Author's note: Bah. I do have to work today... sigh. But I will still put this chapter and hopefully another up

OOOOOOOOOO

"Colonel Piper."

The Colonel came out of the den where Teal'c had come from as well, and walked over to Nathan.

"Sir?"

"You're excused, Colonel." Brooks said, his eyes still on Kinsey and his gun never faltering. "Take the men and leave the area."

"Aye, aye, Sir."

He didn't need to tell Piper to thank those involved – Piper would do it for him.

The Colonel turned and waved the men from their various hiding places thru out the house, and then left through the back door. Jack knew that he'd be gathering up the special forces teams as he went, and soon the only people left in the safe house would be him, Nathan, Teal'c and Ian. And Major Clay, of course.

"Do you know why I just dismissed the Colonel, Senator?" Brooks asked in a deadly calm voice.

Unable to find enough moisture in his dry mouth to speak, Kinsey shook his head, staring at the barrel of the Beretta.

"It's so that if there's an inquiry for some reason, and those men are called up to testify, they'll be able to swear before God and their mothers that the last time they saw you, you were alive and well," Jack said, coming up behind Kinsey.

"Not to mention, this way there won't be anyone to keep us from doing whatever we want – no matter how much you threaten t-"

"Who are you?" Kinsey asked, finding his voice for the first time. "What business is this of yours?"

"Major General Nathan Michael Brooks," Nathan said with a voice as hard a the metal his gun was made of. "One of those boys that you were talking about having an unfortunate accident – involving bleeding and pain, as I recall – is my only son, and I have to tell you, Senator... I'm pretty fucking pissed at the moment."

The Senator paled, and he looked about ready to throw up.

"I didn't mean it," Kinsey said, desperately. "I was just joking. I wouldn't dream of harming anyone. Whatever O'Neill may have-"

"O'Neill didn't tell me shit, you worthless piece of monkey piss. He didn't have to. I can see for myself what kind of man you are."

"You're making a mistake, General," Kinsey said, his voice slightly higher than normal and his pants soaked with urine. "Grabbing your son was an accident. Major Clay-"

"No. Grabbing my son was a mistake," Brooks said. "And grabbing O'Neill's boy was downright stupid. I can't believe he hasn't shot you, yet."

"You can't-" Kinsey looked over at O'Neill, found absolutely no mercy in those brown eyes, and looked back at Brooks. "I'm the Vice President of the United States! You can't do this!"

"You're not the Vice President, yet," Jack told him.

"Might not ever be," Nathan added.

OOOOOOOOO

"Come on, Sam..." Shawn's brown eyes were pleading – and looked so much like Jack's that it just wasn't fair.

"Shawn, you know General Hammond said no."

"But he's not here right now, is he?" Shawn said, "We could have Thor beam us there, we could see how Jack is doing, and come back before General Hammond even knew we were gone."

Sam shook her head.

"You know I want to know what's going on as much as you do, but we're not going to disobey orders to find out." Besides, who knew what exactly was going on over there, and there was no way Sam was just going to pop into a room when Jack needed his attention completely on what he was doing.

Shawn gave an exasperated sigh – he'd been working on Sam for well over an hour now, and was finding she was a far more formidable opponent than his mother.

"Maybe we could have Thor just... call down and ask Jack how he's doing? Maybe Jack could use some help and just doesn't want to call us."

She smiled, and he felt the stirring of hope. Maybe she would agree? Maybe she was going to let him call Thor? Maybe-

"No."

Damn.

"Why don't we go check on River?"

Shawn sighed, but he nodded.

River's reaction to the drug had been severe, but Janet Fraiser was more than able to handle it, and within hours of his arrival into her care the young man was sitting up in bed and more than willing and able to eat anything she wanted to put in front of him – which was a primary indication to Janet that there were no lasting affects that would keep him in bed.

Of course, there was the fact that he was in the heart of the biggest secret in the world, and that was a reason to keep him in bed. At least until they had any idea what – if any – to tell him about what had happened. So Shawn had been allowed out of bed – once Janet had assured herself and Sam that he'd taken no serious harm from the blow to his head – and River was stuck in bed, held there by Janet, who was more than capable of handling Jack O'Neill at his worst, and had absolutely no trouble with the friendly and easygoing cadet. She told him he needed to stay in bed a while longer, River simply shrugged. He had things to keep him occupied – even in bed.

At the moment, he was flirting outrageously with every medic of the female persuasion on Janet Fraiser's staff that passed by his bed. His good nature and way better than average good looks made more than one of the medics come back for more, and even though they all knew there was nothing serious about it – some of the women he was flirting with were old enough to be his mother, after all – it was as enjoyable for them as it was for him.

"Hey, River, how are you feeling?"

He looked up from the fifth piece of cake he'd managed to sweet talk out of the medics – including Doctor Fraiser – and grinned when he saw it was Shawn and Sam.

"Hey. How's the head?"

"It hasn't fallen off, yet. How about you?"

River shrugged.

"I'm fine. I could use a glass of milk, and I'm a bit tired of being in bed, but it beats running, I suppose, hey?" He flashed Sam a smile that she couldn't help but return – she wasn't any more immune to the young man's good nature than any of the others, apparently – and handed Shawn the extra piece of cake waiting to be eaten.

"Cake?"

"Where'd you get that?"

He had been to the Commissary and hadn't seen any cake. Especially one so thickly frosted with gooey chocolate frosting.

"It's Lieutenant Yearly's birthday, and she said I could have some of her cake."

"Some?" Sam asked. The slice he was working on was pretty big, and the slice he'd handed to Shawn was even bigger.

River smiled.

"It's a big cake. You want to share my piece Major O'Neill?"

Sam shook her head, although she did reach out a finger and take a dollop of the frosting from the edge of the piece.

"I'm not going to spoil my lunch by eating cake. And you shouldn't either."

"I'm not spoiling my lunch," River told her, flashing another smile at one of the medics who brought him a tall glass of milk before he could even ask for one. "I'll eat anything anyone wants me to."

Sam didn't doubt that for a moment. For someone as thin as he was, she was pretty sure he could back up that claim.

"Has anyone heard from Ian or Colonel O'Neill, yet?"

"Not yet." Shawn said.

"I'm sure they're fine," Sam told him.

River nodded.

"Of course they're fine. Who'd screw with Colonel O'Neill?"

He just wanted to be in on whatever they were doing.