Trust
Chapter Seven
Disclaimer: Nope, none of it is mine. Sigh...
Spoilers:
Slight spoilers for Lockdown
XXXX
O'Neill paced the length of his office, holding the bight, red phone up to his ear, and waiting impatiently. Had he been on the phone calling anybody else he would have long since hung up and tried again, but that bright, red phone was there to connect him with one person and one person only. The President. And you just didn't hang up while waiting for the President to come on the line. That had to be a sure-fire way to lose your job.
Speaking of, Jack was, to his own admittance, incredibly nervous. He wasn't sure of how high he was on the POTUS' list of favorite people-- or if he even wanted to be on such a list. Hammond seemed to have a great deal of respect for the man, so O'Neill was forced to believe he wasn't so bad, even if he was a democrat. Also, anybody who had the balls to admit he was incredibly stupid and fire his 2IC was alright with him. Especially when that second-in-command was Robert Kensey.
Then again, he had only met Hayes twice, and their phone calls were hardly about the weather. In fact, on one occasion, he had disregarded an order from the man, and even though in doing so it had gotten Anubis off of the planet, it was still defying a direct a direct order from his boss, the Commander in Chief. Jack was lucky he hadn't saw fit to throw him in jail. So, maybe the man did like him... and this might not be so hard.
He snorted softly at the thought. The hell it wasn't going to be hard-- he was about to demand an impromptu meeting with the president, and he couldn't exactly come right out and say why. Well... he could, but he wasn't going to. Continuing his pacing he grew even more impatient, sure, he was waiting to be put in touch with the most important man in the country, but he, himself, was fairly high on that list, and had been currently waiting fifteen minutes. Maybe he should have said it was an emergency, after all...
Just when he was about to cut his losses and try to tell the woman, presumably his secretary, that he would try back later, she came back onto the line, anyway. "General O'Neill, the president is currently in a cabinet meeting, that while most likely last all of the morning. I'm going to have to have him call you back, if that's alright with you. There's no emergency, is there?"
Nope. It's just my life I'm trying to sort through. "No ma'am, no emergencies. Can I ask why it took fifteen minutes to get this information to me?" Yeah, so maybe he was being a bit rude... but he was trying to be polite about it. That had to count for something. Right?
"I'm sorry sir, it wasn't a scheduled meeting-- he was just called into it a moment ago."
"Oh," he replied. "Well... am I allowed to know where he was before that?"
The woman didn't seem to be annoyed, but he was sure she probably was. "Eating breakfast with his wife and daughters, sir."
Jack sighed and looked at his watch, it was nearing 0700 there, so it had to be 1000 something in DC. Then again, if he was related to the president, he would probably sleep in as well. "Thank you, ma'am."
"You're welcome, General." she said, her voice sounding a bit more relieved. Probably because she knew the call was nearly over. "Where would you like him to return the call to?"
Well, Jack couldn't exactly have him call the base, and have an SF answer. He could give his cell, but there was an easier option. "Just have him call back on this number." This was the president they were dealing with, he had to have Caller ID. "Goodbye, ma'am."
She said her goodbyes and Jack hung the phone up, sighing. That had gone nothing like he had planned it would, but then again, he hadn't really planned anything in the first place. Calling at that time had been on a the spur of the moment and with the three hour time difference between the east and west coast, he hadn't had to worry about calling too early. Now, to his disappointment, he was wondering if he had called to late.
Sitting down at his desk he sighed again, looking over at the stack of paperwork that had poured into his 'in' box over night. He might as well get some work done while he waited...
XXXX
Sam sat down at the commissary table, alert, awake, and ready to start her day. Having already downed a few cups of coffee at Jack's house (yeah, it was so easy to call him that in her head) she was energetic and showed no signs of the measly two hours or so of sleep she had acquired. Luckily, the coffee had done it's job, and the man who sat across from her didn't notice, and therefore didn't question her on the events of the previous night. Although, she was waiting on a phone call from a certain somebody.
"Good morning Sam," he greeted, taking a long drink from his steaming mug. Where she looked like she had slept for hours, her friend looked completely haggard and she knew immediately that he had worked through the night, again. "You're here early."
She glanced at her watch, wondering what time it actually was. Almost 0700... yeah, it was kind of early. "I really didn't have any reason to stay at home and I woke up early." Ok, so that was a schooled version of the truth. She really didn't have a reason to stay at home because she wasn't at home, and she didn't just wake up early, she went to bed late, and the reason she had been awaken was her commanding officer had been snoring in his sleep. "What about you? Isn't it a bit early for you to be here, as well?"
He shook his head, "I never left." Ah, so she had been right. "SG-5 came in contact with an ancient Mesopotamian culture and we've been working non-stop to try and learn about them." We've meaning him and him alone. "I guess I got a bit carried away and forgot to sleep..."
Well, it wasn't like it never happened before. "Can you communicate with them yet?"
"Yeah, uh... it's very limited, however." he paused momentarily to take another drink of coffee. "I went there sometime earlier and tried to distinguish the difference in their culture and the one from earth, but I didn't get very far. From what I can tell though, they're most likely from the Assyrian culture. They have a strong army and all sorts of records held in a library type structure, much like the Assyrian. Although, they are not as inhumane as the Assyrian were. I think that they were taken from earth sometime around 900 BC."
Sam tried to pay attention, really... she did. But, she didn't know what the heck the archaeologist was talking about, and she certainly had never heard of the Assyrian's before. Now, if he had said Babylonians things would have been a bit more interesting for her. But, yeah, she had no clue what he had just suggested. "Oh... ok."
"You don't know what the hell I'm talking about, do you?"
"Not a clue." she said with a small smile. "But, that's not a surprise."
He nodded, "Well... I should really get back to my work."
Waving her hands in a gesture for him to go ahead, she smiled sweetly. "You can give me a history lesson later, I promise. Go and figure everything out first."
"I'll hold you to that," he told her as he grabbed his coffee cup and walked out of the commissary, leaving her alone at the table. She sighed and took a bite of her eggs, enjoying the sudden silence in the room. That enjoyment was short-lived, however, because before she knew it her cell phone rang. A knowing smile spread across her face and she set down her fork, digging the phone out of her pocket.
"Cassie..." she greeted, after answering on the third ring. "What can I do for you?"
XXXX
"Well," the girl replied, sounding a bit enthusiastic. "For starters you can tell me why the hell you didn't call me last night and fill me in on what happened at Jack's house."
Sam nearly laughed out loud, catching herself when she saw that she wasn't the only person in the commissary. There were a few members of SG-3 and SG-5 in the corner, and the last thing she wanted was to have this discussion around the Marines. They gossiped almost as badly as women did. "Hold on a second, ok? I'm on my way to my office."
She threw her tray away and headed out of the room, towards the elevators. Pressing the button for sub-level 21, which held her less-frequently used lab, the other being on sub-level 19. If anybody was looking for her, they would go there first. "I didn't call you, Cassie," she said once she got into the elevator, where there was only security cameras, with no mikes, "because I didn't go home." Cryptic. She could have been anywhere instead of home, right? She wasn't at her CO's house, sleeping with him on his couch. No... she would never.
"What do you mean, you didn't go home?"
"I meant exactly what I said. I didn't go back home."
Finally out of the elevator she walked briskly towards her office, the less ears around, the better.
"Well, why on earth would you stay there?" she questioned. There was a brief pause, then, "No... wait. Don't tell me."
This time she did laugh out loud, "We talked, Cassie. Nothing more than that."
"Oh," she sounded relieved. "What on earth did you talk about, then?"
"Things..."
"What kind of things?"
"Relationship things."
"And?"
"We're going to talk to the president."
"No way," Cassie was stunned. "You're not kidding me, are you?"
"Absolutely not. In fact, he's probably on the phone with him right now..." she sat down in her computer chair and twirled around once, twice, and then a third time. "We're hoping to get a meeting as soon as possible, but it might not be for another week or so."
"Did he kiss you?" Cassie wanted to know, her hopeless romantic side showing itself in full force.
"No," Sam said with a chuckle. "He can't. That's exactly what fraternizing means."
"Oh," this time she was disappointed. "Yeah, I guess you're right." There was a slight pause and then the girl continued, "Not even a peck on the cheek?"
"No Cassie. Nothing."
"That doesn't seem fair."
"That's because it's not." Sam informed her. "But, until we talk to Hayes, there's nothing either one of us can do about it. The rules are the rules."
"Yeah, but Jack breaks the rules all the time... and don't think I haven't heard the stories about you're insubordinate streak, because I have. Often. So, if other rules can be broken, why not this one? It seems the least harmful." The argument was a good one, but there was one major flaw.
"The other times it was necessary to save the planet or another race, things like that. And we broke the rules knowing there was no way to be charged for breaking them, not many courts have a policy for defy a direct order and taking off through a Stargate to save the planet from a Goa'uld attack, after all. Fraternizing is a lot easier to prosecute. If anybody found out, our classified work wouldn't be a factor and we could be taken before a military judge for our actions. And well, what's the point of being together for a little while if we're only going to get thrown in jail and not see each other for years?"
"Could you really get that hard of a sentence for fraternizing?"
"Well... I'm not sure. Maybe. But, they would strip us both of our titles and kick us out of the military. And neither one of us can afford to do that. I'm needed at the SGC and so is he." Sam sighed heavily and twirled in her chair once more, "It's not any fun, but we have to obey the rules this time."
"But he's the Commanding Officer of the SGC... didn't he take the job so he could do whatever he wanted."
"As long as it is within the limits, yes. But, if he and I were together he'd be crossing the line, and he, of all people, can't do that. He's already been under too much scrutiny in his years at the SGC, I won't put him through more. And, on the other side of the fence, he's not going to muddy up my nearly spotless career."
"Nearly?"
"You said it yourself, I have an insubordinate streak at times..."
That was certainly true, she had gotten it from Jack, but hers was a much more discrete insubordination, whereas he just laid it on whomever he wanted to. It was part of his charm, Cassie guessed. "Well, I guess I should let you get to work..."
"I'll call you later," Sam promised. "Alright?"
"Yeah, I have a class until 5, but anytime after that is good." Cassie paused for a second, "Bye, Sam... good luck."
Smiling briefly Sam said a goodbye and set down her phone with a sigh, wondering how far Jack had gotten with the president.
XXXX
Hours later, he was beginning to drool on his paperwork, when the ringing of a phone took him away from a very nice dream. He cursed and sat up in his chair, rubbing his face to wake up further, and then reaching out to grab the ringing, red phone.
"General O'Neill." he greeted, wondering if it was the president, finally returning his call.
"O'Neill," the voice at the other end replied. Yup, it was the POTUS, and thankfully, he didn't sound as annoyed as his secretary had. "You needed to talk to me?"
