"What?"

"Jack O'Neill has a son – a bastard son."

"You're kidding."

Kinsey shook his head. "I'm serious. It's not a big secret – although he hasn't actually claimed him, it appears. Probably would be frozen out of the marital bed if he tried to bring the boy home."

"How did you find out about this?"

"I keep my ears open," Kinsey said. "The story went around the upper ranks last month – not that I don't have better things to do than listen to gossip mongers, but when it's something so interesting..."

Stanton shook his head.

"If it's really Jack O'Neill's son, you'd be well off to leave him alone, Bob."

"He's only a boy – 14 or 15 from what I hear. That wouldn't be a challenge to someone with... connections like yours." Kinsey was leaning forward, now, an odd gleam in his eyes. "He's at the Air Force academy, so you wouldn't even have to go looking for him..."

"I'm not going anywhere near that kid," Stanton said, shaking his head. "And you better not either."

"It's perfect," Kinsey said, ignoring the warning. "One boy wouldn't pose much of a problem, and O'Neill would realize that we can get to him anytime we want to..."

"We're not doing shit, Bob," Stanton said, standing up. "Jack O'Neill isn't a man to cross, and even I know that. You do this, and you're doing it without me."

Kinsey scowled, but he wasn't surprised. Cowards. He was surrounded by a bunch of fucking cowards.

"Fine, get the hell out!" Kinsey shouted. "I don't need your help."

Because he was friends – more or less – with the man, Stanton tried once more.

"He'll kill you..."

"He won't know who did it."

"O'Neill's smart, he'll know..."

"He's an idiot," Kinsey replied, absently, waving for the traitorous bastard to get out. He had plans to make, and he was going to have to be careful – if Stanton's reaction was indicative of the response he was going to get from everyone he brought it up with. Coward. O'Neill was nobody, didn't Stanton understand that? He was a bump in Kinsey's road to domination and political power, nothing more. But he was an annoyance, and one that needed to be taken care of once and for all, in a decisive strike.

As the door closed behind Stanton, Kinsey reached for the telephone.

"Get me Major Allen Clay on the phone." He ordered. A moment later he scowled. "How the hell should I know where he lives? Look him up."

He hung up the phone, and started pacing the room, smiling slightly. Yes... this was going to be exactly the thing he needed. God, he should have thought of it years ago.

OOOOOOO

The phone rang a half hour later.

"Kinsey."

"Major Clay is on the line, Sir," Came the hotel operator's voice.

"Well, let me talk to him." Jesus, did these people think he wanted to spend the day chatting with them?

"Major Clay, Sir."

Kinsey's smile was predatory.

"Major, this is Vice President Kinsey, I need you here in Colorado immediately. Bring a team of your best operatives."

"Yes, Sir, we'll be on the first plane we can catch."

He liked that. The man didn't ask what he was going to be doing, and didn't ask what kind of operatives Kinsey wanted him to bring. He just acknowledged his orders and did as he was told. Something O'Neill should learn to do.

OOOOOOOOOOO

"Jack?"

O'Neill looked up from his paperwork. Paperwork he was supposed to be doing, but wasn't really paying attention to. His mind was on other things – like the fact that Sam had passed the three-month mark in her pregnancy that day.

It hadn't meant anything to Jack when she'd brought it up, but since she'd acted like it was so important, Jack had gone to Janet and asked her why that was important. Janet, of course, had been monitoring Sam's pregnancy closely, even though she wasn't the primary doctor when it came to Sam's pregnancy, and had told Jack that it was an important date because after the third month, the baby was pretty much formed – still very very tiny, but formed – and the chances of a miscarriage dropped considerably. Which explained to Jack why Sam had been almost giddy.

He'd known she was concerned about the chance of losing this baby – Jack was, too – but the smile on her face and the way she had clung happily to him when she hugged him was a sign that she was feeling better about the baby's chances. So now, he was trying to decide how a couple should celebrate the passing of the three-month mark. Probably with a bunch of flowers and a formal dinner? He should have asked Janet, but she'd been busy and he hadn't wanted to bother her all that much.

"What's up Daniel?" He asked, setting his pen down with a grateful sigh.

"Sally wants to know if Sam wants her to bring anything for Thanksgiving..."

Jack shrugged.

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because Sam's not here."

"Even if I answered you, chances are I'd be wrong, you know..."

"Ah, but if you answer me, and you're wrong, it'll be your fault and not mine, because I asked, like I was told."

Jack scowled.

"I don't know what Sam's plans are for dinner, Daniel. It's a week away, for goodness sake, and all I know for sure about what's going on that day is that it's on Thursday."

"So when will you ask Sam?"

"Why don't you ask Sam?"

"Because Sally told me to ask you so we don't keep bothering Sam."

Jack sighed.

"Tell her to bring the plates."

Daniel sighed, a long sigh of great endless patience.

"I think she's talking about food, Jack. You guys have plates already."

"I'll figure it out," Jack promised, running his hand through his short hair.

"When?"

"Later."

"Later when?"

"Later later."

"Jack..."

"Daniel, I have to figure out how to celebrate the three month mark of a pregnancy, so if you don't have any good ideas to pull out of your ass, then I need you to leave me alone so I can think about it a bit..."

The archeologist stared at him for a moment, and Jack watched him hopefully. The silence grew in the room, and Jack's hopeful look increased.

"Nope. Sorry."

"Bah. Get out."