Alrighty then, lets see if I can get this reformatted correctly this time. Thanks to those who informed me of the problem! Also I'd like to thank my beta'er Abigor, whom without I would have royally screwed up a lot of punctuation and spelling!
Title: What are the chances
Author: Kay
Rating: PG (for some mild language)
Summery: AU CMC gets a new shrink.
The parking lot was nearly filled to the brim. Vehicles of nearly every type from a run down old gremlin that most likely belonged to some new airman recruit, to a Mercedes SUV probably belonged to one of the really high ups along the chain of command. With her AC up to max, she cruised the asphalt in the hot Colorado sun, looking for a prime spot to leave her car. With over 100 degrees Fahrenheit air temperature outside, the thought of leaving her precious coolness did not appeal to her.
Being from the Great Lakes area she was used to all sorts of weather, even heat, but near the lakes, there was at least humidity. A breeze would meander its way over the lake bringing a bit off cool relief. Here though, was nearly a desert. 'Yep, a dry, God forsaken desert. Running all the way up to the oh-so-beautiful but even dryer mountains. Big blazing fires just over those hills.' She thought to herself. As if to reinforce her sentiments of camping out in her car the radio blared out the brutal truth.
"Looks like it's gonna be another hot day in the Springs, and the rest of the front range up the Valley Highway. The fires are still raging in the high country, we just had a report of the ground temperature up on Crystal Peak just north of Florissant, are a cool 213 degrees! Tomorrow appears to be looking the same"
The announcer carried on talking about the fires and the people fighting them. She wondered aloud, "Why the hell did I even agree to this interview? AH HA!" She exclaimed finding a parking spot that wasn't marked with "Reserved For" some military rank or another, and was not too far from the shuttle.
Once, years ago, she parked in one of the 'Oh so sacred' spaces. Newly married to an Air Force Officer, away to another country, how was she to know that the letters CG on a small white sign meant 'Reserved for Commanding General', and base security constantly monitored the place for parking violations. When she walked out with her arms full of groceries her car was gone, towed, impounded. She never saw it again. Using the small bit of savings she and her now ex-husband accumulated, she didn't bother to go and get the old junker out of the impound yard, instead she just replaced it.
Too many years ago she mused, shutting off the engine, grabbing her briefcase and heading off to the waiting bus.
________________________________________________________
Once inside the mountain, she felt the relieving 65 degrees and suffered a slight chill from the contrast. She sighed as she signed in at yet another guard station, then waited patiently for an escort. It didn't take long before a young lieutenant introduced himself.
"Hello, ma'am, I'm Lieutenant Brown. If you will follow me, I'll take you to the man in charge." As he began to walk toward a guarded elevator, all she could do was tag along. Once in the lift, the young officer couldn't resist asking a question. "So are you going to be replacing our current shrink?" the eagerness in his voice barely contained.
She stifled a chuckle and cleared her throat, "I'm interviewing, I don't know if I'm replacing." She smiled, shaking her head. "I'm guessing you have some issues with the current staff?"
"I wouldn't call it 'issues', exactly, ma'am, more a strong logical and emotional need to see him permanently removed from duty. It would be a totally self-less act for the well being of all the personnel stationed here, ma'am."
Her mouth dropped open with a gasp, listening to him speak this straight faced. Re-gaining her composure she laughed at the statement, "Well, Lieutenant, I'll give the best interview of my life, and attempt to save you from this predicament."
"Thank you, ma'am, you seem like a nice, strong lady, I hope you're able to save us all." The elevator finally came to a halt, the doors sliding open with a hiss. She once again followed the officer to a meeting room. He left her there saying that he would be just outside the door if she needed anything, and that the General would be with her promptly.
She sat down in a chair and placed her briefcase on the table in front of her. While organizing her papers, she took the chance to glance around the room. One of the walls was covered in a brown post-it board substance, another gray concrete holding a small window and door. The next was similar to the second and was where she entered, the fourth was an oddity. Windows. A large slab of metal on the opposite side prevented her from seeing out through them, but this room appeared to be for observation of whatever could be on the other side.
Understanding how the military worked gave her an advantage, even though her curiosity was definitely in high gear, she stayed sitting in the chair, knowing that unless she got this job, she would never find out what was on the other side. She didn't need to wait long for the General to appear through the door. She stood to greet him, taking notice of his two stars. "General?"
"Hammond." The pleasant older gentleman finished for her. "You must be Dr. Sarah Michaels. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, please take a seat."
________________________________________________________
The interview was going smoothly, General Hammond already having decided to his self, that she would be the bases new civilian psychologist, although he still needed to finish with the formalities, when there was a knock on one of the doors. "Excuse me," he asked politely and looked up. He motioned through the window and a younger man in civvies entered. "Ah, Dr. Jackson, I would like you to meet Dr. Michaels."
Dr. Jackson stopped in his tracks and proffered his hand. "Ah, hi, um, have we met before?" he asked looking bewildered.
"Not to my knowledge." She stated with a pleasant smile.
"We were just about to finish this interview." The General told Dr. Jackson then turned back to Dr. Michaels. "Well, I see no reason why I should keep you in suspense any longer, Doctor. All your paperwork and security clearances are in perfect order, I think this base will benefit from your experience. You've got the job." He reached to shake her hand, noticing as one of his top officers came through the door and stopped a few feet behind Dr. Michaels.
Daniel snapped his fingers and a grin lit up his features. "That's where I think I know you from, " He looked to the person standing behind her. "Jack, she looks just like the picture of your ex-wife, Sarah!"
{{Note: The fire I am referring to is one of the big ones in Colorado this last summer. I don't know if this was actually broad cast on the radio, but my mother has property up there, and the ground temp was measured on a neighbors property. the 213 degrees F was about 7 miles away from the fire, so you can guess what it must have been like for the firemen and women at the front line. The Front Range is an area that runs east of the foothills from Colorado Springs north to the Wyoming border. Interstate 25 is commonly referred to as the Valley highway, since in Colorado most of it runs through various valleys }}
{Note: This AU holds to theory that the ep 'Cold Lazarus' doesn't exist. I finally saw the ep when Sci-Fi started re-airing the series from the beginning. I can't say that it was any where near my favorite episode. For one thing, that's when the whole Charlie thing started. In the movie O'Neal's (yes in the movie its spelled like that) son was named Tyler.}
{Notes for my stories: Jack and Sarah have never spoken since the divorce. Also, I usually don't look too far into the years and bios of the characters since they are fictional characters, instead I make my own. So my time line for Jack O'Neill is thus: Born 1949, started college 1968, received his draft notice in 1969, didn't want to become army, so he went to a recruiter and joined the Air Force OTC. Finally finished college 1977 met Sarah in college(she graduated with a degree in psychology and practiced until Charlie was born), married shortly after, Recruited Black Ops 1980, Charlie born 1983, Desert Storm liberated POW 1990 the rest as they say is history. OH and one more thing, I always pictured Bonnie Hart playing Sarah, just so you have a visual reference of what I see.}
