Final Decision

Author's Notes: refer to first chapter

Disclaimer: refer to first chapter

Raising her eyebrows at Ev, Melissa interrupted, "And that means, sweetheart, that you can't pound his ass either." He turned to her with a look of disappointment on his face as she continued, "Ev, we discussed this last night. We need information—not for you to succumb to your he-man impulses."

"Ok, ok," laughed Ev. "I was actually just playing with you, Babe." He put his arms around her waist and gave her a very thorough kiss. When they broke apart, he said, "This is what we're going to do." Taking his watch off his wrist and handing it to Melissa, Ev continued, "I'm going to set this for one hour. When it beeps, take the stone off the unit, and I'll be back."

"That works for me, sweetheart. Be careful, and I will see you in an hour. Love you."

"Love you too, baby." Ev grinned and winked at her and then turned towards the unit taking the stone out of the box and placing it on the unit. Greer and Melissa realized the switch had occurred when the Colonel's demeanor changed. "So, I guess the guard has changed."

Greer placed his hand on his gun and asked, "And who might you be?"

"Oh, it's Lieutenant Hamilton. Colonel Telford warned me that the 'angry black man' might be guarding the stones." Hamilton looked closely at Melissa realizing who she was. "And it's the slut too. My day has been made."

Missy laughed sardonically as she turned to Greer, "You know, Sergeant, Homeworld Command is supposedly trying to get us home. And the only people they send here are calling us names. I wonder how much work they could actually get done if they quit acting like children."

Hamilton stood up quickly acting like he was going to hit Melissa when Greer moved between them with his gun out. He shook his head and said, "Uh, uh, uh. You're not getting near her. Why don't you just have a seat, and we'll wait for Colonel Young to be done." Knowing he wouldn't be successful, Hamilton sat back down to wait it out.

Meanwhile, Colonel Young was pacing around the room as he was briefing representatives of the IOA and the military on Earth. "Colonel Telford removed not only any sense of command, but also removed the two scientists who designed and implemented the program that was causing the crisis."

Dr. Williams said, "The situation appeared to be irreversible."

"Of course," stated Young, "and Dr. Rush was able to avoid catastrophic disaster."

"Yes, and we'd like to see how he did that, along with the rest of the data collected during the experiment," said Williams.

Disgusted by their lack of concern, Young said, "Yeah, those were people's lives you were experimenting with."

"We were trying to get them home," said Telford.

Young gave Telford an ugly stare. "Does trying to get them home include satisfying personal vendettas?" The tension in the room was palpable as he waited for an answer, but no one said anything in response. Finally, the IOA representative, whose name was Strom, stated, "There was no point in three more lives being lost if it could be avoided."

General O'Neill gazed at Strom and then looked back over at Colonel Young and said, "Colonel Telford was following orders."

At that moment, Everett knew that he, Melissa, and their baby could never live on Earth again without their lives being constantly at risk. It took everything he had to keep his composure, but was able to do it when he thought of how much Melissa and their baby meant to him. In response to the general's comment, he said, "Sure. After much consideration, we've decided to stay in communication with Earth. I hope personal visits will still be permitted."

Strom said, "That depends, Colonel."

"Consider it done," remarked O'Neill. Strom looked at him in surprise, not having expected Jack to override him like that.

"Thank you, Sir." Young looked at the clock on the wall and said, "I'm afraid the time that I've allotted for this briefing is now up." He threw another ugly glare at Telford and then nodded politely to Jack. "General."

As Young left the room, Strom threw an angry look at Jack who ignored it as he followed the colonel. He finally caught up with Young halfway down the hall. "Colonel Young, what the hell was that about?"

"That was about a group of people that cares more about getting a ship than about getting 76 people home safely." Noticing that Telford was walking rapidly towards them, Everett said, "And as far as the rest of it goes, ask the person who likes to beat up pregnant women and threaten to cut their babies up."

"What are you talking about?"

Young motioned towards Telford and then blinked several times. It was Hamilton. The hour had come and gone, and Melissa had taken the stone off the unit. Bewilderedly, not understanding why he was with O'Neill and Telford, Hamilton said, "Sir?"

"It's alright, Lieutenant," said Telford. "You can go." Hamilton nodded and walked on down the hall.

When Telford was alone with the general once more, he was surprised to be slammed against the wall. O'Neill asked, "What the hell did you do to Melissa?"

"I don't understand, Sir. They disobeyed the frat rules."

"And you think that gives you carte blanche to hurt her! Telford, you might not know her maiden name. It was Hammond."

A sinking feeling came over Telford. "Hammond? As in …."

"George Hammond's adopted daughter. You're in a lot of trouble." As O'Neill motioned Telford down the hall, he continued to explain what the possible ramifications of his conduct would be.

Meanwhile, on the Destiny, Hamilton had been lying on the couch with Greer and Missy closely watching him. When Everett's watch beeped, Missy said, "Time for the Colonel to come back." She took the stone off the unit and placed it back in the box. Walking over to the couch, she saw Hamilton blink his eyes several times and then open them slowly. "Everett?"

The gentle smile that she knew so well came over his face. He flashed their signal and said, "It's me, baby. I'm back, and I am really glad to see my girls." He stood up, and they gave each other a long hug.

Giving him a fond smile, Missy said, "We're glad to see you too, sweetheart. How did it go?"

"It went about as well as we expected it would." Gazing over at Greer, Young said, "Sergeant, I would like to address the whole crew at 1400. Could you please let Lieutenant Scott know and start passing the word along?"

"Yes, Sir." Greer left the communications room. Everett then looked at Melissa and said, "Let's walk down to our quarters, Missy. I need to talk to you without the possibility of anyone else walking in on us."

"Ok." Since their quarters were only one corridor away, it didn't take them long to get there. When they arrived, Missy turned to Ev and asked, "Ok, honey, what happened?"

"You need to sit, baby. You're not gonna like it." He waited until she had sat down on the small couch before he continued. "What Telford did was sanctioned by the IOA."

"Oh no!"

"Yeah. The one piece of good news is that I don't think General O'Neill knew about it. I was able to plant a bug in his ear before the hour was up, but I don't think Earth is safe for either of us right now."

Melissa nodded her head sadly. "I think you're right, Ev. Do you think we're gonna be ok here?"

"You know, after this morning, I think we will be. People respond well to being treated with respect, and I think you've done a good job of bringing people together."

"I appreciate that."

"However, I do want to work with you on adapting some basic self-defense moves to accommodate your new center of gravity." He pointed to her baby bump.

Giving him a wry grin, Melissa said, "Yep, you are right about this center of gravity thing. Every time I've tried to defend myself since we've been here hasn't worked very well."

"Why don't you go talk to TJ about it? You can collect our stuff out of the infirmary at the same time."

"Sure." She got up to leave and then stopped when she saw him staying at the desk. "You're not coming with me?"

"Nope," said Ev. He pulled a radio out of the desk drawer. "I found this on the floor of Mac's quarters last night. Since Saunders and Williams are gone now, I think you are ok to start walking around the ship on your own again. Just let me know when you get there and when you're coming back if you would. I'd like to see you rest a bit before the all-crew meeting."

Feeling her face about to split from the huge grin on it, she said, "Oh, thank you. Thank you, Ev. You don't know how much this means to me."

"I think I do, baby. See you in a few minutes."

"Ok." Missy gave him a quick kiss and then left to go towards the infirmary. As she walked, she passed several of the Marines who enthusiastically greeted her and let her know how glad they were that she was feeling better. By the time she reached the infirmary, Missy felt like she had talked with half of the ship, but it felt really good. When she walked in, she greeted TJ and Mac, "Hey guys."

"Hi Melissa," said Mac. "And why are you by yourself?"

The huge grin that spread over Missy's face was infectious. She said, "Since Saunders and Williams are gone now, we thought it would be ok for me to be on my own. Hold on. Gotta do something." She pulled out her radio. "Mitchell to Young."

"Young here."

"I'm in the infirmary, Ev."

"Fantastic. See you in a bit, Missy."

"You got it."

She turned the radio off as TJ asked, "How did things go with Homeworld Command?"

"About as well as we thought they would. Listen, the Colonel wanted me to come and get our stuff assuming I'm getting discharged."

TJ laughed and said, "You are as bad as this one," pointing at Mac. "Yes, you can go back to quarters. I'd like you to take it easy for a day or so. Nothing too strenuous."

"Works for me. Oh, one other question. Do either of you have any suggestions on some basic self-defense moves that would work with my center of gravity issues?"

Mac said, "I can help you with that, Melissa, once we're both completely cleared."

"Thanks Mac." She walked over to the bed she had stayed in the night before and picked up her toiletry bag and uniform shirt and pants. As she headed out, she said to TJ, "Thanks again for everything," and then to both of them, "I'll see you later on at the all-crew meeting." They nodded in response, and she went out into the corridor. Pulling out her radio again, she let Ev know she was coming back and then started walking in the direction of their quarters. When she was almost there, she ran into Brody. "Hi, Dr. Brody. How are you?"

"I'm doing well, Dr. Mitchell. Looks like you're feeling better too. Listen, we're having a translation issue in the Control Room. Rush can't even figure it out. I remembered you saying you had a text with you that Dr. Jackson wrote. Can we borrow it?

"Sure. It's in my quarters." They walked around the corner and Melissa pressed the door entry to their quarters saying to Everett. "Hey Ev, I'm back."

Looking up from the legal pad he was writing on, he greeted her with a welcoming smile. "Hi Missy. Hello Dr. Brody."

Melissa walked over to the bed and laid down the stuff she had collected from the infirmary." She then turned to him and asked, "Ev, do you know where my Ancient reference text is? They need to borrow it in the Control Room."

Pulling open the bottom drawer of the desk, Everett got the book out and handed it to her, "It's right here, Babe. Remember, you put it in the drawer for safe keeping."

"That's right. I remember now. Thanks." Taking the book from him, she handed it to Brody, "Here you go. Hope it helps."

Brody nodded at her gratefully and said, "Thanks Dr. Mitchell. I'll return it when we're done." He said good-bye to both of them and then left.

Once they were alone, Ev turned to Missy and asked, "So, what did TJ have to say?"

"She said I was ok to come back here. Nothing strenuous for a day or so. Oh, and Mac said that he could help me with that self-defense stuff once he's completely cleared. Maybe the three of us could get together in a day or so."

"That works for me." He went back to sit at the desk and write while she sat on the couch. After about five minutes or so, he lifted up his pen and asked her, "Would you look at this, Missy? I was writing out some of my thoughts about what I wanted to say to the crew later."

"I'd be glad to, sweetheart." Melissa took the legal pad from him and started reading. "Oh, Ev, this is perfect—just the right combination of hope and the necessity for all of us to pull together."

"Thanks Babe." Everett took a careful look at the pad one more time and then put it down on the desk. He glanced at his watch as he walked over to the sofa. "We've got about two hours before the meeting. Do you want to lie down and rest?"

Missy gazed at him with a mischievous grin as he sat down with her. "Naah, I'm not tired."