Trust

Chapter Nine

Disclaimer: Nope... still not mine.

Authors Note: Alright... since you guys wanted more, here it is. I'm not sure how many more chapters there will be, right now I'm only planning on going to 10, but if any of you have read my other SG-1 stories, you know that I am NEVER right when it comes to guessing the ends to my stories. My muse has a warped sense of humor, I guess. Anyway... on with the story then.


XXXX

For the rest of the ride to Peterson, silence took over. He held her hand in his for almost the entire time, taking his away only when he needed to turn a particularly sharp corner, or at the very end of their trip, when he had to park. It was still dark when they climbed out of the truck, grabbing the bags which contained their uniforms, and walking wordlessly towards the only plane on the runway at that early hour. When they reached their destination, the pilot opened the door for them, and Jack allowed Sam to go in first. As soon as they were situated in their seats and the pilot had gone back to the cockpit, Sam looked over at him and grinned, "Ok... I'm going to ask a stupid question."

"That's not possible," he told her, returning the smile.

"Seriously, though," she said, ignoring the lock of mock-shock on his face. "Why do you always let me go first? Is it because I'm the female and you're trying to do the "gentlemen" like thing, or because it gives you the perfect opportunity to check out by backside without me knowing it."

"I check out your backside without you knowing it all the time, Carter," he told her nonchalant. "Especially when I was still a part of SG-1."

Her jaw dropped slightly, a bit surprised at his truthfulness and the fact that she had never caught on to his reasoning for always letting her walk ahead before. "So... you're just being a gentlemen, then?"

"I didn't say that," he told her. "I am checking out your butt..." he shrugged. "Would it be a bad thing if I was also doing it to be a gentlemen?" There was no telling with women these days anyway-- he was almost certain that she would be less angry with him for simply checking her out, rather than giving her special privileges because she was a women. Samantha Carter was a force to be reckoned with, and given their current situation and where they were headed and why, he didn't want to make her upset.

"Not necessarily," she informed him. "So... how long have you been checking out my backside?"

"How long have I known you?"

"Are you serious?" Sam asked, her right eyebrow cocking slightly. "That long?"

"Well... you are hot, Sam."

"Really?"

Jack chuckled slightly, "You act as if you haven't known this for your entire life. I know you have. Everywhere you go in the SGC, Science Geeks and Military Jocks follow you around like lost puppies. You've got more admirers than Danny boy does, and that's a lot of nurses and alien women to compete with."

She rolled her eyes and slid her palm against his, intertwining her fingers with his, "Maybe so... but only one of them counts."

"McKay?" he guessed. "No... wait, he's halfway across the universe. Felger? Eh... no." He paused for a moment, obviously in thought, "He's dead... so is he... he's ascended... he's dead... robot..." he looked up at her and shrugged, "I give up."

"You ever heard the cliché, 'Don't bite the hand that feeds you?'" she questioned, almost certain of what his answer would be. She knew how he was with cliché's, anyway. He acted as if he detested them, but they were a regular part of his everyday conversation.

"...Yeah..."

"You're biting."

He raised his eyebrows in a suggestive manner, "Not really... but I could, if you'd like me to."

With her free hand she swatted at him playfully, about to reply. Before she could get a word out the co-pilot came out of the cockpit and informed them that they were taking off. Sam looked around the small, private plane and wondered if it belonged to the president or one of the many politicians who worked for him. It was luxurious, either way. The co-pilot retreated where he came from and Sam turned to Jack once more, "How on earth are we going to do this?"

"I have no idea," he confessed, leaning over the armrest and kissing her chastely on the forehead. "But whatever it is, we do it together."

XXXX

It was 45 after 0600 when they arrived in DC, landing on a private airstrip at Dulles International. Sam could feel her stomach turning flips and her pulse quicken as it touched down, squealing fiercely. Jack, who still had hold of her hand, gave her a reassuring squeeze and smile, before bringing her hand to his mouth and kissing it briefly. "Don't worry," he told her. "It's going to be fine."

"Maybe..." she speculated. "It might."

"No," he replied. "It will be. Trust me."

Damn, did he always have to use that phrase? How could she doubt when he asked her that? She would trust him always, no matter what. "Of course... it will be fine." If only she believed the words coming out of her own mouth. "Is Davis going to meet us?"

"I believe so," Jack told her, letting go of her hand so he could unbuckle his seat-belt (having received permission from the Captain). When the plane came to a complete stop he stood up from his seat, extending his hand to help her up as well. She glared at him, only half-serious, and got up on her own.

"Don't press your luck, bud." she warned, before running the tip of her pointer finger along his jaw line. "I can help myself up, thank you very much."

"At least you knew I wasn't just doing it to check out your backside," he informed her with a grin. The co-pilot ventured from the cockpit once more to help them off of the plane, and Sam ignored the smirk on Jack's face when he offered for her to go first. She did, however, but when they were safe on the ground she slowed her pace, allowing him to walk ahead of her. Two could play such a game, as it were.

If he had caught on to her little turn of events, he didn't let her know it, and he simply walked on in front of her, whistling a nameless tune as he went. After awhile, he stopped, turned around, and looked at her with mock-frustration, "Are you coming?" he questioned, even though she was only a few steps behind him.

She nodded, "Just enjoying the view."

He grinned and waited for her to catch up with him, resisting the urge to take her hand in his. They were most likely meeting one Major Paul Davis shortly, and the last thing they needed was somebody who knew them and their history to see them in such a situation, and assume the correct things, but to a higher extent. Jack and Sam hadn't done much to break the fraternization regulations, besides the few kisses they had shared in his truck. Really, was holding hands considered fraternization? If so, he had broken that one a long time ago, on many different missions where their lives were in danger. One in particular that they remembered, when they had been captured by Hathor, and were looking for Daniel and Teal'c.

Oh yeah. That had been a good mission. Firstly, she had been practically naked when he found her, although she had a covering over her body. Then, she had been clothed in white, and even though the outfit was too big for her, she had still looked amazingly hot. Moreover, she had thought of him with the Tok'ra memory recall device, and then when they had been hiding from the Jaffa, she had been pressed up against him, very closely. And after he had been saved from life with Goa'uld, they had clung to each other, also very closely. Oh yeah. Good mission. Even with the symbiote in the neck thing. They had broken all kinds of fraternizations regulations that day, without even knowing it... Heck, all of that was in the mission reports. To some extent, at least.

Brining himself out of his memories, they walked into the airport and almost immediately came into contact with Davis, who was holding two cups of what Jack only prayed was coffee. Once they got closer, his prayers were answered, and he took the substance greedily.

"So, am I allowed to ask what's important enough for you two to come all the way out to DC to talk to the president about?"

"You could," Jack told him. "But that doesn't mean you'd get an answer."

"Classified?" he questioned.

Jack nodded, "Yup. Very much so."

Davis seemed to take that in stride, nodding and not questioning the General. "He wanted to hide from the UN representatives, didn't he?"

"That," Jack said, taking a long sip of his coffee, "is also very classified."

XXXX

It didn't take very long for them to get to the White House, it still being early morning, there wasn't so much traffic to deal with. Still, there had been some, and Sam and Jack had shared a very uncomfortable silence with Major Paul Davis, who seemed to smile at the two of them every single time he caught their eyes. Sam was beginning to get curious, but Jack just found it annoying, and did his best to not look at the man during the entire trip to Pennsylvania Ave.

Upon arrival, the two were sent to a waiting room of sorts, and stayed there for the lighter part of half an hour. The worst part about it, was that they were in a government building, and therefore couldn't steal a few seconds of clasped hands, or any sort of un-allowed touches. They simply sat in their separate chairs, which were set nearly six inches apart, and waited. And waited.

It was almost 0800 when they were finally called into the president's office, the Oval Office, as it were. The man was sitting behind a huge, cherry desk, and smiled at them as they came. "General O'Neill," he greeted, "Colonel Carter." He stood, to shake their hands, and gestured at the two chairs positioned in front of his desk, inviting them to have a seat. These were much closer than the lobby ones had been, and the two found it hard to not bump elbows every now and then as they talked.

"So, how is everything at the SGC doing?" he questioned, retaking his seat, as he smoothed out his suit jacket. "Well, I hope."

"Everything is running smoothly, Mr. President, sir," Sam told him, feeling overwhelmingly nervous. This was the President of the United States she was talking to, anyway. If that didn't put a weight on your shoulders, who knew what would? "That's actually not why we came."

"Oh?" the president questioned, shifting his gaze between Jack and Sam. "I got the feeling that was the case when General O'Neill phoned me yesterday. I usually don't hear from him unless the world is about to blow up or be over run by aliens."

Jack smiled slightly, "Yes sir, Mr. President."

"Well then," Henry Hayes said with a sigh, leaning back in his chair, causing Sam and Jack to steal a glance at his unique behavior. "Let's hear it."

O'Neill coughed slightly, "Well... uh, sir, the thing is..." He winced slightly, cursing himself for not having thought of what to say beforehand. He was so stupid at times. "Colonel Carter and I have an extremely selfish and extremely huge favor to ask of you."

Hayes tilted his head slightly, in a way that almost reminded Sam of Teal'c, and she held her breath. They couldn't really being doing this... right at that moment. There was no way they were about to ask the President to show favoritism on them and allow them to break the rules. It wasn't possible. Nope. She was probably in a nightmare or something. Maybe off-world trapped in some sort of alien false reality. It could happen, anyway. It had before. A few times, actually. Yeah. She was probably hooked up to thousands of wires at the moment, which were feeding all of this into her brain.

But yet, he was there, and she was there, and the president was there, and it all felt real. It had to be happening. There was no way she would dream this up and well, no alien race would even consider this as a tactic for anything except to make her extremely uncomfortable. Sam shifted nervously in her seat, folding her hands over her lap.

"I see," the president replied. "What is this request then?"

General O'Neill took a deep breath; either he was about to do the most incredibly stupid thing in his entire life, and get fired and dishonorably discharged from the Air Force, not to mention brought up on court marshal charges, for breaking the frat regs... or, he was taking a huge leap of faith, placing his future into the hands of the president and praying that the man respected and liked him enough to take him seriously and grant his request. "Well, Mr. President, sir... We ask that the fraternization regulations for the SGC be suspended. For ever."

At the same time, Jack and Sam held their breath, looking at the president in anticipation of a blow up and imagining their careers washing down the proverbial drain. On a whim, Sam shot her hand out to the side, at the same time he did, and they locked hands, squeezing tightly, intertwining their fingers together. Was there something in the books that specifically said, no hand holding allowed between CO and 2IC? It didn't matter. Neither cared at that point, and they needed the comfort of the touch of the others skin.

Henry Hayes watched all that was going on in front of him, his eyes not showing sings of emotions either way. For all they knew, he was cursing in his head or he was biting back a smile. He showed no indication towards either. Which just made things on them ten times worse, because not only would they be forced to wait for his reply, but they had no clue as to what it would be. The president's right eyebrow cocked, as he leaned forward in his chair, and opened his mouth to reply.

"..."

XXXX

A/N: Okay, there it is. To see what he says, you'll have to wait for the next chapter. :)

Cliffhangers are so awesome, eh?