A/N: WOW!! I now know what it takes to get a lot of reviews, ask people if they want to see some ship! One of my reviewers suggested I send out an entire armada of JS ship! Unfortunately, there will be no armada, but neither will the ship be just a little rowboat. Most of my stories involving our duo deal mainly with what it takes for them to finally get together. But due to the demand for some serious ship, I will try my damndest to provide you with adequate amounts of ship and maybe we'll explore a potential relationship between them together!

But not yet!

That night as Air Force One was leaving Colorado's airspace, the President and First Lady were sitting in the solitude of his private suite. A somber silence had fallen across all those who had spent the past thirty-six hours with members of the SGC. They had seen an entire base mobilized in the face of a crisis. They had seen the sacrifices that SGC personnel made everyday they travelled through the Stargate. They had seen what life was like for those who defended their planet.

Cathy was staring out the window from the bed when she finally spoke, "He loves her, you know."

Jack looked over at her unsure what she was referring to.

When he didn't respond, she turned and looked at her husband. "Sam and Jack… They love one another."

"What?!" he asked shocked to hear her revelation.

"Didn't you see it?"

He shook his head, "No… Are you sure?"

She stared at him, "Yes."

"Are they in a relationship?"

"I'm told by a very close friend that one outside of their professional relationship does not exist."

Neither said anything as they crawled into bed. They had been lying in bed for several minutes before Cathy spoke again.

"Jack?"

"Yeah Cathy?"

"Is there anything you can do?"

He sighed heavily next to her, "Cathy… The military regulations are there to protect-"

"It's their love for one another that makes them so good at their job!" she pointed out to him.

"That may be, but I can't change the regulations," he tried to explain to her.

She leaned over and looked at him, "Jack, you're the President of the United States… They deserve this." She stared at him a moment longer before rolling over and going to sleep.

Jack Ryan lay there thinking about his friend and the base he ran. Trying to remember if he could see anything of what Cathy saw.

Finally after half an hour, he succumbed to exhaustion and fell asleep for the remaining three and a half hours of their flight.

Several hours later they had landed at Andrews Air Force Base. President Ryan was just about to climb into his waiting limo when he stopped and turned to Agent Price.

"Andrea, I want the three of you to take the next three days off."

"Sir, we're-"

"Don't make me make it an order," he challenged her. "The three of you have been on duty for the past four days… If you keep arguing, I'll make you take a week off."

"Yes sir."

Jack hid his reaction to her response, wondering if her unwillingness to take a week of work was due to her nature or out of her desire protecthimself and his family.

"One other thing, Andrea… I want you to set up a meeting with Robbie, Tony and General Hammond once they're all back in town."

She nodded her head, "Yes sir."

"I want it off the books," he clarified for her.

She understood that they would be talking about the SGC. "I'll arrange it as soon as we get…" she paused and changed her answer when he glared at her, "… as soon as I come back to work."

"Thanks Andrea."

-

Four Days Later

"How's everyone doing General?"

Hammond smiled as he spoke into the phone."Better ma'am. Most of the injured personnel were discharged two days ago."

"And the critical cases?"

"Doing better and they've all been moved out of ICU, ma'am."

"That's good to hear," she sighed with relief. "How's Colonel Carter doing?"

"She's doing well…" he cautiously told her.

Being the astute woman that she was, she heard his hesitation, "But…?"

"Do you recall what happened to her face?"

"Yes, her right eye was swollen shut. Is everything alright?"

"The doctor's aren't sure, ma'am. They don't know if she'll be able to see out of her right eye," he began.

"What?!"

"Apparently she has a deep corneal abrasion… and since the accident, apparently a lot of scar tissue has started to accumulate around the injury."

"Are they going to operate?" she asked him as she turned on her doctor mode.

"They're discussing their options."

"Not anymore they aren't," she told him assuredly.

He was confused, "Excuse me, ma'am?"

"I want to take the case. Can she be transported to Johns Hopkins?"

General Hammond was caught off guard, "Uh… I'm not sure ma'am… Ma'am, you don't-"

"I know. I want to help her and I know I can… Can you arrange it?"

He paused, "I'll see what I can do ma'am."

"I'll also need to contact her current doctors," she informed him.

"I'll have Major Davis call you with that information."

"Thank you General."

"Thank you ma'am," he emphasized really wanting to express his gratitude.

-

A few days later

"General, you ready to head over?"

Hammond and his guest looked up and seeing who was standing in his door stood up. "Good morning Mr. Secretary. I don't believe you've met Major Paul Davis."

"Sir."

"Ah… You're the third member of the junta?"

Davis swallowed and looked at Hammond who chuckled, "Ah yes sir."

"Relax. I've gotten over it. As long as you guys are running efficiently over there, I don't have any problems."

He smiled warily, "Yes sir."

"Sir, I wasn't aware you were heading over to the White House?"

"Yep. I'm meeting with the Vice President first, and then we're all meeting together."

Twenty minutes later Secretary Bretano and General Hammond walked into the White House. "Sir, do you know what our meeting is about?"

"Not a clue," he revealed asthey headed their separate ways. Hammond continued on to Van Damn's office and when he entered the office he was surprised at who was there.

"General Hammond. If you'll follow me," Andrea greeted him as she led him into the Oval Office.

Hammond stood at attention as he waited for President Ryan to finish his conversation on the phone.

"…Yes… Thank you Your Highness… I look forward to seeing you as well in a few days… Take care and say hi to your wife for me!" He hung up the phone and turned to the pair in his office.

"General Hammond. Thanks Andrea, that'll be all."

Andrea nodded as she walked out the door.

"Sir," Hammond greeted him unsure why he was in the President's office alone. He had been under the impression that he was only going to be meeting with Arnie and with the President, VP and SecDef later on.

"Have a seat," Ryan told him as he shook his hand and led him to the couches.

"Thank you, sir."

"So how've you been? Things going well at the SGC?"

Hammond nodded his head, "Yes sir, the investigation is wrapping up and clean-up at the Alpha Site is continuing."

"Good, good. Cathy told me that she wants to take care of Colonel Carter's eye."

"Yes sir. She offered her services when I informed her of the Colonel's condition. It was very nice of her, sir."

"Colonel Carter is one of the best officers in the military. And Cathy's one of the best eye doctors in the country… She's a wonderful person, very observant as well."

Hammond absently nodded, "Yes sir…"

Jack looked at him and smiled slightly, "You're probably wondering what you're doing here."

"Yes sir, I am."

Jack leaned forward, "I wanted to have a conversation with you about the SGC… Off the record."

"Yes sir. What would you like to know?"

He stared at the General in front of him, "I want your honest opinion and whatever you say to me will be strictly confidential."

"Yes sir," he replied even more confused by where this conversation was heading.

"Good… I don't know how exactly to word this… But what is the relationship between Jack and Colonel Carter?"

"Sir?"

He sensed Hammond's hesitation. "Look, I'm not trying to ruin any careers or anything… It's just that Cathy said something to me the other day and it got me thinking…"

"And what might that be sir?"

He leaned back against the cushions, "She said that Jack and Sam loved each other."

Before he could say anything more, George Hammond quickly jumped in to defend his people, "Sir I assure you that both of them-"

"Relax General… I was assured of that as well… I just want your honest opinion… I want you to set aside your professional relationship with them for the next few minutes… Do they love one another?"

Hammond stared at his commander in chief. "I don't know if they love one another romantically, they do care deeply for one another."

"More than the rest of their teammates?"

"Their relationship is a complicated one, sir… But yes."

"When did you first suspect?"

"On Jack's part, when Sam was host to Jolinar… For Sam it was when Jack was stranded on another planet and she redefined particle physics to get him back."

"Did you ever suspect them of having an affair?"

He quickly answered, "Never!"

"Why not?" he asked shocked at his sure response.

Hammond sighed, "Their respect for one another runs too deep… You see," he began, "They would never want to jeopardize each other's career, or the mission of the SGC. They both recognized each other's integral membership to the success of the program."

"Has it ever affected their duties?"

"No… And they've definitely been tested."

"Such as?"

Hammond thought back over the seven years he had served as their commanding officer. When he spoke it was quietly, "Jack had to kill her once…"

His eyes went wide, "What?'

"Colonel Carter had been taken over by an alien entity akin to a computer virus… It was channeling its power through her body and would have destroyed the SGC… Jack stopped it by shooting her with a zat twice…"

"Which kills…" Jack finished as he recalled what Daniel had told them of the weapon at the Tok'ra base.

He considered this little bit of information. "What affect does it have?"

"I think it's what made them such a good team, sir… Sir?"

Jack looked up, "Yeah?"

"May I ask what this is about?"

"I'm considering issuing an Executive Order for the SGC…"

"On?"

"That's what I need your help on… This country owes the SGC, and especially those two, so much… I want to make their lives just a little bit better… A little happier."

"What do you have in mind sir?"

"Changing the fraternization regs for the SGC."

"For the entire base?"

He nodded, "With a few caveats… Do you think it would affect the personnel and impede them from doing their duty?"

Hammond considered his response carefully. He had a feeling that a lot of potential happiness rested on his opinion. "Only positively sir… Everyone there knows what they are fighting for… They know how to make the tough calls, sir. I think it would boost morale up even more," he explained.

Jack nodded as he listened, "So you don't have a problem with this?"

"No sir."

Jack clapped his hands on his knees as he stood up, Hammond followed suit, "Good… Now I need your help to convince Robbie and Secretary Bretano."

Thirty minutes later they had been joined by the other two and Jack had explained his intentions.

"Robbie, what do you think?"

"It's not normal," he began.

"Nothing they do at that base is normal," Jack pointed out.

"Aren't the regulations there to protect them from having misguided priorities?" Tony asked. Having never served in the military, he understood the concept but he'd never had to live the life.

"Yeah," Robbie pointed out as he thought about the conversations he had had while with the SGC. "But in this case…"

"Yeah Robbie?" Jack asked impatiently.

"Colonel Carter said something to me when we were flying in the F-302… We all saw how efficiently they work when something's on the line… I don't know if you noticed, but when they were just going about their jobs, it was very relaxed and cordial… Fun almost… She told me that it was a defense mechanism for them, it was their way to not let the stress get to them… They take their cues from the commanding officer, from the SG team leaders, to section leaders, all the way up to O'Neill… They have a deep trust in one another to do the right thing when someone's life is on the line or an important decision has to be made… That base can't be micromanaged… I don't think it would be as successful if it had been."

He paused and then turned to General Hammond, "I don't think I ever told you, but you did a hell of a job running that base for seven years and keeping the rest of us alive."

"Sir-" he was about to protest the high praise.

"Colonel Carter told me the same thing… It was the team working in unison," he stated taking the words out of the General's mouth.

"Yes sir."

"But you had the leadership to let them run with it and gave them a good role model."

As Jack Ryan listened he developed an even higher respect for the General in front of him. He hadn't seen as much as Robbie had and developed such strong opinions of the base. "It's a leadership function," he whispered.

They all looked at him.

Noticing the silence he looked at the men in the room and explained, "By trusting them and giving them some latitude you knew that they would do everything to not betray that trust you gave them. They would strive even harder to show you that they were worthy of it… That's what my drill instructor told me at basic training."

"Look, those people live under an immense amount of stress. They know what's at stake…" Jack concluded.

All three men nodded in agreement.

"So no one has any problems with this Executive Order?"

No one disagreed with the proposed changes.

Jack nodded his head as he decided that being President did indeed have perks.

TBC

Yeah... The President has seen the light and the path is clear!! Move out, the ship is about to sail!! Estimated Time of Departure: Next Chapter!