Sam, following his actions, sat behind her desk and waited.

And waited!

After five minutes everyone, including Teal'c, was starting to feel uncomfortable. Sam sighed and decided to break protocol and speak first. "General, where would you like to begin the inspection? Would you like to see the recent mission reports?" she asked, pulling some files from her cabinet.

" That'll be fine, Colonel." Jack reached over and took the proffered files from Sam. "Then I expect you to give a presentation evaluating your six months in leadership here. You have an 30 minutes to prepare. Dismissed."

Sam rose from her seat, dumbstruck at his tone, but she quickly recovered and her face showed nothing but a mask of indifference, matching her CO. "Yes, Sir. Do you require a visual presentation?"

"Yes," the General responded as he moved to take her seat behind the desk.

Sam turned to leave the room, smiled weakly at Daniel, and left. She walked quickly to the lab she occasionally used with Rodney, sat at her computer, accessed her file, and began creating her presentation.

Meanwhile, back in the office, Jack had buried his head in files he knew he would never read. Teal'c stood by the wall, aloof from the obviously brewing situation. Daniel sat in silence for a several minutes, staring at Jack, but could no longer hold back.

"Jack, just what the hell is going on here?"

"Daniel, I'm completing an inspection of Atlantis and its commander. This is not the time for past friendship to get in the way."

"Get in the way?" Daniel yelled incredulously as he jumped to his feet. "You just usurped her command in front of her top team and dismissed her from her own office like she was an insolent Captain. I'm so pleased your friendship – or lack thereof – isn't getting in the way." He gave Jack one last glare before turning towards the door. "I'm going to see if I can help Sam." He stormed out, not waiting to see if Jack was going to say something to justify his actions, spoke to the tech on the control desk and had him contact Sam, then went to find her. He knew Jack could be an arrogant ass but this took the cake.

Daniel walked in on Sam as she was printing some notes to go with her presentation. She didn't turn around but spoke anyway, knowing exactly which one of her friends would have come to find her. "Is he here to remove me from command, Daniel?"

Daniel sat down beside her. "Honestly? I don't know. He only arrived 15 minutes before we came here and, well, you can see the mood he's in."

"It'd make sense, I suppose. Things haven't been great here, it's only my first command, and he's bound to be getting pressure from the IOA. I suppose I should be flattered he'd take the time to come here himself. He could just have sent a message demanding I return."

"Have you spoken to him since last year?" Daniel asked quietly, not giving her false hope because it was entirely possible Jack had come to relieve her of command. He was certainly acting that way.

"No. Actually, I was thinking earlier that I haven't had a proper conversation with him since we went to the cabin together."

"Really? That's what, nearly three years ago? Wow. I didn't realise things between you were that bad. But he won't use that against your career, Sam. He's too good an officer. You know that."

"Yeah… maybe… I knew it until he just treated me like a junior officer."

"Well what can I do to help?" Daniel asked.

"Grab the print outs from the printer, oh and make another copy in case he needs duplicates." she said with derision towards her old CO.

Sam buried her head, metaphorically, in her computer and worked through reports creating a presentation that would help her CO understand the missions her teams had been on while not completely boring him silly.

Almost 15 minutes passed with the two friends working in silence, everything Sam printed Daniel filed and organised ready for the presentation. The deadline Jack had set was fast approaching.

"I can't believe he expects this done in time." Sam mumbled.

"Yeah I know but" Daniel indicated the clock once Sam looked at him "speaking of which… are you ready for the presentation?"

Sam saved her work, transferred it to her tablet, and grabbed her notes which Daniel was holding. "As ready as I'll ever be."

They both stood and left the lab. Sam felt like she was going to the most momentous meeting of her career so far.

Jack had moved to the main meeting room and Teal'c stood outside the closed door, waiting for Sam and Daniel. Teal'c stopped Sam as she reached for the door handle. He pulled her towards him, wanting to give his friend a hug of support, letting her know without words that he was on her side. Sam smiled back at him and nodded, straightened her shoulders, and put her hand on the door handle.

"Colonel?" the voice of John Shepherd came from behind her. "Respectfully, we ask to be allowed to attend the inspection to support you as our commander."

Sam turned and saw most of the military command and several civilians crowding the corridor with Shepherd.

Sam smiled, grateful for the support. "Thank you, everyone, however I don't think this is what the General had in mind when he ordered the inspection."

"I figured that," John said, moving closer. "In that case, Major Lorne, McKay and I request permission to attend as the other senior members of the command."

"I'll go and check with Jack," Daniel said. "They should be there, Sam." He walked into the room.

He popped his head back out, clearly not happy. "The General says that if you need moral support then they can come but as a full bird you should be able to stand on your own two feet."

That comment made Sam's blood boil. "Colonel," she addressed her shocked 2IC. "Return the personnel to their duties. I'm grateful for your support but there's nothing going to happen in that room that I can't handle on my own."

John nodded and began ushering the others out.

Sam was fuming. How dare he act like this! She needed to make the best damn presentation that the arrogant ass had ever seen, keep her job, and show him that she was perfectly capable of commanding this station without the great Jack O'Neill watching her back. With that thought she stormed into the room.

AN: So there is chapter 2, hopefully a little different to what you have expected. Reviews will make me smile, thanks for reading.