Chapter Three: It's A Small World, After All

A/N: Thank you all so much for reading! Your comments are bringing such joy to my day - you guys are hysterical!

Enjoy!

As the silence stretched just a beat too long, Jack started to feel a little bad about just ending their one moment of reprieve for the day. Reaching a hand forward to cover her own, he stopped her from standing just yet. Jack opened his mouth to say something – 'I don't mind that they assume' or 'Why don't we skip the ceremony and go somewhere else?' – but unluckily, or perhaps luckily, he was interrupted.

"Sam? Sam, I thought it was you!"

Eyebrows again making their way up to her hairline, Sam pasted the biggest smile she could muster onto her face and turned towards the semi-familiar voice. For an innocuous café on an anonymous street in DC, the world sure felt small all of a sudden.

"Hey…" Sam searched her mind for the man's name. "You." She finished lamely when her search turned up empty.

If the man noticed her forgetfulness, he didn't show it as he continued up to their table. "Wow, it's been a minute! What, like 10 years?" Sam didn't answer so much as huff out some air and widen her eyes in an exaggerated 'wow, really?' expression. Pausing only for a second, the newcomer glanced at the man sitting next to Sam and held out his hand. "Hey, I'm Stu. I used to work with Sam at the Pentagon a lifetime ago."

"Hello, Stu." Jack lifted his hand from Carter's wrist, only just then realizing without remorse that he'd left it resting there the whole time. Standing, he shook the outstretched hand, allowing himself a small amount of satisfaction when he stood 3 or 4 inches taller than the other guy. Some may call it male bravado, but Jack didn't care.

"Colonel Jack O'Neill, at your service." He smiled benignly, his grip firm.

"O'Neill? Oh! That makes sense." Missing the baffled look that crossed the older man's face, Stu turned back to Sam. "Hey, congratulations, by the way. I guess my invitation got lost in the mail." He laughed brightly at his own joke and didn't notice the two officers' identical confused 'ha-ha's.' "When did you two get married?"

"Hm?" Sam pursed her lips into a thin line, her eyes wide but guileless. "What?"

"Married? I heard the waitress a little while ago, but didn't even think to look around – the last time I saw you, you were still a Carter!"

"Oh, right -,"

"And, I guess it should have been obvious by the way you two were sitting, but you know, these days you can't just assume." Stu bobbed up and down congenially, smiling at the two officers completely oblivious to their nonplussed faces. "I'm glad you finally found some time to do something outside of work."

"Do something -?" Sam felt the beginning of a beastly twitch starting in her eye and she studiously avoided looking anywhere near the colonel.

"Well, yeah, I mean you definitely never had any time to think of dating back then. None of us did, I guess. And some of us still don't." He laughed good-naturedly, clearly making the joke about himself. "I'm really happy for you. For both of you."

As his eyes landed on the colonel, he was clearly waiting for some kind of response. Seeing an opportunity to keep herself out of trouble and maybe even give him a taste of what she often went through, Sam also turned to look at the older man. Glancing down at her with narrowed eyes and an unreadable expression, he turned back to Stu.

"Thank you." He spoke the words slowly, really letting them roll off his tongue. He felt his second shift next to him and pointedly clear her throat, but he didn't give her the satisfaction of looking at her again. He knew what she had just done and he didn't like it one bit.

Or maybe he liked it too much.

"So do you have some time to catch up or are you headed out?"

"Oh, no, I'm sorry." A look Jack had never seen on his major's face before contorted her features into a mask of false regret. "We were actually just leaving. We have a meeting in just a little bit." Sam nodded her head sadly and then added solemnly. "But we should definitely catch up next time we're in town."

"Definitely!" Stu shook their hands again and waved as he headed back to his table.

"So," Sam started.

"I don't wanna hear it, Carter. This is your fault."

"Not so easy to just correct people, is it, sir?"

"Still. Your. Fault."

Sam bumped his shoulder with hers as they edged around tables and out onto the packed sidewalk. "Mmhm."

"Carter." He warned without anger.

"Yes, sir. My fault, sir." She grinned up at him and the only two words Jack's brain could form as they walked to the meet-point were Mrs. O'Neill over and over.

….

"Thank you, General. Those were some very kind words you said up there." Sam felt her heart swell as she looked at her colonel and general, all three officers sporting big, proud smiles on their faces. They generally didn't love award ceremonies, but this one had been short and intimate. Just a few folks from the White House, the Pentagon, and the SGC with plenty of laughter and relatively informal speeches.

"I meant every word. I couldn't be more proud to be your commanding officer." Hammond smiled at the major and just about stopped the amused roll of his eyes when Colonel O'Neill pointedly coughed next to her. "Both of you. You have saved this planet time and again and there is no one else I would entrust the continued safety of this galaxy to."

"Well, thank you, sir." Jack smiled warmly, his eyes twinkling with humor despite having had to sit through some of the more boring speeches. "And same to you, general."

George took another minute to look at the beaming faces of his people – in their line of work, he never knew when the last time he might see them could be and it was moments like this that he tried to file away and save for those darker days. Both Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter looked back at him with identical looks of understanding – these were the moments they all fought for.

"So, I'll see you two back on base bright and early Monday morning?" Hammond had let their moment stretch as long as he could without emotion clogging his throat.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll see Carter there much sooner than that." When both major and general remained silent, Jack awkwardly continued, "You know, since today is Friday." He winced as what he had thought would be a funny joke fell flat.

"Major Carter has the weekend off." George sent a questioning glance in Sam's direction. Judging from the way she was biting the inside of her cheek and looking guiltily up at her commanding officer, he surmised that she hadn't told him.

"She has – she does?" Jack looked quickly between Hammond and Carter, trying to work out what he was missing. His major was scrunching her nose in the exact same way she did every time he asked if she had eaten on any given day and she lied and said yes.

"Yes, sir." Sam felt her face scrunching and tried desperately to school her features. "I, uh, have this thing I have to go to here." Her eyes shot to the general, a silent plea for him not to say anything. Hammond nodded once and Sam blew out an internal sigh of relief.

"You said it was a wedding, correct, major?"

Briefly shutting her eyes, she made a mental note to add the importance of understanding and respecting silent communication to her next mission report. "Correct, sir."

"You're going to a wedding?" He put extra emphasis on the last word and Sam glared at him.

"Yes, sir. I do have some friends, you know."

"Oh, well, I hope you remember this one's name."

At his jab, Sam narrowed her eyes only barely catching herself before remembering her present company.

"Right, well," Hammond had taken a couple of steps away from his two officers, sensing that not only was his job done here, but that he was missing some in-joke. "I hope you two enjoy your weekends and I'll see you back at the mountain at 0700 Monday morning."

As Hammond turned from the two officers, he caught just a glimpse of Major Carter's hand going to her hip and her eyes narrowing dangerously at her CO. Stifling the laugh that was threatening in his throat, Hammond only hoped the timing of the ceremony hadn't thrown too much of a wrench into whatever Colonel O'Neill may have been planning for the short term.

After all, it had only been a couple of days since George had let him know that the SGC had been given special dispensation from a certain regulation involving interpersonal relationships within the chain of command.

TBC