It had taken Jack a couple days to line up his ducks while staying under the radar. It helped that Harry apparently still had a lot of contacts in Washington. In a typical display of Maybourne level paranoia, after the last incident he'd decided to stick his fingers into as many pies as he could manage. He had a more extensive network than the Tok'ra and half the headaches. Jack would have to revise how he dealt with the guy. He could be a useful asset, especially for Woolsey.
Daniel was now hooked up with a faked up press badge. Jack was going to have to go as himself, his face was far too familiar but while he didn't generally entertain reporters it wasn't entirely unlikely for him to do so. Teal'c looked enough like a bodyguard to be ignored and Harry always looked like a flunky no matter what he did with himself so that's the direction Jack took it.
They were currently in a hotel room pretending to give an interview until they got an opening at their desired location. The Congressman maintained a rather lavish house in downtown DC and Jack was pretty much waiting for a house party to start so they could sneak in unnoticed.
"So Jack…" Daniel started in.
"Daniel."
"What exactly did you mean by having to go back to being very careful when it came to your romantic relationship with Sam?"
"Is this really the right time for this conversation?"
Daniel shrugged. "You got a better topic?"
"Literally anything Daniel." Jack said and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"It would be far more unlikely had Colonel Carter and O'Neill not engaged in a sexual relationship then the fact that they did Daniel Jackson."
"Do you really need to say it that way T?" Jack sighed. This conversation was giving him a headache.
"So how long did that go on?" Daniel asked Jack, purposely ignoring Jack's pained body language.
"Things happen sometimes Daniel. Let it drop."
"How many times?"
"Dammit Daniel, I said drop it!"
"No, I want to hear this Jack. Clearly you weren't one and done with Sam. When did you guys start…?" Harry asked. He gestured in a vague way to indicate back and forth.
Jack gave in. They weren't going to let up anyway. "We didn't set out with any intention of doing anything. Missions go sideways. Stuff happens. It wasn't an every day or even a frequent thing. It was just something that happened periodically when the stress got to be too much for both of us." Jack admitted. He was as human as the next guy and the woman you're in love with throwing herself at you because she's emotionally overwrought about the same thing that has you strung out over too would break any man. It had him.
"When did you guys first.. ah… you know?"
"Funnily enough, it started with what happened to you on Kelowna, Daniel. I was being an asshole and Sam was upset all the time and she came over to tell me I was being an asshole, which she did. We yelled at each other for a while until we found ourselves kissing each other and then things sort of got out of hand."
"Vala is a big fan of angry make up sex too." Daniel told them.
"That's the funny thing, if it had been that, it probably wouldn't have happened again. It was more like…" Jack scrubbed his hand through his hair, unable to come up with the words to describe making love to Sam for the first time.
"Coming home." Daniel said softly.
Jack looked at him hard for a moment then nodded his head slowly. He didn't have to say anything else.
"Colonel Carter, this is an exploratory session only. You are not currently yet on trial as there is some ambiguity as to the validity of the claims made against you." The head of the tribunal told her.
"Yes sir." Sam said meekly. Her heart was racing. All she could think of was her conversation with her son last night.
"Mom, why did they bring us down here?"
"Because mom has to stay here tonight and probably tomorrow night too."
"Where's dad?"
Sam swallowed. "He'll be back soon. He had something he had to go do."
"A mission like you go on and dad stays home?" Georgie had asked.
"Yes sweetie, a mission just like mom."
"Isn't dad a little old for missions mom?"
Sam snorted a laugh. "A little. I doubt his knee is thanking him."
"It makes really cool popping noises when he tries to crouch down to my level. Jake laughs every time he does it." Georgie said, his eyes twinkling. Jake was absorbed in some cartoon show Sam couldn't make heads or tails of.
"It's done that for years." Sam told him and ruffled his hair.
"Mom?"
"Yah kiddo?"
"Are you and dad in trouble because of me?"
Sam pulled Georgie forward and hugged him fiercely. "Nothing we can't handle kiddo." She'd kissed the top of his head reassuringly. Totally worth it she thought fiercely looking at her boys.
Sam's council stood to address the tribunal. They went through the usual niceties that Sam ignored. Her mind a million miles away, wondering if Jack had gotten back last night or not. She'd not been privy to who came in when the Gate claxons went off and she'd been in no position to ask. She honestly also hadn't wanted to explain any of this to her boys so she'd worked at keeping them as distracted from it as she could.
Easy enough with Jake, hand the kid some art supplies and he was happy as a lark. Georgie had required more reassurance than his brother being both older and considerably more aware of what's going on in his parent's lives.
"Council, we are told you have information refuting the charges?"
"Yes sir. If I may, in part, the charges revolve around the accusation of infidelity on the part of Colonel Carter, specifically in regards to the parentage of her children. The accusation states, and I will paraphrase to save you time sirs, that Colonel Carter engaged in an extramarital affair resulting in a child currently age eight and another who is currently age five."
"That is correct council."
"Yes, well, Colonel Carter freely admits to being in a relationship with General Jonathan J. O'Neill from the period after her transfer out of his command until shortly prior to resuming her relationship with Detective Peter Shanahan. So shortly in fact, that Colonel Carter was unaware of the pregnancy if she in fact conceived prior to the end of the relationship with General O'Neill.
"For the sake of brevity due to the rest of the circumstances, Colonel Carter does not deny George James Shanahan to be Jonathon O'Neill's biological progeny. I wish to submit the medical paperwork regarding the conception of one Jacob Michael Shanahan via artificial insemination. Please note that General O'Neill has signed said paperwork and confirmed with me this morning that this is in fact his signature on Exhibit A."
So he had gotten home, Sam thought. But not let her know. She wondered why.
"Colonel Carter and General O'Neill considered this a private matter between themselves. While it exhibits poor judgment on both their parts, there are no regulations regarding the lack of wisdom of having said procedure performed without informing one's spouse. I am sure in retrospect both wish they had been more open about the matter but Colonel Carter wished to spare her husband the shame of discovering the son both of them thought was his was in fact the child of another man."
"What was Colonel Carter's reason for choosing a medical procedure with another man's genetic material rather than that of her husband?"
"According to Colonel Carter, on examination of her then husband's sperm it was found he's infertile. She does not have record of said tests because she performed them privately on her own equipment."
"Then how do you expect us to believe her reasons?"
"Ah, I'm glad you asked. Exhibit B is an e-mail exchange between Colonel Carter and General O'Neill where she mentions her discovery and her subsequent request to follow through on a request made by a military ally some time back that if the opportunity should arise, they use said genetic material to reproduce together due to General O'Neill's unique genetics.
"Exhibit C is record of a vasectomy performed on General O'Neill and a confirmation follow up that he was no longer fertile that predates the conception procedure. There is no physical way Colonel Carter could have conceived other than by artificial insemination."
"So, in short, your assertion is that at no point did Colonel Carter engage in actions that broke regulations."
"That is correct sir."
The Colonel presiding over the tribunal tapped his pen on the papers in front of him thoughtfully. After a moment he leaned forward. "All right. Colonel Carter you will return to confinement. We'd still like to talk directly to General O'Neill regarding this matter. Currently your documents shed light on the circumstances surrounding the accusations made and clarify why they might have been made in error. Let it be noted that as a Joint Chief any accusation regarding fraternization with a commanding officer are dropped. General O'Neill is outside the purview of chain of command and therefore while frowned upon, a personal relationship with him is not strictly against regulations for Colonel Carter.
"Thank you sir. We'll await further instructions."
The session broke and Sam followed her JAG officer out. "That went very well actually. I don't think the charges will stick but we'll have to wait and see."
Sam sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to do if the do honestly. I have two kids at home whose father had his parental rights severed before he knew they weren't his kids."
"Sam, is it possible this is retaliation on his part?"
"It wouldn't be the first time. My divorce attorney is still trying to prove he forged my signature on a second mortgage on the house I won in the divorce to force me to surrender custody of the kids even though he never paid child support and refused to see them."
"It would be best if General O'Neill petitioned for custody Sam."
She nodded. "You're probably right. There's not much they can do to me if he's their legal guardian."
"By your lack of immediate objection to that idea I assume you are on friendly terms with the General?"
"It took us a while but yes, we're friends again."
"Co-parenting is easier when you're on speaking terms." He told her with an amused smile.
