Chapter Two

Being in command of the SGC wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. Not that Hammond had ever made Jack think it was that great. And it wasn't like Jack had been given a choice in the matter either. No one had asked him if he wanted to sit in a six foot square office all day and push papers. Had someone asked, Jack would have told them, in no uncertain terms, to go to hell. Jack loved going through the Stargate. He loved going on missions, even the boring ones where he spent entire days sitting on rocks while watching Carter and Daniel's faces light up over absolutely nothing of any actual value as far as he could tell.

He'd never admit it to anyone, but, yes, he even missed those rainy planets and the sandy ruins and, God forbid, even the damn trees.

The part he truly hated about being in charge was that he still had to sit through those ever-loving lectures which still bored the crap out of him and he didn't get to accompany his team into the field as a reward. And regardless of how many teams he was responsible for, SG-1 would always be his team.

He was fairly certain his team knew that. Teal'c never said anything, but Jack knew he missed the camaraderie of a person who was a soldier first, and a scientist not at all. Daniel was forever marching into his office with artifacts that were meant to be fascinating and Jack appreciated his friend's attempt to include him. But it was Carter who always found a way to cheer him up. While Jack could count on one hand the number of times General Hammond had been required to accompany any SG team, Carter was continually stumbling across races that would only talk to the leader of their facility, and usually, only in person. The first couple of times, Jack was actually annoyed, thinking that she was needlessly putting him in a diplomatic situation that she ought to know would end badly. But after a few pointless trips, Jack recognized it for what it was - her entirely successful way to keep him involved and to allow him to continue to make fairly regular trips off-world.

The best thing about it was that she could pull it off with a completely straight face, never once giving in to what had to be an almost unbearable urge to laugh at the complete bullshit she was telling him.

It had been almost two months since the last time Carter had managed to come up with a mission for him. All the time on earth without a break was getting to him and he was particularly grumpy in their early morning briefing. Daniel was standing at the head of the conference table, prattling on endlessly about the wealth of information that could be learned about some ancient culture from some ancient something or other. Jack's mind wandered more freely than it had when he was in command of SG-1 because he figured it wouldn't matter so much since he wasn't going. The first thing that occurred to him was that he was in charge and therefore could insist that no one schedule any more meetings before the sun came up. He made a mental note to reschedule all briefings for after lunch whenever possible.

He glanced to his right and saw Teal'c, sitting with his eyes closed. Teal'c's attention was infinitely more important than his own, so he nudged his friend's chair, earning a sharp glare from Teal'c. Confident that Teal'c was going to listen from that point on, Jack's eye strayed to Carter. She wasn't even pretending to pay attention. The photos that Daniel had handed her, meaning for her to pass them around, were still lying abandoned next to her notepad. She had some sort of reference book in front of her, which Jack could tell from the fairly complex diagrams had absolutely nothing to do with anything ancient whatsoever. She was scribbling frantically, checking the book, flipping pages, and scribbling again. At one point, she looked up and caught Jack's eye.

Normally, when she caught him staring, which was far more often than a CO really should be caught staring at anyone, she would glare at him or smile with a blush spreading across her cheeks, depending on whether or not they had an audience. But Carter didn't look angry or curious. She looked perplexed. Worried, too. Jack wanted to interrupt Daniel to ask her what was wrong, but he didn't want to call Daniel's attention to the fact that no one was paying him any attention.

Carter bit her bottom lip and dropped her pen. She rested her elbow on the table and dropped her chin in her hand, all the while looking thoroughly confused. There was nothing more upsetting in the world to Jack than a confused Samantha Carter. If someone with a brain as big and as quick as hers was confused, he figured, something was very wrong. After a long moment where Jack was sure his heart had stopped beating, understanding dawned on Carter's face, accompanied by a wide smile. She turned to a blank page in her notebook and started writing once again.

She didn't look up when Daniel switched on the lights, nor when he leaned over her shoulder to see what she was writing.

"Sam, I know you're adept at shorthand, but that doesn't look like notes on my lecture." He paused, undaunted by the fact that she didn't even acknowledge his comment. He grabbed the book out from under her pen and held it up to inspect it. "It looks suspiciously like physics equations to me."

Annoyed, Carter grabbed the notebook back. "You wouldn't know physics equations if you tripped over them."

Jack didn't want the conversation to degenerate into a fight before they were leaving on a mission. "Ok, kids, do I have to put you in time out?"

"Sorry, sir."

"So, Jack, yes, no?" Daniel had forgotten the disagreement that quickly, but Jack hadn't kept up with him.

"About what?"

"The mission."

Jack waved his hand as if to say he knew that. "Of course you can go. I wouldn't have let you lecture us for two hours if I didn't intend to let you go."

Carter looked up with her mouth hanging open. "Sir, you can't possibly mean that! Did you hear anything he said?"

As her CO, he should have reprimanded her for the tone she used, but he was just too busy enjoying seeing her flustered. Rather than lie, he shifted the focus off of himself. "Did you? Or were you too busy with your equations over there?"

Her eyes narrowed the slightest bit as she offered him a tight, forced smile. "Of course I listened, sir. That's how I know this is a wild goose chase that will involve lots and lots of sand."

Feeling guilty for not knowing that, Jack smiled apologetically. "Tell you what, Carter, when you come back, I'll give you a whole week off and you can spend the entire time doing math."

"I'll probably spend the entire time washing sand out of my -"

Jack got up and walked away before he could conjure up any more images of Carter washing anything off anywhere.

Unfortunately, he didn't even get across the room before Carter caught up with him.

"Uh, sir?"

He allowed himself to gloat for a moment that she was going to be uncomfortable on the planet since she was making him uncomfortable. Of course, he immediately felt guilty. "What, Carter?"

She looked around nervously, obviously afraid someone might be eavesdropping. "Do you have a minute?"

Jack closed his eyes and shook his head, assuming he was missing something since he was obviously already giving her a minute. "You mean besides this one?"

She glanced around again and seemed no more pleased with their surroundings. Her eyes fell on his office and she inclined her head toward it. "Can I speak with you in private, sir?"

"There's no one else here, Carter. This is private." As he grumbled, though, he led the way into his office. He took his place behind his desk while she took her customary place across from him. "Ok, what?"

She got up suddenly and closed the door before retaking her seat. "Um, sir?"

His eyes darted toward the door and the suddenly frazzled colonel in front of him. He started to feel very, very nervous about whatever she was up to. "Yes, Carter?" His eyes darted back and forth between the two doors to his office, passing over Carter in the process. He needed to keep his eyes on whichever door was closer in case she was going to go insane - she was certainly acting like she was well on her way there.

She stared at him blankly for a long time before her eyes slowly clouded with anger. "You have no idea why I might want to talk to you? Can't think of any reason?"

Jack looked down at his desk, hoping something might jump out at him that she'd asked him to do. Nothing did, naturally, so he met her eyes and shook his head. "Not a clue, Carter."

She shook her head angrily. "Never mind, sir." She stood up and turned toward the door.

Upset that she was angry at him for something he couldn't remember doing, he jumped up and blocked her path to the door. "Carter-"

She didn't hesitate for a second to make for the other door. He reached out and grabbed her arm lightly to hold her still. He moved in front of her then and she avoided his eyes. "Excuse me, sir, I have work to do before the mission."

"Consider the mission postponed until you tell me what's going on."

She yanked her arm out of his grasp and surprised him with just how dark her expression could turn without warning. "What the hell was that about?"

"What was what about?" He tried to think over the things he'd said during the briefing. Sure, she hadn't wanted to go, but she'd never called him on a decision like that before.

"Last night. You want to explain that to me?" She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. "No, actually, I understood last night, it's this morning that I need some help with."

He understood why she'd been so paranoid about people overhearing and he was glad she had been. He didn't know what she was referring to, but had anyone overheard, they never would have believed it. "Carter, I'm going to say this once: I have no idea what you're talking about." He held her eyes as he spoke, wondering what she thought had happened to make her so angry.

The anger faded away after a moment. "I'm sorry, sir, I must have been mistaken. If you'll excuse me." Her anger hadn't faded away at all; she'd simply hidden it behind her military training. She tried to step around him, but he caught her arm again.

"No, I won't excuse you. I want to know what you're talking about."

She looked him straight in the eye when she responded. "I was obviously mistaken, sir. I apologize."

He knew she didn't believe for one second that she'd made a mistake, but he also knew she wasn't about to tell him. "Look, do I have some sort of clone out there I should be warning people about?"

Her eyes shifted to the side and she looked deep in thought. After a minute of thinking, she slowly shook her head. "No, sir, don't worry about it." She smiled at him apologetically and he believed the smile was real.

It was hard to stay tense with her smiling at him so he shrugged. "Ok, then, glad I could help." He went back to his desk and she headed for the door. He pretended not to notice that she paused to look back at him. He figured it was better that way. He was afraid she'd finally flipped. There'd been an article in some magazine he read once that mentioned an inexplicable link between genius and insanity. Carter was certainly a genius and he was afraid to consider that the article might have been right. He wound up staring at the door she'd disappeared through and wondering if he should record the distinctly odd behavior she'd been exhibiting all morning - not listening to Daniel, snapping at him for agreeing to the mission, confronting him about something that hadn't happened, and then pretending like everything was just fine. He was definitely sending her home for a few days when she got back. She needed the rest.