Chapter Nine
Jack awoke the next morning to the sound of loud knocking on his front door.
"Go 'way." He grouched, going back to sleep.
"Jack?" Sam said, sleepily.
"Mm?"
"Go see who it is."
Jack leaned up slightly, squinting at the bedside clock. Unusually, he had slept late. It was ten AM.
"No." He said.
There was a particularly loud knock.
"Go."
"Fine." Disentangling himself from Sam, Jack swung his legs out of the bed and onto the floor. He stood and stretched, looking around the room until he located his jeans and t-shirt.
As he padded down the hallway he heard the shower start up.
Reaching the door he yanked it open, only to be confronted by General George Hammond and former General Jacob Carter.
'Oh, crap,' Jack thought. Out loud he said, "George, Jacob! Good to see you! I'd invite you in but…"
Hammond and Jacob barged past him, as only senior Generals can barge.
"Come right on in." Jack said after they had marched into his living room, sweeping his hand in the direction they had already taken.
He followed them in, only to be greeted by death glares from both Generals.
"You wanna explain why my daughter's car is outside?" Jacob demanded.
"Is it?" Jack looked outside, pretending to be surprised. "Maybe Thor put it there? You know those Asgard, always-"
"Jack? Who was it?" Sam's voice came from down the hall.
"Oh crap." Jack actually said it aloud this time, hiding his head in his hands. He was so not gonna survive this. "Uh… it's General Hammond… and your dad." He called back. 'Huh, let her share in the misery.'
From down the hall he heard, "Oh crap."
"Yep, that about sums it up." He muttered.
"General O'Neill, do you mean to tell me you're having a relationship with an officer under your command?" Hammond asked sternly.
"Well, sir… I… um…"
"Yes, sir." Sam had walked in and stood beside Jack. She was wearing her jeans under a t-shirt that was miles too large, obviously Jack's. Her hair was wet from her super-fast shower.
He jumped slightly, turned to Sam. "I am?" he asked, smiling slightly. She glared. He turned back to Hammond and Jacob. "I am." He said firmly.
Jacob stepped forward. Jack quickly ducked behind Sam.
Suddenly, Jack's front door burst open. Daniel and Teal'c tumbled through.
"Jack! Jack!"
"O'Neill!"
"General Hammond-" Daniel began, only to stop at the sight of the General himself.
"Is here, Daniel." Jack said. "But thanks for the heads up." He added sarcastically.
He turned back to face Jacob. "I believe you were about to tear me limb from limb?"
"Did either of you even think about the regs?" Jacob yelled.
"We… thought about thinking about them." Jack said.
Sam nudged him in the ribs, hard. "Yes, dad, we thought about them. For eight years."
Jacob looked at his daughter, seemingly too angry to speak.
"What she said." Jack said, ducking behind Sam again.
Suddenly, both Generals began to laugh. A loud noise made Jack and Sam turn. Behind them, Daniel and Teal'c were also laughing, leaning on one another for support.
"Well I'm glad this is funny." Jack muttered.
"Here." Hammond said, holding something out to them.
Sam took it and looked at it. "It's a letter. From the White House."
The other four stopped laughing. Teal'c and Daniel joined the others in the living room. They all watched Jack and Sam.
"Open it." Jack said.
"No."
"What?"
"It might be bad."
"Coward." He said, snatching the letter from her.
He tore it open and scanned through it, holding it low so Sam could read it too.
When they finished slow smiles spread across their faces.
"We… we've been given presidential permission?" Sam asked.
General Hammond nodded. "Jacob and I spoke to him last night. The president believes that we owe you both something."
"He does?" Jack was grinning.
"Yeah, something about saving the world a coupla times, services to humankind, you know." Jacob said, smiling.
"Sweet." Jack said.
Jacob looked at his daughter, concern clouding his features. "You okay, Sammie?"
Jack looked down at Sam. She was crying. "Hey… what's up?"
"I'm so… it's so…" Sam gave up trying to speak and flung herself at her dad, hugging him fiercely. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" She said, lunging at General Hammond and hugging him.
Jack grinned and looked down at his feet. Teal'c came over and placed a hand on his shoulder. Jack looked up at him.
"O'Neill, I wish you the utmost happiness." The Jaffa said seriously.
"Yeah, Jack," Daniel interjected. "God knows you deserve it, you miserable son-of-a-"
"Thanks Daniel." Jack said, pulling his friend into a hug that surprised them both.
As Daniel stepped aside, Jacob stepped forward.
"Jack."
"Jake?"
"Take care of her, or you'll have to deal with me…" he paused, his gaze internalising for a moment, "… and Selmak."
"Carter can take care of herself." Jack said.
"Carter?" Sam repeated.
"Old habits." Jack replied.
"Yes, sir." She smirked. Jack grinned back.
"Right," he said, clapping his hands. "Who's up for barbecue for lunch?"
"Sounds great, Jack." General Hammond said.
"I'm gonna go change first." Sam said. "And Cassie's coming this morning. I'll bring her back with me."
Jack nodded and she kissed him before scooping up her car keys and moving towards the front door. "See you in a bit."
"I'll come with you, Sam." Jacob said, walking after his daughter.
After the door closed Daniel said, "Jack, quit grinning."
"Can't, sorry." Jack said. "You and Teal'c wanna go pick up some stuff for the barbecue?"
"Sure."
Jack cast his eyes around his living room, looking for his wallet. He found it and handed Daniel some money.
"Grab some beer too." He said. Daniel nodded, then, with a final smile at Jack, left the house, followed by Teal'c.
Once they had gone, Jack turned to General Hammond and said, "Thank you, sir."
General Hammond was touched by the sincerity in Jack's voice. "You deserve it, both of you."
"Thank you anyway."
"Jack, I've known about the… feelings between yourself and Colonel Carter for some time." Jack opened his mouth to say something, but Hammond held up a hand. "Neither of you ever acted any differently towards one another because of those feelings. I'm only sorry this couldn't have been done sooner, son."
Jack grinned. "So, what do I owe you and Jacob for this?"
Hammond grinned back. "Well, Jacob wants you to make Sam happy."
"And you?"
"I want the biggest steak from your barbecue." Hammond said. Jack laughed. Hammond turned serious. "I want you to make each other happy."
Jack smiled gently. "Thank you, George." He said again.
Both men stood silently for a moment.
"So, what do we do, while we're waiting for them?" General Hammond asked.
"You can make yourself at home, I'm headed for the shower and clean clothes." Jack replied.
"I think I'll take a nap out there," Hammond said, gesturing towards Jack's backyard, bathed in bright, warm sunshine. "Late night."
Jack nodded and wandered off towards the bathroom.
An hour later Jack was in his kitchen, fixing a salad that he personally had no intention of eating. George Hammond was napping out on the deck.
Jack heard the front door open, then close. The sound was quiet, as if the person was trying to make no sound. He put the salad things down and walked into the living room. There was no one there.
"Odd." Jack said, narrowing his eyes.
"Turn around, O'Neill." The voice came from behind Jack.
"Oh, crap. Hi Shanahan." Jack said, turning slowly.
Pete Shanahan stood behind him, in the centre of the living room. He was aiming a gun at Jack's head.
"Hands in the air."
Jack did as he was asked.
"Y'know, General Hammond's out the back there." He said, nodding towards his back yard.
"I doubt he's armed."
Jack nodded his agreement "How do you know I'm not?"
"In your own house?"
"Good point."
"Anyway, I kind of doubted that you'd have a loaded weapon just lying around in your house after what happened to your kid. I read your file, O'Neill. Went into your office and read it right under Hammond's nose." Shanahan seemed obscenely pleased with himself.
Jack didn't reply. He did actually have a loaded weapon, but it wasn't just 'lying around'.
"Got nothing to say? Maybe I should tell Sam what sort of things you used to do for a living. She wouldn't like you so much then."
"Carter knows." Jack replied.
"Yeah. You're all in it together, aren't you?" Shanahan sneered.
At that moment, two things happened.
Firstly, General Hammond came in from the yard.
"Stay where you are, General. I don't want to have to shoot you too." Shanahan said.
For his part, George looked to Jack, who nodded slightly.
Second, the front door opened again. Sam, Cassie and Jacob walked through, followed by Daniel and Teal'c, who they had obviously met up with on the driveway.
"Uh, what's goin' on Jack?" Daniel asked, voicing all their thoughts.
"Get in the kitchen, all of you." Shanahan said.
"O'Neill, do you wish me to dispatch this… human?" Teal'c asked.
"Nah. As soon as you move, he'll just shoot me, won't ya, Shanahan?"
Shanahan nodded.
Everyone moved to the kitchen, watching Jack and Shanahan through the half-wall.
"What do you want, Shanahan?" Jack asked.
"You took what I want, O'Neill."
"Sam." Jack said.
"Yeah, her. Now, I'm gonna kill you."
"Go ahead." Jack said.
"Jack!" Chorused Daniel, Sam, Jacob, Hammond and Cassie.
Teal'c said nothing.
"What?" Shanahan said, thinking he hadn't heard right.
"I said, go ahead."
"You want me to kill you?"
"Not particularly. I mean I did have plans…"
"Then why did you say that?" Shanahan was fast coming apart.
Jack lowered his hands.
"Get your hands up!"
Jack ignored Shanahan. "Well, Pete… I can call you Pete, can't I?"
Shanahan shook his head.
Jack went on. "Well, Pete, you're so pissed right now, I doubt you would hit anything vital, and if you shoot me, I can kill you outright and call it self-defence. And I've got six witnesses." Shanahan seemed to consider this for the first time. "Yeah," Jack said, watching him closely, "shoulda come when I was alone, huh?"
Without warning, Shanahan fired at Jack. A split second later Shanahan was lying on the floor of the living room, pinned by Jack, who was miraculously unharmed.
Shanahan struggled, and tried to turn the gun to aim it at O'Neill. Jack grabbed it out of his hand. "Don't fuck with me, Shanahan." Jack growled, holding the larger man still. "Sorry about the language, Cass."
Cassie was grinning. "Kick his ass, Jack!"
Jack shook his head and stood. "Get up."
Shanahan stood, shakily.
"Walk away." Jack ordered, all the anger his friends had seen in him yesterday in every syllable.
Shanahan turned to walk out the door. Suddenly he stopped, bent to his ankle and came back up with a small pistol in his hand. He aimed it at Jack.
"Don't!" Jack said, hearing Sam say it at the same time.
"What've I got to lose?" Shanahan replied. His finger began to squeeze the trigger.
Jack fired. He hit Shanahan in the shoulder.
Shanahan dropped the gun. Jack moved over and kicked it away, then he applied pressure to the wound.
"Carter, call the base. Have them send medics and a coupla SF's." He ordered, looking over his shoulder.
Sam complied.
When the SF's and medics arrived, Jack had a field dressing on Shanahan's wound, and had tied his wrists with some duct tape.
"General?" An SF asked.
"Escort this man back to the base. See that he gets medical attention, then throw him in a holding cell. I'll deal with him on Monday."
The SF looked at Jack, it was Thursday.
"Just do it, Airman." Jack said tiredly.
"Yessir. Uh... Sir?"
"Yes?"
"I heard a rumour you quit, I'd just like to say, sir, that I think you should come back. Your place is at the SGC."
Jack smiled at the SF's forwardness. "I'll see you on Monday, Airman."
The SF grinned broadly. "Yessir!" He saluted. Then he followed the medics as they took Shanahan out on a stretcher.
Jack closed his front door behind them and turned to his friends.
"So," he said, "lunch?"