Well folks, thanks for all your reviews as always.

Here's the final chapter for you to enjoy.

"If At First You Don't Succeed..."

by Lingren.

Previously:-

Harris staggered slightly as he landed on the ramp until the dizzying ride through the vortex had settled. He quickly surveyed the personnel around the room, checking on who and where the guards where. Standing there for a few brief moments, he noticed with enormous pleasure, that General Hammond was standing in his customary place, and nodded down at the General in greeting. All he needed to do now was wait for Lt. Brown to come through too, and then they could follow their orders.

Chapter 7 – He Demotes Me – He Demotes Me Not...

Jack had already heard the klaxons blaring out a warning that there was an incoming wormhole. He first ran into the control room first to see who it was that had activated the Stargate. He leaned slightly on the back of the Sergeant's chair, feeling breathless but buoyed by the urgency of the situation.

"Who's knocking on the door?" he demanded, seeing the General stepping up to the end of the ramp, ready to greet the team.

"It's SG-6 Sir." Davis turned and looked up at the Colonel, but only caught sight of the back of him as Jack disappeared down the stairs awkwardly, yelling over his shoulder as he went.

"Sergeant, get a medical team to the gate room ASAP." He was running on pure adrenaline now, his previous injuries just didn't exist, so focused as he was on stopping General Hammond from getting killed.

OoOoOoOoO

Harris glanced behind him at the wormhole, and saw the tell-tale ripples form as Brown emerged. With a quick nod to each other, and in the blink of an eye, he turned towards Hammond and the guards and opened fire, spraying the gate-room with bullets.

At that precise point in time Jack practically flew into the gate room in a tackling dive that would have made any football fan into rapturous applause. He reached the General, bringing him down just as Brown emerged shooting at everyone and everything, knocking his CO clear of the volley of shots aimed straight at him and the surprised SF's on guard duty.

General Hammond suddenly found himself lying on the floor, having had the breath knocked out of him. For several seconds he wondered what had happened, feeling shocked at first, and momentarily confused by what was going on when the room erupted into a gunfight.

With bullets flying around the room, he was quick to realise the situation and stayed well down, covered partially by the base of the ramp and also by the body of the person who had without a doubt saved his life, he felt relatively safe if not entirely relieved.

Stunned at seeing their CO and his 2IC fall along with a few of their colleagues under the unexpected barrage of gunfire, the guards reacted swiftly. Confusion reigned during the ensuing gun-battle, which in reality, barely lasted a few minutes, but which had seemed to all those watching to last a lifetime.

There was a shout of 'cease-fire' amid the rumpus, but the SF's had already done their job when the rest of SG-1 entered they fray and took over the responsibilities. Both Harris' and Brown's bodies lay dead on the ramp, riddled with bullets. As Sam nor Daniel or Teal'c had any idea what had sparked this frenzy off, they approached cautiously, making sure that the two men would not cause any further problems should they have been compromised by a Goa'uld symbiote.

There were several of the SFs who had been felled too, and now the medical teams had rushed into the room on Teal'c's okay they headed straight to the wounded.

The staff watching from the control room, had gasped in horror at the events taking place, especially when Jack and the General went down. They weren't sure whether they had been wounded or not. Now Davis and his co-workers stood gaping out of the window on the scene below in sheer disbelief.

Still feeling stunned by the carnage around them Sam and Daniel soon spotted the General rising shakily to his feet, still in shock as he looked around him. The two team-mates rushed over to help their Commander and to see if he was okay, but he fended them off, saying he was fine.

Janet and a team of medics had already begun treating the wounded, and when she saw that the General was relatively unharmed, she sent a silent prayer of thank skywards and turned back to her patients.

Jack was still lying face down on the floor, so far ignored in the after math, but now he couldn't help the soft moan that escaped. His previous wounds were now hurting like the very devil.

"Jack! Are you okay?" asked Daniel, bringing his scattered thoughts back on track.

"Oh God! I'm getting way too old for this kinda crap." Jack felt utterly exhausted now the crisis was over and the adrenaline rush gone now. He hurt just about everywhere he could think of and other places he shouldn't. He knew even without looking that he had opened up his leg wound again and Janet was so gonna kill him.

Sam couldn't help the smirk that rose on her lips at Jack's comment, and the General looked on in amusement too. He was just grateful for Jack's quick intervention despite his previous injuries; and yet even hurting, he had still managed to save his life. The man had proved himself to be a worth ally even in the face of impending disciplinary actions against him. Hammond could only shake his head and his hand once he was back on his feet.

"Come on Jack. Let's get you up. Give me your hand." Daniel, mindful of Jack's sore leg and arm, offered to help him stand up and at least help him back to the infirmary where Janet would probably bring out those huge needles to use on him for escaping her domain.

Jack looked up at him, pain lines clearly stood out across his pale features, and shook his head.

"Don't take this the wrong way Daniel, but I think you'd better get Doc over here. I think she'll need to take a look at me again."

"Yeah well, you've probably opened up that leg wound of yours," declared Daniel unsympathetically. "What with all that rushing around on it. Janet's going to be so mad at you; and with me, for letting you do it," he added while the General called Janet's attention and beckoned her over.

"While my leg is hurting Daniel, that's not my immediate problem right now..." he winced, trying unsuccessfully to roll over onto his back. He pressed his lips together, knowing it wasn't going to be pretty. "I think I got shot again!"

Jack looked down at his hand as he pulled it away from his side and revealed it soaked with blood. He sighed heavily and laid his head wearily, back onto the floor.

"What?" cried his friends, before they saw his bloodstained hand appear, and the full implications of his actions hit home.

"Why didn't you say something, Jack?" cried Daniel, throwing his arms in the air and quickly dropping to his knees beside him, to help Janet who was immediately there too.

"I thought I just did," he groaned with fresh pain as Janet gently prodded the area.

OoOoOoOoO

The moment Sam had left the infirmary, when the General arrived, she had gone to see Daniel in his lab, to tell him that the General was now about to have 'that talk' with the Colonel. She found Teal'c was already there, helping Daniel with a Goa'uld translation, so they all sat down to ponder over what the possible repercussions were going to be, and how it would affect the team, let alone the SGC.

They were really worried how the General would handle any disciplinary action because of Jack disobeying his orders, though General Hammond had already informed them of the events that had caused Jack to ignore his orders and go to meet Maybourne. The there was that whole thing about getting himself shot and almost dying in the process of finding help for him. Between them, they weighed what the possibilities were, as far as they could see it.

The biggest question bugging them, was whether it would be possible for Jack to remain as their CO? Or not. Then there was the added complication, that perhaps things changed because he'd gone all out and saved the General's life. The telephone rang, interrupting their ruminations, and Daniel answered it reluctantly.

"Janet? Yeah. Okay...thanks. Be right there." Putting the phone back on it's cradle, he sucked in a huge breath and relayed to them that the General had gone back to his office and Jack had asked to see them all.

They all looked at each other, dreading what news their CO would have to tell them. Silently, each wrapped up in their own thoughts, they trudged to the infirmary to see Jack, hoping that it would be good news.

OoOoOoOoO

The minute they walked into the room, Jack could see by their glum faces that they were expecting bad news. Sam was pale, and looked as if she would cry at any minute. Daniel was chewing on his bottom lip and was unable to maintain eye contact with him, and Teal'c, well, the big guy was looking more aloof that ever, but that in itself told Jack everything he needed to know about how his warrior brother was concerned about what was going to happen. Jack's delight at seeing his team rapidly turned his features sombre.

"Hi Guys!" he moped, trying to play along with their morose mood.

"Hi Jack. So, what did the General finally decide?" asked Daniel, feeling it was his place to ask the burning question.

"Weeellll. First off, he...thanked me for saving his butt."

"And then?"

"What do you want first, the good news or the bad news?"

"The good news Sir." Sam pleaded, hoping against hope that she wasn't going to lose him as leader. "Has the General made up his mind yet, Colonel?"

"Okay, so, good news first. Yes he has."

"Has what?" Daniel wanted to know as he was sure Sam and Teal'c did too.

"Oh... The good news is…that he has forgiven..." He paused, chewing on his lip as he saw three faces full of tension, hanging onto his words as they waited for his answer. "...Maybourne for his part in my downfall!"

"Jack!" Daniel practically growled in frustration. "What else did he say?"

"About what, Daniel?" He was so enjoying this, winding them all up.

"Jack!"

"Well, when I eventually get out of here, I get to go fishing." Jack knew without a doubt that that little piece of information would make them jump to all the wrong conclusions.

"Oh!" Sam and Daniel looked at each other, but couldn't bring themselves to look down at Jack.

After several silent minutes, which Jack was enjoying their obvious discomfort, Sam forced the lump in her throat away to put another searching question to her superior.

"What...what was the bad news Sir?" Sam now believed that the General had forced him into retirement once again, so breaking SG-1 up forever.

"The bad news?" Jack feigned memory loss until Daniel glared at him. "Oh! that."

"Come on Jack, out with it. What did he have to say?"

"The bad news really concerns you kids, not so much me.' He drew out the sentence as long as he dared, seeing the disappointment growing on their faces. "Well, you...all of you, get to...keep me as your CO." He looked at them in turn, their emotions in turmoil before what he had said, had finally sunk in, and eyes widen in surprise.

"You did that on purpose Jack, just to make us think the worst. Jack you're such a B..." Daniel glowered with a pout. He folded his arms across his chest, mainly to stop himself from hitting the man he called his friend.

"Ack! Daniel. Not in front of the Major," he laughed, quickly interrupting his friend from completing the sentence.

Now they all laughed together, thankfully relieved that Jack was going to stay with them.

"So, c'mon Jack. What did the General really say?" Daniel asked, trying to get Jack to open up and tell them everything.

"Actually, he said that, because I did it to save his butt as well as the fate of the SGC, that he would be able to ignore the regulations this time around. So, we can carry on as we are kids. He also said something about not wanting to split up his best team. Then he had to go finish a report he was rather loathe to write, and made some reference to having a big honkin' headache to deal with."

"Yeah. I can understand that. It's probably the one sitting right there in that bed," quipped Daniel pointing straight at Jack.

"Good, that's settled then. Daniel, Doc says I can get out of here next week, so pack a bag and be ready for our trip."

"Trip? What trip might that be Jack?" asked Daniel wondering what he had missed.

"Fishing Daniel. You just earned yourself a fishing trip."

"Jack! I am not going on any fishing trip. With or without you!"

"Oh yes you are Daniel. I'm your CO, and you have to follow my orders."

"Jack! Would you just listen to yourself! You are the proverbial 'Pot calling the Kettle black!'"

Sam couldn't help laugh at the pair of them. It was really good to hear them joking together again, and she was more than happy to find herself working with Jack still, even though it kept them from wanting to pursue anything further in their relationship. However, leaving it in that room, meant that whatever happened, it kept their hope alive.

Jack was more than thankful that he had managed to survive another attempt on his life, so maybe now they would give up and leave him alone, especially now the President had taken a real interest in all the double dealings that were going on under his very nose, and was investigating those involved. Who knew what would come of it, maybe there was even a pardon for Maybourne?

Teal'c was naturally at a loss at the humour of his two colleagues, and merely raised an eyebrow at the exchange. Wondering if he would ever really understand the Tau'ri sense of humour. He only knew one thing apart from the fact that they would all live to fight together another day; but what had pleased him greatly was that it was Daniel going fishing with O'Neill and not himself.

The End.

Now this is finished, please let me know if you have any specific request for one of my older stories to be posted on here. I would like to know so that I can start on updating and editing it for this site.

Thanks again! I always appreciate your comments and would like to know if you are enjoying reading these 'oldies'.

And for those of you who have asked, I am in the process of writing a new story, but it is still a long way from ready to be posted as yet. I'll let you all know when that time draws nearer.