A/N: Thank you for the comments! I can't respond to guests individually, but I do appreciate the time you take to leave a comment.

One guest mentioned working with your spouse. I have worked with my husband twice. The first time, I was actually his boss. The second time we worked in separate departments and kept our marriage on the DL. We didn't hide it, but there were a few times people found out in interesting ways.

Chapter 4: Walter Harriman

Chief Master Sergeant Walter Harriman silently tracked the three men of SG-1 and General Landry as they made their way to the conference room where General O'Neill waited. While Walter had occassionally envied many of the SG teams traveling off-world, he was deeply grateful to not be required in this particular debrief.

Walter had been around since the beginning. When General Hammond had recalled Jack O'Neill to active duty, Walter had personally processed the paperwork. When Samantha Carter had offered to arm wrestle her new commanding officer, Walter had been sitting just outside the room waiting for orders to dial the gate. And when Teal'c had walked down the ramp into the gate room for the first time, Walter had been sitting at the same control station he occupied now, his hand hovering over the iris control.

But Walter had also been there to see SG-1 morph from a unit of four highly-qualified individuals into a family. He watched them mourn Daniel Jackson's 'death' on that water planet and his ascensions. He felt Samantha Carter's grief when she'd thought she'd lost her CO, not once, but three times in the past ten years. And he discovered just how far Jack O'Neill would go to save his 2IC. He had a front row seat to it all and, quite frankly, he knew it all.

Walter pressed a button on the com system and waited for his page to be answered.

"Siler," the voice said curtly.

"Sly, it's Walt," Walter said, using their nicknames to let the man know this wasn't typical SGC business. "Bring down General O'Neill's old SG-1 uniform. The black ops one."

"What's happened?" Sly asked warily.

"General Landry pulled SG-1 back to the SGC to regroup while Colonel Carter and Vala were still pinned down by Ba'al's forces off-world."

Sly let loose a string of expletives that had Walter glancing around to see if anyone had heard.

"It gets worse," Walter cringed at the information he was about to impart. "General O'Neill was in the control room when Landry made the call."

"Oh Jesus, Joseph, and Mary," Sly muttered. "Let General O'Neill know his BDUs will be in their usual place."

"Thanks, Sly," Walter said and ended the call.

"I don't care what resources you use," General O'Neill's angry voice carried through the conference room walls. "Find our people and bring them home! Now!"

The door to the conference room jerked open as General O'Neill stalked out. The man's eyes were dark, his usual witty sarcasm gone, replaced with lethal seriousness.

"Walter!" He barked.

"Your BDUs are in your preferred accommodations," Walter replied. "I'll call Helen and have her clear your schedule for the next few days," he added, referring to O'Neill's secretary in Washington.

"At least one person shows some damn competence around here," General O'Neill muttered with a thankful nod as he stalked off to go change.

"Where's his preferred accommodations?" Cam asked Walter quietly, having just exited the conference room.

"Colonel Carter's quarters," Walter answered in a low voice.

"You know," Cam stated, pinning the Chief Master Sergeant with a look.

"There's not much I don't know," Walter confirmed with a shrug. He didn't mean to sound arrogant, it's just that anticipating people's needs was his job. It was much easier to do that if you knew what was going on with them. Although there was that one time…

Walter's Flashback

"Goodnight, Walter," General Jack O'Neill called from his office as the Chief Master Sergeant tidied up the main gate control station in the command center. It had been one helluva day. Well sort of. It was a bit melancholy because it was O'Neill's last day as commander on the base. Everyone, literally, every single man and woman had made their way to see the commander this past week to say goodbye. It didn't surprise anyone that O'Neill, even if he didn't know their name, knew where they worked or to whom they reported. He was that kind of leader.

"Goodnight. Walter." The General said again punctuating each word. His tone was sharp, but Walter knew the man well enough to detect the good-natured humor behind his words. Jack, as the General preferred to be called off-base, was always ordering Walter to "go home." It was sort of a friendly competition between the two men to see who would leave first.

While General O'Neill was the commander of the SGC, Walter was the ranking enlisted person on-base and he took the responsibility very seriously. Walter answered to the commissioned officers, of course, but General O'Neill made sure all new SGC personnel were aware of the Chief Master Sergeant's place as Senior Enlisted Advisor.

"Do I need to make it an order?" Jack chuckled from the doorway when Walter failed to respond.

"No, sir," Walter smiled as he rose from his seat. "Just trying to finish notating the record of the alternate timeline Colonel Carter explained from the Moebius mission."

"Technically, there wasn't an actual mission," Jack said, unfolding his tall body from the doorway. "Alternate timeline and all."

"Those are the worst to explain," Walter sighed. "With the new General coming in next week, I just want to make a good impression. Since you, Colonel Carter, Dr. Jackson, and Teal'c will all be gone," he trailed off.

"You'll do fine, Walter," Jack shook his head with a smile. "General Landry is lucky to have you as his SEA. He'll realize your value within the first day, nay the first hour."

"Thank you, sir," Walter couldn't hide his smile.

"Now, go home," Jack slapped him on the back. "I've got some things to finish up before I catch my red eye to Washington tonight."

"Goodnight sir," Walter snapped his briefcase shut and headed for the door. "It's been a pleasure serving with you," he added, performing a perfect salute while fighting back the emotion. He would truly miss working with Jack O'Neill every day.

"Likewise, Airman," Jack said, his voice gruff with emotion as he returned the salute.

Walter exited the mountain, waving goodnight to the guard. He was halfway to his car before remembering the Top Secret stamped folder he'd left on his desk. General O'Neill needed to take it to Washington with him tonight, but Walter had failed to put it into the "To Washington" pile. Thank goodness the man was working late tonight.

Making an about face, Walter ran back into the base and rode the elevator back down to the 27th floor. He took a shortcut through the conference room, not wanting to disturb General O'Neill by walking in front of his main office door. He was rounding the large table when the voices from the General's office froze him in place.

"Don't tempt me, Colonel," Jack growled. His tone was unlike any other he'd heard the General use.

"That's not what you said last night," Colonel Samantha Carter replied in an obviously suggestive tone. "I believe your exact words were—" her voice was muffled against something.

"Sam," Jack almost whined. "That's not fair and you know it."

"It's your last night on base, Jack," she practically purred. "Or would you prefer I call you Sir?"

The sound of items being swept to the floor was followed by a decidedly feminine squeak and a masculine growl.

"I warned you, Samantha," Jack said in a dangerously low tone.

Walter scurried into the control room and retrieved the file folder. He scribbled on a Post-it note and slapped it onto the top, then placed it in the "To Washington" pile before making a beeline for the elevator, hoping that he wouldn't encounter anyone as he made his escape back to the surface.

End Walter's Flashback

Walter shook his head at the memory. He'd known for a while that the clandestine couple had finally decided to break the frat regs. But that knowledge was something he'd kept to himself. Even the General didn't know that he knew. Or so he thought.

One week later he'd received a handwritten thank you note.

Thank you, Walt, for everything. If you ever need a favor, you know where to find me.

--Jack

Attached to the note was a picture of the General and Colonel Carter, both looking magnificent in their dress blues, standing in the Rose Garden at the White House. Sam was holding a bouquet of roses, wearing the biggest smile he'd ever seen. Jack was looking down at her adoringly, an arm slipped around her waist. The picture was date stamped four weeks before Walter had inadvertently heard the couple in the General's office that night.