Pesky NID and the ever-present Kinsey

AN: Yay for Chapter three! w00t! Sorry folks but chapter four should take a whole heap longer to get out I'm afraid. Term 2 starts tomorrow and I'm gonna be SO busy! I hope this chapter will be some consolation. And if not, you can always click the link to my userpage and read my other story 'Sam's Wedding.' So watch out in a month or two it might be out. But I'm also having a temporary writer's block or whatever it's called and haven't written anything productive for days!

'Damn NID!' Sam muttered angrily to herself as she strode down the hallway in a right foul mood.

Woolsey had started his "interviews" that he was doing for the President. Getting "the truth" about their latest mission to P3X-298. Woolsey had pulled the "Mr. High and Mighty, I'm right you're wrong" thing on them.

'You're a seasoned combat officer and this is not the first time you have lost a close colleague and I doubt it will be the last. I just want to make sure that it wasn't avoidable in this case. Despite what you might think, the only reason I'm here is to get the truth.' Sam had tried to hold back a snort of disbelief, instead she gave him a contemptuous glare and said, 'Did you have a question?' And then, it began. The tirade of questions making her feel irritable as he interrogated her with the sole purpose to contradict her answers. 'You can't ask… human beings to risk their lives without backup, without knowing that we would be there for them.' He just gave a superior smile and said 'You yourself have been asked to go into combat where you knew there was no back up. That is always a possibility on any mission through the Stargate is it not?' Sam had glared daggers at him, but Woolsey went on criticising eveyrthing SG-1 had done on their mission to all of them, except Jack because he was still in the infirmary. She didn't care that Senator Kinsey had authorised the interviews; when Woolsey had finished, she got out of there as fast as she could giving a small 'good luck' to the waiting Daniel, hoping he'd be able to keep stay collected in there.

So Sam was walking, more like marching to the Commisary and orered a cup of coffee to calm her down.

How dare he make such accusations! 'It was just dumb luck that there weren't many more lives lost.' 'So you would have me believe that this was an acceptable risk?' 'I believe classified military operations require oversight.' Sam kicked the table leg that she was seated at, wincing at the sudden pain it had caused.

'Well that was incredibly smart.' A sarcastic voice said. She looked up to see who it was. 'Mr. Bregman.' Sam gave him a polite smile as the reporter sat down with her.

'How are you, Major Carter?' He asked. 'I heard that Colonel O'Neill is in the hospital wing injured. I'm sorry.' She gave him a slightly disgruntled look. 'I'm fine but… ah, I really have to go. I've got work to do.' She gave him a brief smile as she picked up her coffee cup and started to leave.

'I'm sure he'll be alright, Major Carter. He'll recover and then you can go back to being Colonel and Major again.' Sam stopped, shocked. Taking a deep breath trying to control her temper, she turned around and said, 'You'd better watch what you say around here, Mr Bregman. Or the President may decide not to be so willing to let you continue your work.' Before he could say anything more, she quickly walked away feeling more perturbed than ever.

Daniel sat at his computer typing away, not taking much notice of what he was writing. Just standard mission report stuff, that was all. Except it wasn't so standard, because it used the phrase "Dr. Janet Fraisier suffered severe casualities and died while serving in the line of duty". It just didn't sit right with him. Of course... it wouldn't sit right with anyone of the team. But seeing it on screen, typing the painful words with his own nimble fingers...

When Daniel had lost his wife at the very beginning of SG-1, he had never felt so helpless and upset. That was why he had joined the SGC in the first place. So he could take revenge on the Gou'ald for taking his wife and free her and Skaara.

But the feeling of helplessness and lonliness came rushing back to him with such a powerful force, that tears pricked at his eyes and his chest became heavy as he found it difficult to breathe. He took some great gulps of air and settled back slightly in his chair, dipping his fingers into his his glass of water and rubbed them around his face, the icy cold water, startling yet refreshing. It gave him a small burst of energy and he typed on his computer furiously for fifteen seconds, and then he felt it leaking out of him as fast as it had come.

He sighed, and his thoughts turned reluctantly back to Janet. Her warm, funny smile, her voice, alternating between soothing, anxious, "in command", kind, and ocassionally angry.

He remembered one time, when he was being used as a "lifeboat" for other personalities. His consciousness was hiding quietly in the corner of his mind, avoiding the disarray of the ten other personalities. Janet was talking to the sovereign of those people, who was giving her an earful about himself, "I'm their sovereign, they need me. You don't realise who you are talking to." Janet's answer was priceless; her face mingled with frustration, anxiety and defensivness; her voice searing with anger and fearful worry. She had yelled, "I don't give a damn! You don't belong in that man's body and I intend to take it back!"

In that moment, Daniel had stared at her (in his mind) with a new kind of admiration and respect. Those few words she had said, full of so much emotion, meant the world to him. He had never felt so much gratitude towards her (except when he had Ascended) and so much appreciation that he had such a brilliant and extraordinary friend. He had never felt so lucky in all the world. 'Beat that you soveriegn scum!', he had thought. 'Let's see your "loyal subjects" defend you like that!'

He loved Janet, as a friend. She was such an amazing person, and now... He tried to stop the thought from coming but it came anyway... now she was gone forever. He would never have a friend like her again.

'Never' was such a foreboding word, he thought dejectedly as he continued typing up his mission report. But "Janet is dead. Janet is dead" kept ringing through his head; like the bells at a church, ringing mournfully at a funeral.

A tear that he never even knew was building up there, rolled down his cheel. Followed by another. And another. He quickly wiped his face on his sleeve as the reporter Bregman came in the door, knocking a bit too late.

"Dr. Jackson?" he asked carefully. Well at least he had the decency to ask.

"Yeah... It's really not a good time right now." Daniel told him.

"I've just been hearing bits and peices; I was hoping you might be able to confirm some of it." sarcastic voice Yeah and at least he has the decency to 'get the picture'.

"Sorry." Yeah, sorry. You won't be getting anything from me today. Not ever.

Bregman still wouldn't give up. Talk about a determined man, determined in the wrong sense though. Bregman looked over at the video camera sitting solemnly on the desk. Daniel's bloody fingerprint was imprinted on it's silver surface, as the moments that it captured would ever be imprinted in his memory. Daniel surveyed it, shivering as he remembered...

So please review:D There will also be a flashback for Daniel next chapter.