He looked at his watch and cursed silently. He'd been promised the meeting would end at noon and here it was, almost 2:00 and the diplomats were still talking.
Some days he hated diplomats.
His mind wandered a bit, and he thought of the one diplomat he didn't hate, and idly wondered what Daniel was up to. His friend had returned from Atlantis, and Jack was looking forward to seeing him soon …. If the damned meeting would ever end.
"But Ambassador Chalon, we have disclosed the information we received from P2X 3Y9. It was all in the report we sent you …."
The voices faded out as Jack began to think about Teal'c. He missed his Jaffa friend and wondered when the big guy was next heading to Earth. Maybe he could arrange some kind of seminar and invite their allies, including Teal'c of the Jaffa Nation.
Except he wouldn't invite the Tok'ra. He didn't like the Tok'ra – even less now that Jacob was gone. Jacob and Martouf – okay and maybe Garwin and Anise/Freya a little bit – were the only decent snake-headed people he'd known. The rest of them the universe could take and – well send to the son of Netu.
Fortunately, they didn't have to really see their Tok'ra allies since the end of the war with the Goa'uld. They'd pretty much faded off into the sunset, now that their enemy had been defeated.
That must be hard, Jack thought. They'd spent millennia fighting the Systems Lords and their Jaffa, and then the Tauri had shown up, and in a matter of years their enemy was destroyed. He idly wondered if they were all suffering collective angst from no longer having a shared purpose.
That got him to thinking about Tok'ra babies, although he didn't know whether they were even a thing. With nothing left to fight, maybe they'd start producing offspring – which was a very scary thought. He hoped they turned to art and music instead.
"No, No, Ambassador Kuznetsov we did not release the schematics to the Chinese. Once they are complete all of you will receive them."
Jack sighed and fiddled once more with his pen. It suddenly flipped out of his hand and headed straight for General Armand, the French delegate. He grimaced slightly and then turned to look at the speaker, hoping the Frenchman wouldn't realize who it was that had vaulted his pen at him.
He snuck a look, to catch Armand glaring at him, a suspicious red mark on his cheek. Jack smiled and shrugged and pretended to turn his attention back to the speaker, who was now expounding on – something – which Jack was sure was terribly interesting.
There was a sudden lull in the conversation. Jack sighed, shook his head, and immediately began to speak.
"All right," he said loudly, "here's what we're going to do. Ambassador Chalon, you're going to go home and actually read the report we sent you before you make any more uninformed and frankly ridiculous comments. Ambassador Kuznetsov, there's no point in continuing to complain, since we all know you're doing that to score points and that you are already aware that the plans haven't been shared with anyone. If you continue to cause problems, I can assure you that your copy will get lost in the mail. General Armand, I suggest you see to that scratch on your cheek. You wouldn't want it to get infected. Now, gentlemen, ladies, as fun as this has been, I have something important to see to" he said as he stood up. "I suggest you scat – ur – leave, as I'm sure you're all tired from a long and useless day. Colonel Davis will show you all out. Have a nice day."
With that, Jack pushed his chair back, gave a small two fingered salute, and exited the room. In his wake he left a conference room full of bemused people, all wondering what had just happened.
"Uh – what was that?" the German delegate asked.
"That was General O'Neill," the British delegate laughed. "He knows how to cut through the bullshit." He then stood up, gathered his things and headed for the door.
"But – what if there is still important information to discuss?" Ms Santiago asked, with a frown. "By leaving he will miss things."
"Jack O'Neill doesn't miss anything," Senator Jansen's deputy in charge of off-world issues commented. "He may appear clueless, but he's the farthest thing possible from that. He's brilliant and knows everything that goes on around here – and there," he pointed to the ceiling. "He just doesn't have a lot of time for talking."
"That's true. Jack O'Neill has always been a man who liked action, rather than words – especially since most of the people saying them are full of hot air."
Since this was coming from Colonel Joe Morrison, of the US Army, someone Jack considered a close friend, his comment received a lot of nods and smiles from the people in the room. The truth was, almost everyone was tired and grateful to Jack for ending the day.
Jack pulled out his cellphone and called his assistant. "Hi Lieutenant. Can you have Mark bring my car around? Yes, the meeting went too long – as usual. Thanks, and have a good week." He clicked off his phone and put it back into his pocket and then headed quickly for the door.
He checked his watch and grimaced. It was way later than he'd hoped, and he still had a long flight ahead of him. He had hoped to be able to make it back to his townhouse to change, but unfortunately, he decided he just didn't have time.
He stood outside and only had to wait for less than a minute before Mark, his driver, pulled up.
"Hi Sir. Looks like the meeting went long,"
"It always does, when the diplomats get going," sighed Jack.
"Yes Sir," chuckled the Airman. "We'll have you to Andrews in a wink, General," Mark told him. "I've called ahead and there's a transport waiting for you. You should be in the air in under an hour."
"You're a man in a thousand, Mark. Thank you!"
"No problem Sir. I know it's important you get to Colorado Springs as quickly as possible."
He looked out the window as they headed through the hot and humid DC afternoon. He really needed to retire. He was sick of the politics in DC and missed the days of adventure and gate travel. More than that, he missed his team. Over the years Teal'c and Daniel and Sam had become more than his best friends – they had become family.
And he looked forward to seeing General Hammond again as well. George had finally retired, leaving him to take over command at Home World Security. He wasn't quite sure if he'd ever forgive him for that!
Yeah, maybe it was time to retire – to enjoy his life without politics, diplomats, and oversight committees.
They arrived a few minutes later at Andrews. He said goodbye to Mark and quickly boarded the plane. Shortly afterward he was buckled in, waiting for the plane to take off.
A young Airman took the seat beside him. He smiled and nodded, but then turned to look out the window, not really interested in talking.
Shortly thereafter they were in the air and he took a deep breath and let it out. He was finally on his way.
He could tell that the young man beside him was nervous. The poor kid had probably sat down, realized he was seated next to a 3-star General, and was now sweating in fear. He decided to try and set the young man at ease.
"Where are you stationed, son?" he asked.
"Uh – I'm on my way to Cheyenne Mountain, Sir," he said.
"Really? How long have you been there?"
"I haven't – I mean, I've just been posted there – Sir."
"I see. Norad?"
"Uh – no Sir. I'll be working for another division – uh in Deep Space Radar Telemetry."
Jack laughed. "We really have to come up with a better one than that," he said, mostly to himself.
"Sir?" the poor airman asked.
"Nothing son – nothing. So, what's your name?"
"Airman Rogers, Sir – Derek Rogers."
"Well Rogers – you're gonna enjoy yourself there. I was posted there for quite a few years."
"At Cheyenne Mountain, Sir?"
"Mmm hmm. I worked in Deep Space as well."
There was a pause and Jack raised his eyebrow. The young Airman turned red and looked as if he didn't know what to say. Jack took pity on him. "I know it's classified son – and that you can't say anything – but you're definitely in for the ride of your life."
That resulted in a shy smile and Rogers seemed to relax. What unit are you with, Sir?"
"Me? I head up Home World. In fact, Cheyenne is under my command."
Rogers eyes grew big. "But – General O'Neill is in charge of Home World!"
"Yup – that's me, I'm afraid."
"You? You're General O'Neill?"
"Yeah – I'm afraid so, although I try not to admit to it most of the time."
"Oh my God! I mean – uh – wow – Sir! I can't believe I'm actually sitting next to you. Why – you're famous!"
Jack grew uncomfortable. "I'm just a soldier with way too many years under his belt, Rogers."
"I can't wait to tell my buddies," grinned the young man. "So Sir, can you tell me about Cheyenne Mountain?"
Jack told some stories about his time on Sg1, although he couldn't, of course, talk about anything classified while on the plane. He made no reference to the gate, or to off-world travels, but did talk about some of the people and a few innocuous stories.
He liked Rogers and figured the young man would make a good addition to the SGC. He'd have to tell Reynolds or Ferretti to watch out for the young Airman.
Finally, the plane was nearing the end of its flight. Jack glanced at his watch and was grateful it was still light out, although he was arriving later than he'd hoped.
Once the flight had landed, he said goodbye to Rogers and headed to the car that was waiting for him. Hopefully his assistant had come through for him.
"Hello General. Welcome back," Sergeant Fields saluted him and then opened the car door.
"Thank you, Sergeant," Jack said. "Uh did you - ?"
"Yes Sir, on the seat beside you."
Jack looked down and then nodded. "Thank you for doing that, Sergeant!" He sat back and tried to relax, although it was hard. He was too hyped up about the day ahead.
"It's good to be back in Colorado," he remarked.
"Washington must be hot," Fields commented.
"Hot and stinky – and that's the politicians," he remarked. He took a deep breath. "Ah – Colorado mountain air – I love it!"
"It is nice, Sir," she agreed. "I'm from Louisiana, so I'm used to high temperatures and humidity, but I must say that I've grown to love it here."
"Yeah, me too. DC is interesting, but it's not home!"
"No Sir," she grinned, "I bet it's not!"
A few minutes later she pulled up to his house. He sat for a brief moment, but then thanked Fields again and opened the car door. Gathering his briefcase and the package, he made his way to his front door. He fished his keys out of his pocket.
God, it was good to be home.
He unlocked the door and entered the house.
"Hello!" he called. "I'm ho – ome!"
There was a squeal, and the sound of racing feet. A moment later a small body launched itself at him.
"Da!" young David shouted, hugging his legs.
Jack dropped the briefcase and lifted up his young son. "Yes, Daddy's home!" He kissed his boy and laughed as David threw his arms around his neck.
A moment later Jack heard more footsteps, and suddenly his wife, and the center of his life (along with David) was there.
"Hey you," he said softly. He walked up to her, still holding his son, and reached out with the bouquet of roses. "Happy anniversary, my beautiful wife!"
"Jack!" she said, smelling the flowers and then looking up at him with love shining from her eyes. "Thank you! Happy anniversary to you too," she said, leaning forward and kissing him. "I didn't think you were going to make it home today."
"I almost didn't," he sighed, "but I finally got rid of all the idiots and Mark got me to Andrews in record time, so here I am. And how are you?" Jack looked at his heavily pregnant wife, who grinned in response.
"I'm fine," she said. "The baby's moving all the time – and she's dropped, so it won't be long."
"Good – and I told everyone not to expect me back in DC until the kid is at least 18!" he told her.
"Jack," she laughed. "I think they're gonna want you back before then."
"Well, then, they can all go hang. Because now I'm stayin' here with my family!" He leaned over and kissed her again. "I missed both of you."
"Da kiss!"
"Of course!" he gave his son a big kiss on the cheek, and then gave him a gentle whisker rub, causing the little boy to laugh.
"Dat tiwcows, Da!" David giggled. "Ays wuv yu!"
"And I love you," his father said.
"Da's home, Mama!"
"Yes, he is," Sam said, stepping closer and putting her arms around her two favorite boys. "We missed him, didn't we?"
"Ya. Ays missed Da!" David said, giving him a kiss.
With that, Jack walked into the living room, one arm holding his son, the other wrapped around his wife.
Yup it was time to retire! Cause life couldn't get any better than this.