Author's notes: As usual, thank you all for following, reading and reviewing!

And now, Part 1 of what you all have been waiting and asking for.

Beyond Reason

Chapter Fifty-Five – Clearing up

Jack stepped into the briefing room, escorted by two heavily armed SF's. The SF's took position at the nearby walls, joining at least half a dozen other guards. Jack ignored them, knowing this was more SOP than because of any danger they were expecting from him. It was more to reassure those stuck-up Pentagon lackeys than to hold him back from an attack should he be planning something like that. Which he was not. Despite the fact that another three days had passed in which he had been all but ignored, Jack was determined to play it out nice. He still hadn't been allowed to see Carter, but for her sake Jack was ready to wait patiently and play by the rules. For once he was in a situation, where pressure, impatience and his stubborn streak wouldn't get him anywhere and so Jack was prepared to do it the demanded way: by waiting for his turn.

Which finally had come, he thought, when he walked forwards unhurriedly, studying the people sitting at the table. Of course, there were General Hammond, Senator Kinsey and Agent Barrett, as well as the stranger Jack had talked to during his interrogation, and then there was Colonel Simmons as another representative of the NID and General Francis Maynard as representative of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Behind General Maynard stood Major Davis, who nodded at Jack with a relieved expression on his face. Jack gave a sloppy salute to greet the people he really valued like General Hammond, General Maynard and Major Davis, but that was pretty much all he did to pay his respects to the small assembly that had gathered for his trial.

Jack looked on and noticed there also were a Captain from the NID and a Lieutenant from the Pentagon, who, from the looks of it, had been brought along as witnesses and recorders, and Sergeant Harriman stood behind General Hammond, in case he was needed. Jack was somehow relieved to see the faithful Sergeant up and walking, even if he still seemed rather white in the face and so he shot the other man a small smile the Chief Master Sergeant returned wholeheartedly.

And, Jack noticed much to his pleasure, there was Teal'c. The Jaffa stood in front of the window overlooking the Stargate, silently waiting for Jack to acknowledge him. For a moment, Jack was aware of the situation and all personnel present, but then he decided they could as well all go screw themselves and stepped forwards to greet his brother-in-arms.

"T!" he greeted happily while he reached out to clap hands – or rather forearms – with the Jaffa.

"O'Neill," the Jaffa answered with a completely calm, collected expression Jack could accurately read nonetheless. "It is most satisfying to see you unharmed."

"Same here, buddy, same here!" Jack said wholeheartedly. He was really relieved the symbiote poison hadn't harmed his friend in any way.

"So you stayin' around for the party?" Jack asked while motioning around the packed room, where he was sure he would pretty soon receive his sentence.

The Jaffa's mouth curled as if he was confused by Jack's choice of words, but then he inclined his head, simply stating: "Indeed."

"Sweet," Jack said casually, but in all honesty he was relieved he didn't have to sit through this farce all alone. He would have wished for Daniel to be there, too, because Jack was sure that he would soon be in dire need of the other man's diplomatic skills, but yeah, no luck there, so Jack would take what he could get.

Footsteps sounded out from the stairs leading up to the briefing room and with one hand on the backrest of the chair he would be expected to sit in, Jack turned. He knew at the sight of the first sliver of gold who they were bringing in and his heart began to race automatically.

Jack's mouth turned completely dry and he had to claw onto his whole self-control to not let anything slip on his face when Carter slowly made her way up the stairs, flanked front and back by SF's. Jack drank in her sight he had been deprived of. Her golden hair by now flowed down her shoulders and now that she had access to shampoo again, it was back to its old shine. She was dressed in the SGC's BDUs, which made her such a familiar sight Jack almost sighed content. She was walking calmly and the way she usually walked, telling him she had recovered from her injuries, except for her arms that were still wrapped in bandages to protect the healing skin. Her face however held a dead expression. It was slack, barely the professional expression she tried to conjure up for the impending investigation she probably believed to have to face, and her normally sparkling blue eyes were dull and vacant. She was walking around like a zombie, barely connected to the reality around her.

Jack immediately worried and it was all he could do that he wasn't jumping forwards and shoved the SF at the front aside to question her what had happened. Attentively, he tracked her making her way forwards, but he didn't move an inch, standing rooted to the ground, his hand clawing into the chair's backrest with the strength it took him to fight the feelings that were threatening to overtake and show. Feelings he really couldn't give away with half the Washington brass looking. He didn't need to give them any more reasons to court-martial them.

Finally, the SF's stepped aside, joining their comrades along the walls and she looked up, visibly steeling herself for what was to come, when her eyes fell on Jack. Jack saw her freeze, her whole body grounding to a halt at his sight. She blinked rapidly, her mouth opening but the words failing to come out. She looked at him as if she'd seen a ghost.

Jack smiled. "Hey there, Carter," he said, careful that his voice was giving nothing away but friendly politeness.

"Sir…!" she whispered baffled, before continuing in a disbelieving voice: "You're alive!"

Jack raised an eyebrow. Well, yes, he was.

But then it dawned on him. Someone must have told her he had died. And obviously that someone had failed to inform her he had come back from the dead. Sort of.

"Alive and kicking, Carter," he confirmed.

She seemed overtaxed with the whole situation. Obviously that hadn't been what she had been expecting and suddenly Jack knew why she had looked so exhausted. She had been trying to come to terms with the fact that Jack had died. Right after Daniel. She had tried to go on, trying to see sense in life again after two of the people closest to her had died, leaving her back all alone to face an unknown future.

"Well, even if that is rather touching…" Kinsey cut in with a voice that suggested he was rather talking about a nest of spiders he'd found under his bed than the reunion of two close friends and fellow coworkers. "… we're here for an important reason and we don't have all the time in the world. Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, please sit down."

As if on autopilot, Carter walked over to stand next to him, shooting a small smile towards Teal'c when she passed him and when she stopped in front of the table, she gave a textbook-perfect salute for all the higher-ups present. Jack waited for her to stand by his side, before he turned for the men behind him, completely ignoring Kinsey until this point. Together, they sat down in the chairs opposite of all the higher-ups and Teal'c took position behind them, standing with his hands clasped behind his back like a guard.

When Jack leaned back in his chair, studying the men across from them, he noticed Carter trembled slightly. She kept it together remarkably well, but from the way she clamped her tight fists against her thighs, he knew she was fighting the light tremors that shook her body from the shock she'd gotten from seeing him. Carefully, Jack reached out for her under the table and laid one of his large hands over one of her smaller ones, squeezing lightly, cautious of her injuries. Jack knew from the points of view that no one could have noticed but Teal'c and he trusted their friend to completely overlook the gesture. Carter exhaled and relaxed upon feeling his touch. She didn't acknowledge it outwardly, but she turned over one of her hands to intertwine their fingers. And together, they sat, awaiting their sentence.

"Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter," General Maynard began despite the fact that Jack could see Kinsey was practically dancing on the edge of his seat in impatience. "You are aware why we're all here, aren't you?"

Jack and Sam nodded, but still the General continued: "You both have committed serious crimes against the Air Force and the United States. You both ignored standing orders and deserted, going AWOL for about six months. You both exposed Earth and its allies to an unimaginable risk by performing serious breaches of security. You attacked fellow officers on the run. You seriously compromised the way this highly classified base works and put it out of order for days. Your reckless actions endangered the whole planet, its security and its freedom, and shows remarkable lack of foresight, sense of responsibility and duty, sympathy and awareness of the consequences. Do you understand that?"

Jack and Sam exchanged a quick glance and Jack smiled reassuringly at her when he saw her tense face. Nevertheless, it was her, who answered: "We do, General."

"And we were fully aware of all consequences when we fled," Jack added.

The General looked up astonished. "So you knew what you could possibly offer to any enemy of the United States, the Air Force and the whole planet Earth, should you be captured off-world?" he asked perplexed.

"That, as well as what would expect us the moment we would return," Jack clarified kindly. "We're not stupid."

Despite his words, the General shook his head as if Jack's admission had made it even worse than they admitting they hadn't thought that far could have made it.

"Still, you both came back," the stranger, who sat next to General Hammond, said quietly.

"'Course!" Jack agreed. "Despite our actions, we both know where our duties and our loyalties lie! We wouldn't even have deserted in the first place if the situation hadn't been so dire for us!"

"And we took every measure possible to ensure we would not be found off-world as to not compromise Earth and the SGC," Sam next to him agreed.

"Oh? And how would you have achieved that?" Kinsey asked sarcastically.

Jack levelled angry eyes on the man who proved to be more annoying than a thorn in the foot. "We chose to hide on an uninhabited planet with adequate defense mechanisms with which we could defend ourselves against possible threats."

Goa'uld as well as irritating NID agents and fellow sympathizers, Jack thought mockingly.

"You are only two individuals," Kinsey countered. "The Goa'uld have armies. How would you have defended against them?"

"The planet we hid on is called Laterra," Sam explained calmly. "It has a large, functioning military base left behind by the Ancients. No Goa'uld army could have infiltrated it."

Jack could see a glint appear in Kinsey's and Colonel Simmons' eyes, but the Colonel looked completely professional when he waved her statement away with a hand. "Major Carter," he said reprovingly. "The Goa'uld have shown that they just use the Ancients' technology, just as they've done with the Stargates. What makes you think they couldn't just take this base over as well?"

"Because you need the Ancient gene to get it running," Sam continued calmly. "Without the ATA gene, you can't even open a door over there. So the Goa'uld would have next to no possibility to get access to the base."

Jack smirked at seeing how she faced off with the asshole Simmons. No one, aside from Daniel maybe, could outtalk Carter!

"If you say 'next to no possibility' you mean there are possibilities?" Kinsey inquired with a smirk, obviously thinking he had gotten Carter.

Sam raised a brow. "I've said it just to be thorough. I suppose the Goa'uld could enter if they had control over a host with the ATA gene and there were no defensive mechanism that would specifically single out Goa'uld, but as far as we know, the only humans still in possession of the ATA genes are here on Earth and seeing that the SGC's personnel are the only ones going off-world and the only one of them possessing the ATA gene is Colonel O'Neill, we knew no Goa'uld had control over such a host. And there is still the possibility the Ancients had their base secured against such measures of attempted entry. Seeing how advanced their defensive mechanism were, I highly suspect there to be such a mechanism, but since the Goa'uld didn't find us off-world, we couldn't really prove that theory."

Jack's smirk grew even wider when he noticed neither Simmons nor Kinsey could make something out of that little, tiny possibility. Hell, if Carter said 'next to no possibility', then that was exactly what she meant. So essentially, Jack and Sam had guarded themselves as best as possible while off-world.

"You were lucky there was such a planet," Kinsey growled. "If there hadn't been, you would have seriously endangered Earth!"

"Who says we would have gone off-world if there hadn't been such a planet?" Jack countered, smiling sweetly. He knew they would have given the situation, even if they would have had to sleep on the ground of some tiny excuse of a planet but hell, as if he would admit that to Kinsey!

General Maynard cut in. "I believe you that you tried to guard yourself and the secrets you're in possession of while off-world," he admitted. "But fact is, none of you were supposed to be off-world in the first place! Major Carter had been under arrest and I believe SG-1, including you, Colonel O'Neill, was ordered to stay at the SGC for the duration of the investigation."

Neither Jack nor Sam answered to that, so General Hammond felt compelled to confirm it with a nod when Maynard looked around questioningly.

"So is it true you disobeyed direct orders?" General Maynard asked, his eyes boring into Jack's.

Jack's jaw worked while he mulled over several things he could say in his head, but then decided the truth would work out best. "Yes sir," he said. "But we had good reasons."

"Your reasons–!" Kinsey began, but again the stranger cut in, asking: "What were the reasons?"

As if they had agreed on it beforehand, Sam took over, explaining their situation: "Colonel O'Neill and I are in possession of special powers since our abduction on P3T-643. Ever since these powers have gotten public knowledge, we were facing the threat of being made into guinea pigs and neither of us could accept that given our current experiences with being held hostage and having to undergo experiments."

"However, it wasn't your turn to decide that," Simmons admonished. "You are officers of the Air Force and the Air Force decides where your talents are of most use. So if the Air Force would decide to reassign you to a research area to study your powers that could very well be the next step in humanity's development, then you follow the orders given to you."

Aha, Jack thought. It was the open confirmation of what he and General Hammond had suspected from the beginning: the 'Air Force' or rather people like Simmons and Kinsey had indeed taken an interest in their powers, and just as Jack had feared, they had tried to get their hands on them, hiding behind the excuse of the general good of humanity and shoving official Air Force orders up front to mask their own meddling in the background. So far that only strengthened Jack's opinion that he and Carter had just escaped in time. Even if, basically, they were now in the situation they had tried to avoid all the time…

"Well, sir, we know our powers best and so we knew that they need to be handled carefully," Sam countered professionally. "We couldn't risk giving the wrong people access to such strong powers, but since we were given no say in the matter, we decided on this course of action."

"Again, this wasn't your decision to make," Simmons reproached.

"Who else's was it?" Sam inquired politely. "No one but us can handle these powers and no one but us can assess their destructiveness. Do you have any idea what could have happened while trying to experiment on such unknown factors? So in the interest of the general good we decided to rather remove the threat we were posing to our country and our planet."

Jack wanted to whoop out loud for her. Carter really had that thing with the words down!

"I feel like I'm repeating myself, Major Carter," Simmons growled. "Neither of you were in a position to make that decision!"

"And seeing how your powers took the SGC back from the Goa'uld they would have better remained here in the first place. That would have saved dozens of lives," Kinsey said self-assured.

Oh no, you bastard, you don't, Jack almost screamed inwardly. There was no way he would allow Kinsey to push that blame on them!

"That's bullshit!" Jack said straight-forward. "Carter and I trained hard off-world to regain the amount of control we now have. We would have never gotten that control if we'd have stayed!"

"And if we would have stayed, we wouldn't have been at the SGC at the time of the attack," Sam reasoned. "We would have been reassigned to a research facility. We would have had no way to interfere at all."

"It would have cost even more lives," Jack said, throwing Kinsey's own words at the man.

"Oh? Then how come the Goa'uld even knew how to attack Earth? How did they know how to circumvent the unfaultable iris?" Kinsey asked pointedly.

Jack gnawed on his lower lip in concentration. He knew what Kinsey was hinting at, but there was no way he was allowing the slimy bastard to get to Carter!

When neither officer answered immediately, Kinsey prodded: "Major Carter?"

She held her head high and looked the higher-ups straight into the eyes when she answered: "Nirrti got the knowledge through me. She saw a way around the iris when she possessed my body. A way I myself wasn't even aware of at that time."

"And why was Nirrti after you of all people?" Kinsey asked, before answering his own question: "Because of your powers. If it hadn't been for your powers, you wouldn't have interested her at all! She wouldn't have possessed you and found out about the iris' weak spot. Which just proves that you would have better stayed on-world."

"Nirrti might have gone for Carter because of her powers," Jack admitted what was an open secret anyways. "But even without her powers she would have been a good target for a Goa'uld. She has the most knowledge about all things belonging to the Stargate Program. She would have been the perfect host all along."

"Oh? Then maybe Major Carter shouldn't go off-world at all anymore," Simmons suggested smugly. "I think nobody would want that sensitive knowledge in the wrong hands."

Jack bit down on his tongue. That wasn't what he had been trying to say!

"You're going overboard, Colonel!" General Hammond cut in angrily. "Major Carter is a valuable member of the SGC and it is my decision whether or not she will continue to go off-world! Many things that now go without saying in this program are thanks to Major Carter's off-world research!"

Simmons didn't answer to that. He just shot General Maynard a glance, speculating whether or not his 'suggestions' had taken root where he had wanted them to.

"Well, actually the fact that Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill weren't present during the Goa'uld's attack made them able to free the SGC," Agent Barrett said unexpectedly. "If they had been there, they would have gotten captured alongside all others, wouldn't they?"

Jack was astonished. Not only by the fact that the rather quiet NID agent was coming to their defense, but also that he had made such an accurate observation. Yes, if he and Carter had been there during the first wave of the attacks, all it would have needed to make them surrender would have been to threaten the life of one of the various hostages. And they had had enough encounters with Nirrti so that the Goa'uld scientist would have known that.

"And they did free the base quite spectacularly," the stranger inserted quietly.

Colonel Simmons grunted while going through a few documents in front of him. "Indeed! By – let me see – damaging highly important equipment attached to the Stargate, causing a base-wide blackout, wasting the invaluable little amount of symbiote poison we got from the Tok'ra and threatening to damage the Stargate beyond any repair with their reckless actions!"

Jack wanted to throw something at the other man. Really, he usually wasn't one to hate people, simply because he found it paid the person more attention than they were worth, but Simmons and Kinsey were really testing Jack's patience.

"The fact is they got done what the whole SGC failed to do: they defeated Nirrti and Ares," General Hammond said furious. "Given that the army was about to throw a nuclear bomb that would have erased the threat along with all people present at the SGC at that time and the Stargate itself, I'd say it was a small price to pay! Sergeant Siler is already repairing the damage on the wiring, the Stargate isn't damaged, the base's energy is back on track and we can always ask the Tok'ra for another sample of the symbiote poison. I consider it a success we still have a Stargate Program after what has happened!"

Again, Jack felt strangely warmed at seeing what an effort General Hammond made to defend them. He really was an outstanding CO.

And, also something worth noticing, Jack observed how the good Senator Kinsey turned slightly green at the reference to the A-bomb that had literally been hanging over the SGC's head for a while, while he'd been there. Served him right, Jack thought. This was the reality they had to deal with every day while those Washington-wackos were calculating what the damaged wiring would cost them, no matter how many lives they had saved with the measures they had taken. Really, Jack and Sam had had no means of knowing what they would be stumbling in, so they had mostly improvised, making the best out of what they had. And Jack still thought they had done a remarkably good job.

"Well, leaving the details aside for a while, I think it can be said that both, Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter, have acted against standing orders and deserted," General Maynard summed it up. "However, despite knowing what personal risk they would take, they came back and freed the SGC when the base was in need, which speaks of their loyalty and their respect of their jobs."

Simmons snorted. "Excuse me, sir, but we can't really justify their behavior with that, can we? Yes, they have come to the SGC's help, but that doesn't make the fact undone that they have been AWOL for six months! They disobeyed direct orders! What signal would we send if we would let them off that easily?"

"None," Maynard deadpanned suddenly. "The Stargate Program is highly classified, so nothing of this discussion will ever be heard off outside of this room."

"Still, what they have done needs to be court-martialed!" Kinsey insisted.

Maynard shook his head. "And what would you say in the court-martial? None of the judges would have the clearance to know even the name of the program! None of what has happened can appear in a court-martial and be known by the public!"

And for the first time, Jack felt slightly optimistic. General Maynard was right! Jack knew the man was a fierce approver of the Stargate Program and once, he had even congratulated Jack on the successes SG-1 had accomplished. Jack knew the man wouldn't leave them hanging if he could help it, but he was only one man. He couldn't act against the wishes of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but apparently, the JCS didn't wish for anything to get out, so maybe he and Carter would get lucky. Just as you couldn't be held responsible for crimes on a mission that had officially never happened – something Jack knew from firsthand experience from his black ops days – you couldn't really get court-martialed for leaving a post that didn't even exist as far as the US government was concerned.

Okay, Jack was aware that it was a pretty flimsy excuse. If they had just caught him and Carter off-world and had brought them back to Earth in custody, they would have been court-martialed under some pretense. Or forced into retirement, most likely with a dishonorable discharge. It was largely thanks to the role they had played in the fight against Nirrti and Ares that was sparing them the discharge or the stay in a military prison. If Jack had to guess, then his and Carter's little stunt had shown the Washington brass what advantages their powers had on the frontlines and they were considered too valuable to be released from duty. There was nothing quite like their powers and Jack wasn't surprised the JCS were grasping for any possibility to get them where they once had been: under orders of the US Air Force, to protect their country and planet from any threat, just as they had done with Nirrti.

General Maynard straightened and shot a quick glance at the stranger. "As far as the Joint Chiefs of Staff are concerned, we'd like to establish that Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter have been on a long-term, classified mission to research that base they've found. They have acted according to General Hammond's orders at the time and have been in contact with the SGC during that time."

Oh, so that was how they were going to play it out, Jack thought. They were going to ignore any serious breach of security Jack and Sam had conducted and pretend it had all been done on a mission. Nice safe of face, Jack thought, but who was he to complain?

The stranger and General Hammond nodded, indicating they consented and Jack had to refrain from bouncing excitedly on his seat. He knew what it would mean for them. Everything would essentially go back to the way it had all been before. As if they had really been on a mission, Jack would take over position as 2IC of the SGC and leader of SG-1 once again and Carter would go back to being his 2IC and the lead scientist. They would continue right where they had left off before they had fled and it was more than Jack had dared to dream of. He and Carter would get their lives and their jobs back without having to fear any consequences. It was… somehow weird. Jack didn't even know what to think of it yet.

Jack and Sam simultaneously exhaled relieved, both unaware of how tense they had actually been. They had really gotten off with a slap on the wrist!

General Maynard looked at them sharply. "I hope you do get this right!" he warned. "This is more to save the Stargate Program than your asses! Another stunt like this and you're both spending the rest of your lives in retirement! At best!"

Jack and Sam nodded simultaneously. Neither needed to be told, because they were very much aware how lucky they had gotten, but nonetheless, they accepted the warning wordlessly.

Under the table, Sam squeezed Jack's hand and in response, he began running his thumb over the back of her hand. Slowly, they began to feel tentatively optimistic.

"You can't do that!" Kinsey protested immediately.

"I believe it is done," General Maynard countered calmly. "The orders are already filed. The mission Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter have been on has been approved by General Hammond as well as the JCS. You can look it up."

Then the General turned back to the two officers sitting across from him. "As with every normal mission, you will both submit full mission reports."

"Yes sir," they confirmed, both smiling slightly.

"But, General!" Colonel Simmons protested. "After all what happened, after all they've done, you can't just go on as if nothing has happened!"

"In fact, nothing has happened," the General explained quietly. "Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter have never deserted to begin with. They were acting on orders of General Hammond at all times. Everything they've done was part of a long-term mission they had to interrupt because of the attack on the SGC. And I'm sure the recon mission will be continued sometime in the future."

Jack recognized the hidden meaning immediately. The Air Force was interested in the Ancient military base they had found, but Jack wasn't surprised because after all, it was the SGC's mission to find alien technology to defend Earth against the Goa'uld with and what would be better than Ancient military technology? So they would probably go back to Laterra someday to retrieve what could turn out valuable to Earth. But somehow, Jack didn't mind. He didn't like the thought of raiding the base he had called home for a short time, but he was willing enough to trade that against his and Carter's freedom and the possibility to return to their former jobs and lives.

Kinsey snorted to General Maynard's words, a move Jack thought brave seeing that the man certainly hadn't gotten four stars for nothing. "And how do you think you will pull this off to make it believable? They didn't even say on which planet they'd been! Or do you intend to just pick a random one?"

"Oh, we do have the address," General Hammond contradicted. "Doctor Jackson directly dialed the planet and our dialing computer records all dialing sequences, so we know what specific planet we're talking about."

Kinsey's and Simmon's heads snapped around. "Why does the NID not know about this?" they inquired simultaneously.

"Oh, the NID knows," Barrett said kindly. "I have known and as demanded, I've written the information down in my report. Unfortunately, my report isn't finished and I didn't have the time yet to inform you."

Jack almost laughed out loud. Kinsey and Simmons were looking about to burst from rage.

"I demand a SG team goes to check that planet out!" Colonel Simmons snarled. "Who knows what kind of threats could be lurking there?"

"First of all, that's not your decision to be made!" General Hammond snapped. "It's mine. Second, if you expect there to be dangers, you still want to send my men head-on into them? And third, a team has already been sent to the planet."

"The NID should have known of that!" Colonel Simmons raged, before turning for Barrett. "Or did you know again?"

Barrett shook his head. "Of that I have no knowledge."

"Because you didn't need to," General Hammond decided. "This is standard SGC operating procedure. It doesn't concern the NID as long as there's no breach of any rule."

Jack was enjoying the sight of the downright fuming Colonel and the seething Senator. Jack knew exactly what the SGC would have found on Laterra: nothing. Because the moment someone who wasn't Jack himself or Carter would have gone near the base, the defense systems would have activated and would have sent them running back to the Stargate. There was no way they would ever access the base without Jack. But why tell the NID? It was as General Hammond had said. This was nothing the NID had to concern themselves with, even if Simmons and Kinsey probably would have killed to get their hands on the technology that was hidden on Laterra. Too bad Jack had ensured that nobody would get to anything he and Carter weren't approving of.

"So is that it?" Jack asked business-like. "Can we go back to our jobs?"

General Maynard looked at them and for the tiniest moment Jack thought the ghost of a smile cross the other man's face. "Since nothing has happened, yes," he answered.

Jack was about to jump up, do some small talk just to give off the impression of being polite and then sweep off his 2IC for a small, private party, when Kinsey smashed his fists down on the briefing table.

"No!" he protested. "This is not it!"

"Bob…" the stranger said calmly. "Accept it."

"No, I'm not!" the Senator screeched. "Something has happened. There were rules broken! And I don't stand for such officers to just stroll around unpunished, thinking they stand above the rules!"

Jack felt somehow insulted by these words, but this time, he stayed out of it, deciding he didn't want to ruin the impression of a good soldier these people had of him. And wisely, Carter also didn't say a thing, merely letting the others handle the raging Senator.

"I think we just discussed this," General Maynard said matter-of-factly.

Suddenly a grin appeared on Senator Kinsey's face that made Jack's skin crawl with a bad, foreboding feeling. Why was the Senator hell-bent on getting them court-martialed? What did he gain from sending him and Carter to prison? From what Jack had gathered in the previous days Kinsey had been one of the people screaming loudest to get them back to the SGC. Then again, getting them back didn't equal having them back at the SGC. It was more likely to be the man's main interest to have them under close supervision and with next to no possibility to decide over themselves anymore. With their posts at the SGC, Jack and Sam still had lots of freedoms and could decide on their own. Even worse, they were in close contact with the Stargate, giving them the possibility to vanish once again should they deem it necessary, something Kinsey and his unhealthy interest in their powers would desperately want to prevent. So yes, Jack thought, it matched that Kinsey would rather have them court-martialed – Jack had a strong suspicion they wouldn't end up in some prison but rather get reassigned to some research facility – than have them work at the SGC to protect Earth.

So Jack wasn't that surprised anymore when he saw Kinsey inhale deeply to deliver another blow in the hopes of bringing him and Carter down, despite all the support they had gained with their actions.

"This we did not discuss," Kinsey said ominously. Then he turned for Sam. "Major Carter, is it true you were completely alone on that planet you were hiding on?" he asked.

Confused, Sam nodded. "Yes, the planet was deserted, aside from the Colonel and myself."

Kinsey's grin grew even wider. "Did you interact with anyone on your trips to other worlds?" he inquired.

"No," Sam answered honestly. "We kept all contact to the bare minimum. After all, we were trying to go unseen."

"So then the only person you have interacted with those last months is Colonel O'Neill?" Kinsey insisted.

"Yes," Sam confirmed and by now Jack was asking himself what the man was trying to get at with these questions.

Now Kinsey's smile was positively devilish. "Then there have been rules broken!" he stated.

For a moment, Jack frowned, not understanding, but then realization hit him like a bucket of cold water. Shit, he cursed inwardly.

"Senator Kinsey–" General Hammond began, but the Senator was faster.

"According to the SGC's standard operating procedures, Doctor Fraiser has done a thorough examination of Major Carter after her return and the results revealed she has been sexually active in the past time. And there was no one with her but her Commanding Officer, so they acted against the fraternization regulations!"

Out of the corner of his eyes, Jack saw Sam flush darkly, embarrassed beyond words that this topic was discussed in front of half the Washington brass. In this moment Jack really hated Senator Kinsey. He had no right to drag Sam into the mud like that! Yes, they had broken the regs, but did he need to bring it up like that just to get back at them?

Jack leaned back in his chair, sighing unnoticed. Yep, it had been too good to be true, hadn't it? Of course, they didn't just get away with it like that.

Jack knew Kinsey had finally found the dagger to ram in their backs. Because no matter how classified the Stargate Project was, the Air Force could court-martial them all they wanted for breaking these kinds of regulations. They could very well get court-martialed over having had sex without having to mention the Stargate only once. Who cared where he had had that sex with his 2IC? Fact was he had had sex with his 2IC. It didn't matter if it had been off-world, at the SGC or even in proper, boring Washington. It only mattered that it had happened.

Damn it, Jack thought, angry at himself. He should have expected that backhand. He knew the SOP for personnel that returned from long-term, off-world missions and even though they had deserted, he should have known Sam would have to undergo the whole procedure, just as he had had to. It was just that he had written his examination marathon up to the fact that he had returned from the dead and not from half a year of off-world vacation.

And, of course, the Napoleonic power monger couldn't have missed the evidence of their last time together. After all, it had happened just before they had come to the SGC's rescue. There would have been no way of hiding it even if Jack or Sam had thought that far. The chances had just been so slim it had slipped Jack's mind. He had been prepared to fall in the fight with the Goa'uld and if they'd been very lucky he would've thought them to be able to make their way back to Laterra. At the very worst he had expected to be captured and be brought up for charges, but he'd never really considered that they would both be examined first after their long stay off-world. It was SOP, but somehow it had seemed so simple, so unimportant, Jack hadn't paid the thought any attention. Turned out to be a fatal mistake, he grouched inwardly.

Jack was so busy mentally kicking his own ass, he almost missed General Hammond saying: "We did get the report, too, Senator Kinsey."

Yeah, Jack thought bitterly. Of course, they would. Fraiser would have to put the examination's results in Carter's file, making it publicly available to those with enough clearance, and she would have to report her findings to all superior officers in need to know. Grimly, Jack tried to imagine the ruckus those news had probably caused. Poor General Hammond, he thought. The man had done his best to get them out of this misery and he and Carter were giving their all to jump back in headlong.

"Then how come nobody apparently picked up on this blatant breach of protocol?" the Senator asked heatedly, apparently confused that no one had commented on that crime already. Jack had to admit, he was kinda perplexed himself.

Again, General Maynard repeated: "Because there was no breach."

Now Jack was as confused as Kinsey looked. Were they simply going to pretend nothing had happened? But they couldn't really, Jack reasoned. The medical reports were in Carter's file and with the reports on their mission they had to do, it would be blatantly obvious who the one had been she had been 'sexually active' with! Anyone who would want to sabotage the Stargate Program in the future could just use that fact against it!

"How is that no breach of the regulations?" Kinsey raged. Astonishingly, Simmons was not supporting him, even though this had more chances of success than any other of their accusations.

"Because Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter are married, so all activities they have engaged in fall under marital intercourse," General Hammond explained smugly.

Now Jack almost choked on his breath. What!? Married? What the hell…?

For a moment, Jack seriously considered having been thrown into a parallel universe. Or maybe he was actually unconscious and was dreaming this all up? Because this could just not be his reality! Last he'd checked, he had still been divorced. And certainly hadn't remarried.

Jack shot a quick glance at Sam and saw she was equally confused. Jack looked back to the front and opened his mouth to question what the hell was going on – for crying out loud! – when Sam's fingers dug into the hand that was entangled with hers. Jack almost winced out loud but controlled himself in time. He knew however what the message meant: shut up and wait, before you do something to destroy whatever cover General Hammond had come up with. Stroking her hand quickly, Jack told her nonverbally he had understood and would wait to see how it all played out.

"Married?" Kinsey echoed baffled. "That's impossible! They're in the same chain of command! That's even more breach of the regulations!"

General Maynard gathered a document out of a folder and Jack barely managed to not bend over the table and snatch it from Kinsey when Maynard handed it to him. "Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter married some time ago, when Major Carter had been under arrest and not under the command of Colonel O'Neill. The Air Force has checked their request and found it to be within the regulations, so their marriage is officially approved."

By now, Jack felt completely out of it. He had no idea what was going on and while he should probably jump with joy at the fact that the Air Force considered him and Carter married, something he had considered an unattainable dream, it just left him confused and wary. His thoughts were spinning, trying to come up with an explanation, but failing spectacularly. Somehow, it had all turned surreal all of a sudden.

Kinsey threw the document down on the briefing table with such a force it slid over to Jack and inconspicuously, he chanced a quick glance. It was a standard Air Force form to officially approve of a marriage. Being a superior officer for some years, Jack had seen a few already. Also, he could see his and Carter's signature at the bottom of the document and going by the fine lines marked into the paper, he knew they were the real deal. No fakes. But no matter how much Jack wrecked his brain, he couldn't remember ever signing something like that! Okay, so he usually didn't really check what he was signing anyways, but Carter did. And she looked just as taken by surprise as he did.

What made the whole thing even more suspicious was that Jack noticed there wasn't actually a marriage certificate. The document General Maynard had handed them was a form to acknowledge a marriage based on such a certificate – which needed a wedding to have been held beforehand and Jack was certain he would have known would he have had married Carter – but the certificate itself was mysteriously missing. Not that Kinsey picked up on it in his rage.

Jack leaned back when Maynard retrieved the document, carefully stashing it back into his folder, and tried to look as if he had any idea what was going on.

"That's just not possible!" Kinsey still fumed. "I should have been informed! Why wasn't I informed?"

"What's an officers marriage to you?" Major Davis asked, for the first time participating in the conversation.

Kinsey waved him off, not answering. Jack saw a muscle jump in the other man's jaw and could almost see him thinking frantically, trying to come up with anything to still be victorious. A second of tense silence passed, then another. Jack almost didn't dare to breathe, praying to fate that someone would finally put them out of their misery.

At last, it was the stranger who spoke, his voice quietly asking: "So, have all things finally cleared up?"

Kinsey muttered something under his breath, but had nothing to retaliate with anymore. General Hammond and General Maynard nodded pleased and Major Davis smiled, an honest, happy smile that told Jack how glad the other man was for them. Even the entourage from the Pentagon and the NID finally condescended to some polite smiles, but Jack didn't really care about them, so he barely spared them a side-glance. Jack imagined Colonel Simmons to be more than disappointed, but to his credit the man managed a blank look. Still, Jack was careful with the man, fearing a retaliation of some sort, even if not now. Simmons was patient. Kinsey was downright fuming and stomped from the room, undoubtedly to take the first flight back to Washington to lick his wounds after this spectacular defeat. Well, as far as Jack was concerned, he would hold all doors open for the dear Senator. Agent Barrett though seemed sad all of a sudden and going by the longing looks he sent Sam, Jack had a suspicion why.

The moment Kinsey had stormed off, officially ending the meeting, one after the other began to stand up and pack their things. Routinely, Sam and Jack rose when General Hammond and General Maynard stood up, letting go of each other's hands in the process. Textbook-perfect they stood at attention, with Teal'c silently hovering behind them, while the Pentagon and NID lackeys gathered their belongings and went their ways. Major Davis actually came to them and congratulated them, visibly relieved, and Jack shook the other man's hand with earnest appreciation. The last one to go with a congratulatory nod towards Jack and Sam was General Maynard, leaving Jack back with Sam, Teal'c, General Hammond and the unknown stranger, who had mostly held back throughout the whole discussion. Jack still had no idea, who the man was, even if he seemed important, if the way the four-star General Maynard had been tending to him before leaving the room was any indication.

For a moment, complete silence fell in the room after the many people had left and Jack was left staring at General Hammond's amused smile.

"I imagine, you are quite confused?" General Hammond broke the silence first.

Jack and Sam nodded simultaneously.

"Ask away," General Hammond suggested, barely hiding his fun.

For a moment there was silence, until Jack blurted out: "What the hell has just happened, fer cryin' out loud?!"

"I take it you're talking about the fact that you and Major Carter are married?" General Hammond inquired kindly.

Dumbfounded, Jack stared at his CO. Somehow, it made it so much more weird that his Commanding Officer was so casually speaking about his – forbidden – marriage he hadn't even been aware of himself…!

General Hammond laughed at their stunned faces. "Don't worry," he said. "Actually, it was an accident that got you two married. Doctor Jackson reported it to me when he became aware of it. Apparently, he has been doing some paperwork for Major Carter but a document that wasn't meant for her went in the folder. You two signed it with all the rest and Doctor Jackson sent it to the Air Force's Human Resources Department without noticing. The HR section didn't really check it over and so you two were signed up married even though there was no certificate. And since it worked in our favor seeing how things played out, we decided to make use of the mistake."

Jack almost snorted. Really, what was that? What were the chances of such a coincidence to happen? Jack actually remembered signing the papers for Carter that would put him in charge should something happen to her. He even indistinctly remembered Daniel finding a document neither he nor Carter had signed yet, which was probably the one they shouldn't have signed in the first place. Without checking the content, they had put their signatures under it and Daniel had sent it away. And suddenly, Jack also knew why the Air Force's HR department had most likely not checked up on their marriage certificate. Seeing that Carter had updated her whole will and put him in charge everywhere, they would see that as a confirmation, because that was exactly what you would do when you had just married!

Jack rubbed a hand over his temples exhausted. It matched. Funnily enough, it matched perfectly. Because not that long ago, Jack had updated his will, too. He did that on quite a regular basis, because every time he or SG-1 had had a particularly rough mission, he looked over his last will and every time he felt he wasn't leaving enough behind for Carter, because every time he would have grown a bit closer to her. So he always changed a few things here and there. By now Carter was getting most of his things should he ever die before her (something he was praying for), including his much-beloved cabin. He had long debated with himself about that, not knowing if she would even appreciate it given how she avoided his invitations to go fishing all the time, but seeing what an emotional and nostalgic value his cabin had for Jack, he felt it was the best thing he could give to Carter to show her what she meant to him. With the last update he'd done, he had even included his house in Colorado Springs to the stock of things she would get. He knew that Daniel would need it more, seeing that he was living in a stuffed apartment that was practically bursting with rocks – pardon, artifacts – and Carter had a house of her own, but Jack wanted Carter to get the house that held so many memories of times spent together – of team nights, of team barbecues, of parties with the whole gang and of little stolen moments they had shared, all the while knowing they should call Daniel over to act as a chaperone. So he'd put her in for the house and Daniel would get the money he had saved up on, aside from the part he would leave for his family. Daniel was still in charge of all decisions to be made should Jack himself be incapable of it, but with his last will he had given Carter almost everything else. When he would die his family would be in for quite some surprise…

"However, as you must have noticed, the marriage itself isn't valid yet, because it has actually never happened," General Hammond cut into Jack's drifting thoughts. "But the HR department needs a copy of the marriage certificate so it can finally acknowledge your married status."

Jack had suspected as much. But he failed to see how he should make that possible, given that he had never married Carter to begin with!

"We have the certificate here," General Hammond continued calmly, completely unaware of Jack's concerns.

Jack looked at the highly official document the General was holding out to them that had 'Marriage License' written in big, bold letters at the top. It was indeed a marriage certificate, all important-looking. It was dated back into the time Sam hadn't been under his command for a few days, but it still lacked their signatures. There was Daniel's signature and General Hammond's, acting as witnesses to the marriage, and even the signature of a county clerk to officially recognize and register the marriage (and Jack wondered how they'd made that possible), the ink already dried and slightly cracked from the time it had already spent on the paper. They had really outdone themselves by taking every precaution possible.

"You just have to sign it so I can send it to Washington and you will officially be recognized as married and be relieved of any and all accusations," General Hammond said, smiling widely. He obviously thought he had done them a great favor. He really had, somehow, but Jack felt so overtaxed with the whole situation he just wanted to scream 'time-out!'.

Shooting an uncertain glance at Sam, who still stood all stiff next to him, Jack noticed she hadn't said a thing since the word 'married' had been uttered the first time. To his complete horror Jack found she looked sick. Her pale complexion was even paler, a frown marred her beautiful face and she was clutching her stomach as if she expected to throw up any second.

"Carter?" he asked warily.

Her head snapped around to his and a panicky expression appeared in her gaze. It was as if someone had pulled the rug out underneath Jack's feet. The ground seemed to be giving in and he fell into a deep, dark abyss. She didn't want it! He instantly knew it, with absolute certainty. She didn't want this marriage.

"Carter?" he whispered again, trying for a friendly voice as if he was afraid of scaring her.

She opened her mouth, trying to form words, but there were none to come. And suddenly, her eyes were swimming with tears. Jack almost panicked. He wanted to ask what was wrong, wanted to pull her into an embrace to soothe her, wanted to right whatever was making her unhappy, but he just stood there, frozen. He was very aware of the presence of General Hammond, Teal'c and the stranger, and ironically, now that he seemingly had the right to go over and comfort her, he felt even more hindered.

Thankfully, General Hammond came once more to his rescue. "Do you want to talk about it privately?" he suggested.

"Yes!" Jack almost shouted relieved. Right now there was nothing he really needed more than to talk with her!

The General handed him the certificate and then motioned towards his office. "Use my office. Unfortunately however, I can't give you that much time. We're dancing on a fine line already and I fear the first thing Kinsey's doing when he's back in Washington will be to check your statuses at the HR department. I held them off for a long time, claiming you had both gone on an undercover mission before you were able to hand the certificate in, but I cannot do that much longer."

"Yes, sir. I understand, sir," Jack said habitually, way more focused on Sam's lack of reaction than his CO's words.

So Jack snatched the document from General Hammond and leaving him, Teal'c and the stranger back, he grabbed Carter gently at the upper arm and maneuvered her into the General's office, one of the few rooms where the surveillance cameras could be deactivated. They needed to have a little chat!


A/N: Damn, this chapter turned out so hard to write. Glad to finally have it out of my way.