Author's Note: The language is a little rough in this chapter (nothing like the boys, though)!

OOOOOOOOO

"You know, Bob, this meeting would be a bit easier if you'd actually pay attention to what the hell I'm saying..."

Kinsey turned his attention from his black inner thoughts and looked over at the man who was sitting across from him. Colonel Nicholas Stanton was one of only a few Military officers who Kinsey could stand, and he was the only one Kinsey would have allowed to speak to him like that. The two were a lot alike – both in their social status and upbringing, and in their intense dislike of certain other people in the Government – and the military.

"Sorry, Nick," Kinsey said, not really meaning it, but knowing it was something he had to say.

"You look like you're pretty miffed about something," Stanton observed, setting his drink down on the table and standing up. "Maybe I'll let this meeting wait for another day..."

"No, you don't have to go," Kinsey said, setting his own drink down as well, and folding his hands on the table in front of him. "It's that God-damned Jack O'Neill. He made me look like an idiot today..."

While Stanton wasn't really surprised that someone had managed to make Kinsey look like an idiot – the guy rarely needed help, after all – he knew better than to say it.

"O'Neill's a cocky bastard, that's for sure," he said.

"Hayes seems to like him," Kinsey brooded, darkly. "That's just not acceptable."

"You can't tell people what to think."

This remark was rewarded with a glare that Stanton ignored.

"God, I hate O'Neill..."

This wasn't news to Stanton. Jack O'Neill was Kinsey's bane of existence, that was for sure. Of course, Stanton didn't really like O'Neill, either. The man was far too cocky for his own good, and his irreverence for the chain of command was something that rankled the other Colonel immensely.

"I know."

"He's too..." Kinsey's anger was building the more he thought of how much he hated Jack, and he couldn't even think of a word to describe just what O'Neill was.

"I know." Stanton said. "But it's not like there's anything you can do about it, Bob. Everything you've tried has practically backfired, and-"

"I don't need you to remind me what I've tried," Kinsey said, nastily, slamming his hand down on the table so hard he knocked his glass over and spilled his drink. "That bastard needs an attitude adjustment."

"You can't change O'Neill," Stanton said. "He's too-"

"There must be someone who can," Kinsey replied, massaging his hand. "I'd love to see him get the shit beat out of him – that'd be an attitude adjustment, now wouldn't it?"

"I don't think you'd have much of a chance against O'Neill, Bob. He's-"

"Not me, Nick," Kinsey interrupted, impatiently. Like he'd soil his hands by touching O'Neill. "It'd have to be someone far more of a... professional... than I am..."

Stanton looked at the suddenly sly expression on the Vice President-elect's face, and felt the stirrings of unease.

"What are you thinking?"

"You must know someone who could get to O'Neill... someone who could... show him that he's not as invulnerable as he thinks he is?"

Stanton shook his head. He didn't even have to stop and think about it.

"The only guys I know that are good enough to have a chance at O'Neill wouldn't dream of going against him." As much has he despised the man, he knew he was good. "He's not-"

"That's not what I want to hear!" Kinsey almost screamed, frustration and fury raging through him. "I want him to learn a lesson, God damn it! A hard lesson! I'm so fucking sick of him acting like-"

"Bob," Stanton frowned, taken aback by the ferocity in his friend's mannerism. "You need to calm down – before you blow a gasket. You're not going to get to O'Neill. No one would be dumb enough to take him on, especially with those people he has around him." Stanton was one of the few who knew Teal'c wasn't human, and he'd seen the Jaffa and knew he was a formidable adversary. Stanton wouldn't dream of going after O'Neill, and he knew no one else would, either.

Kinsey scowled, aware that he'd lost his cool – something he hated to do, even around people he knew well. He stared at the spilled Bourbon, running his finger idly through it as he tried to think of an alternative. Something that would hurt O'Neill just as badly as if he'd been attacked himself.

The wife would be the perfect target, but she was as well protected as O'Neill himself. If no one would go after O'Neill, they'd definitely steer clear of the wife. Thoughts of revenge were running through his head, now, and possible targets were flashing through his mind. Who could it be? What would hurt O'Neill the most? Teal'c? Yeah, that would hurt, but Teal'c wasn't going to be taken down easily, and Jackson was just as hard to get to, most likely, as the wife. Not to mention, Kinsey had heard somewhere that the wife was pregnant and everyone was-

Wait... wasn't there a rumor going around? Something about O'Neill and an unacknowledged bastard? He frowned, trying to remember what he'd heard... something... the boy – and he was, what? 14? 15? – was at the Air Force academy... Some kind of Presidential Order or something... yeah... which meant that even if O'Neill didn't openly acknowledge the boy, he definitely knew about him. Why else would he have taken such pain to get him into a Service academy?

Kinsey scowled; the last thing the United States needed was another O'Neill in their Military Officer ranks. Maybe he could kill two birds with one stone... take the boy, give O'Neill a fright he'd never forget – and maybe even scare the boy off and keep him from returning to the academy when he was released. It was worth thinking about, wasn't it...?

"Nick..."

Stanton had wondered what was going through Kinsey's mind. The man was a weasel, but able to hide it well – unless he wasn't paying attention to schooling his thought – which he wasn't, just then. Stanton could see that he was doing some heavy thinking.

"Bob?"

"What if you had a smaller target?"

"What do you mean?" Why did he suddenly feel uneasy?

"O'Neill has a son..."