Part 3

A half an hour later, Daniel sat glumly next to the Ambassador, wondering exactly how this particular situation could be retrieved. It didn't look good.

The Ambassador was still staring at the door through which Sam had just left.

"Amazing."

Daniel had to agree with that. It had been an amazing day.

" Stunning. And…"

It was clear the Ambassador was speechless. Daniel put the man out of his misery. He'd heard too many descriptions of Sam over the last six months not to have the words ready to hand. " Yes; 'luminous, beautiful, sparkling, intense, glowing, incredible'-- well, that's few of them."

The Ambassador looked back, confused. "A few of what from whom?"

"A few of the recent descriptions of Sam from other individuals who have met her lately. You know, I think Jack's starting to get honestly annoyed."

"I don't understand. Why would the General care? And why didn't he simply tell me that she was committed?"

"Well, uhh, that's a tad awkward for him."

"I don't see why."

"I suppose if what you'd asked was whether Sam was 'attached' he would have answered yes, and then we would have been done with it. After all, he has done that before and no heads have been…uhh… busted during those discussions yet."

"No 'heads were busted' this time. But his reaction was different in this situation because?"

Daniel winced. "You have to understand that you asked him what the proper procedure was to date his wife. He never handles that question very well."

"His wife? Colonel Carter is his wife?"

"Uhh….Yes."

"Are you telling me that I asked him if I could have dinner with his …?"

"… wife? Yes. I guess that about sums it up."

The Ambassador coughed. "That is unfortunate."

"You could say that."

"There was no mention of their relationship in my files, although I do know they've worked together for nearly ten years." There was ice in the Ambassador's tone. "It's clear that Hantari intelligence teams are not what they once were."

Daniel broke in. "I wouldn't blame your teams, sir. Even though it's not a secret, Sam and Jack are one of the best-kept non-secrets in the SGC."

Harror was still taking it in. "And yet General O'Neill simply left when I asked… apparently… he is a tolerant man."

Daniel shrugged, debating it in his mind. "Well, I don't know about that. The first time someone asked him what the best way was to proposition Sam, he got a little… testy."

"This has happened before?"

Daniel nodded to himself, remembering. "Oh yeah, on a regular basis lately. There was the time that…"

Daniel coughed. "Well, anyway, that's not important." He shook his head, musingly. "You know, these questions always do seem to come up in the briefing room, and for some reason it's always Jack that gets asked about Sam." He looked over to the Ambassador, honestly confused. "Why is that?"

The Ambassador looked stunned. "I – perhaps because of the desire for confidentiality and a need to be assured that another world's protocol is being followed? Anyone in power would ask another leader what was acceptable in casual situations in order not to disrupt formal discussions because of an unfortunate and unintended social..." The Ambassador's voice dwindled off.

Daniel sighed. "Yeah, figured that, just hoped for a while it might be coincidental. And from what you say, we do probably need to expect this on a regular basis, or until Jack upsets Sam enough on a regular basis so that she's not quite so happy all the time."

Daniel tried not to be cheered by the last thought; after all, he did want Sam and Jack to be happy, but this … alien situation…happy problem … was getting ridiculous.

There was silence for a while. Daniel welcomed it. Unfortunately, he noted that the Ambassador's tone was annoyed when he finally commented, as expected, "I should have been informed of their connection. It would have precluded any awkwardness."

Jackson sighed. "Yes, sir, I agree. We should have explained. Given that this ... confusion…is now turning out to be an ongoing state of affairs affecting ongoing affairs of state, we're clearly going to have to work on …uhh… I mean figure out a way to explain how things are situated here at base for visitors. To be perfectly honest, it's for our own benefit as well. I honestly don't think the General can handle any more… discussions… about defining happy … in his briefing room."

Daniel shook his head. "It's not going to be easy, though."

The Ambassador rubbed his forehead. "What could possibly be so difficult? Why didn't General O'Neill simply introduce her as his wife? It would have been best for our discussions if …" The Ambassador left the rest of his thought unsaid. Daniel shrugged as he followed the unspoken thought to its inevitable conclusion.

"Oh. Well, that's an issue of protocol. Jack doesn't approve of mixing the personal and the professional. For that matter, the Air Force isn't really keen on it either. In fact, theirs is the only marriage I know of where they're allowed to work together. Their marriage, or even the fact that they are married, is never discussed on the base by anyone, mostly because staff knows about Jack's feelings about keeping the personal… personal and the professional …professional. But there's also an unspoken but unanimous agreement at the SGC to lock down any information about their personal lives to outsiders because they're both held in such high regard. SGC personnel all know their history, and they both have garnered … profound… professional respect over the years. Jack's 'the General' and Sam's 'the Colonel' or 'Colonel Carter.' Their connection's not been a problem. At least, it hasn't been before now. It's just recently that Sam can't seem to be able to stop being so… happy."

Daniel realized the Ambassador was staring at him with a bemused expression.

"Sorry, sir. To answer your question, no one mentioned it because it's never discussed and is not an issue on base. As I said, it's the best-kept non-secret around, and Air Force types are a pretty secretive bunch by nature. In fact, if we do have to start explaining anything to outsiders, it's going to cause some …consternation all through the SGC. The staff just isn't going to like it. They consider the lock down their personal mission. If we have to start talking about… connections…they'll consider it an intrusion into Sam and Jack's personal privacy, and that's going to make the staff…testy."

"I see. And you say this… outsider… problem only began when Colonel Carter recently started being …happy…?"

"Well, yeah, you saw. She's been smiling a lot….looking 'luminous and stuff' as Jack would say. Jack's been trying to tone her down, but you know, I think he has mixed minds about that one."

"I can imagine."

Daniel winced. "Uh, no, I don't think you can." Daniel paused, reflecting on the Ambassador's last comment about when and how the problem started. " Actually, now that you ask, it's not just Sam that's been the source of the confusion."

"She's not…"

Daniel glanced at the Ambassador, and noted that the man looked as if he'd just walked into Alice's looking glass. He tried to clarify fast. "Yes, sir. I mean, now that you mention it, the first time there was some confusion a representative of another world propositioned Jack." Daniel couldn't quite keep the incredulity out of his voice. "We all thought it was a fluke, and then it happened again."

"I see."

"Sam wasn't very happy about any of that." Daniel cheered up, remembering a scowling and very annoyed Sam. It was a pleasant memory, given where he was and what he was having to explain. In fact it was even…

"Understandable."

Daniel did a double take. "What?" He reran the conversation through his mind. "Uhh, yes, I suppose it was logical that she'd be somewhat annoyed. Jack took care of both of those situations, and nothing's like that's ever happened again in that quarter."

"And so, if I understand you correctly, Doctor, you are asking my help on how to avoid this kind of unfortunate… misunderstanding concerning Colonel Carter and General O'Neill in the future, given that the General and the Colonel have a strong sense of privacy and a very ... protective … staff."

"Yes." He sighed. " But I guess it's unlikely. I mean, the situation is pretty unique."

"Perhaps if you provided a summation of their history as you call it, the part that is clearly not in my intelligence reports, I could help."

"I don't think that I should… "He rubbed the bridge of his nose underneath his glasses and sighed. "I suppose we do owe you an explanation."

"Yes, I think you do."

Daniel shook his head. "Well, from an anthropologist's and archivist's point of view, it's actually one of the great romances of the decade, maybe more than that, although didn't seem like it at the time."

He sighed. "After all, I did live through it. Some of it was fairly… tiring. But yes, I'd say most people in the SGC view it as a 'great romance.'"

Daniel rallied. "You see, on Earth, the concept of romance has its origins in early mythology. Campbell, in fact, suggests that it's one of the great mythical themes of humanity, perhaps one of the defining factors of our humanity. But it's been my observation that 'great' romances -- those that turn into legend or myth, are usually characterized by one of two situations: the participants are great leaders or individuals with unique and strong personalities; or the circumstances surrounding the story strikes some strong, universal cord. For example, denial due to duty and obligation seems to be a fairly common theme. The Greeks took that one to the limit with the Ulysses and Penelope saga."

"Doctor Jackson, please."

"Uhhh, sorry. Well, about Sam and Jack. To make a long story short, they worked together for years as colleagues -- saved the world and saved the universe, oh, nine, ten times or so until Jack finally decided he'd had enough, didn't want to live without her anymore, and insisted on retiring. And did so. Problem is – once you've been part of the military here, they can recall you any time. So that's what happened. The President recalled Jack to duty, but agreed to the caveat of a personal exception for them. They were married about six months ago."

Daniel sighed. 'That's when the … happy… stuff … started."

"I see."

"You do?"

"Yes. Thank you for the information. I have a much better understanding of with whom I am negotiating."

"You do?"

"Of course, Dr. Jackson. As you've stated, General O'Neill is a military leader, albeit a national hero on your world who's saved it numerous times, and who commands loyalty and respect from his subordinates, peers and commanding officers. From what you tell me, he's also a man who understands protocol and exhibits the characteristics of patience, persistence, and tolerance, and who I might add... has excellent taste."

"I said that?"

'Yes, Doctor you did."

"Are you sure we're talking about Jack?"

"Yes, Doctor. I think we are."

"Oh. Just thought I should be clear about that. Did I mention that he has a really weird sense of humor? Because I think you really ought to know that if…"

"Doctor Jackson, I understand. I too have often hoped that 'pigs could fly.'"

"Oh." Daniel cleared his throat. "Yes, then in that case, you and Jack actually might be able to come to terms."

"I look forward to the opportunity to discuss our options with him. My assessment does not solve your …happy… problem, however."

"No, no it doesn't."

"Are you absolutely sure the General would like it solved?" The Ambassador paused. "Perhaps some confusion on general points can lead to clarity on others."

TBC…