Title: Faith

Chapter: 2 of ?
Email: S/J

Category: Angst/Romance
Spoilers: Jack's a General; Sam's a Colonel and engaged; more importantly, Teal'c has hair. General spoilers up to season eight.
Content Warnings: None
Summary:

Rating: Suitable for all.
Disclaimer: I do not own SG-1. Stamps foot and tosses hair childishly.
Archive: SJFic - Yes. My site. Anywhere else - Yes.

Author's Note: Please feedback me, I'm greedy.

Soft sounds.

Softness all around her.

Clean, somewhat sterilised, scents.

The infirmary.

The SGC.

Home.

Sam opened her eyes. There was an IV in her arm, probably feeding her, she must be malnourished.

"Hey, Sam." Daniel.

Sam looked up. Daniel and Teal'c were sitting around her infirmary bed.

"Hi." She said, surprised at how weak her voice sounded.

Daniel gave a little wave, but she noticed the smile he offered her didn't reach his eyes.

Teal'c looked grave. A reversion to the Jaffa that first joined SG-1. "ColonelCarter. It is good to see you awake again."

Teal'c. Teal'c had carried her from the cell. He had brought her home. But he hadn't been alone.

Daniel had been at the SGC when she got back. She remembered his voice.

Daniel and Teal'c watched as she worked it out.

Jack had come for her. He wasn't here now. When the guys were around he usually stayed a little while longer, using them as chaperones.

Something was wrong. She could see it in Daniel's expression and Teal'c's lack thereof.

Then she remembered.

"Uh… Jack?"

"General O'Neill! Briefing room! Now!"

She looked questioningly up at Daniel. "What is it, Daniel?"

Daniel hesitated before answering, shooting a look at Teal'c, who inclined his head almost imperceptibly.

"Um… Sam… Jack's in trouble. Serious trouble."

"Why?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"O'Neill disobeyed a direct order in coming to rescue you. His superiors" Sam was surprised at the venom Teal'c injected into the word, "ordered him not to send a rescue party for you."

Sam looked from Teal'c to Daniel. The archaeologist looked extremely angry and worried all at once.

"They're crucifying him, Sam." He told her, anger inherent in every syllable.

The briefing room was hot. Jack lounged in one of the chairs, his green BDU Jacket slung over the backrest.

In contrast the people opposite him sat bolt upright, stiff in their suits. Both men were wearing Air Force dress blues. The stars on the older man's shoulders identifying him as a Major General. His name was Thomas Lewis.

Jack had known him a long time ago.

His presence had amused Jack. It wasn't usual for the brass to send a General to deal with him. Must be one of the perks the stars on the lapels of his jacket granted him, and the Pentagon obviously hadn't done a thorough background check on Lewis. Either that, or they thought Jack deserved someone on his side.

The other man had identified himself as Colonel Fredericks. He kept shooting glares at Jack that he felt were totally undeserved.

Jack smiled at them.

"Something funny, General?" Lewis asked.

"No." Jack said, not offering them anything else.

There was a respectful knock on the briefing room door. Jack turned. It was Walter.

"General, a Brenda Clarke has arrived from the Pentagon; she says she's here for the investigation." Walter said, speaking to Jack.

Jack flicked a glance across the table at General Lewis. The man was seemingly unmoved by Walter's deference to Jack, who was under investigation, and as such technically, temporarily, relieved of his command.

Fredericks, however, looked apoplectic.

"Show her in, Walter." Jack said.

Walter nodded and disappeared, not before shooting a dirty look at the two officers seated opposite Jack.

"You guys really shoulda come together." Jack said conversationally.

"I really don't think you should be advising us on what we should have done, General." Colonel Fredericks said.

Jack rolled his eyes and said nothing.

"What are you gonna do, Sam?" Daniel asked, speaking through the curtain that Sam had pulled around her bed, giving her some privacy to dress.

"If he's under investigation, he's entitled to a witness." Sam said, pulling the curtain back. She was dressed in green BDU's, same as Daniel and Teal'c.

"Lucky I got the colour for the day." Daniel said, smiling.

"I believe a show of solidarity will be most advantageous at this time." Teal'c said, smiling slightly.

Sam smiled at her friends. Then her smile faded. "Didn't they tell you he was entitled to a witness?" She asked.

Daniel shook his head.

"Didn't he tell you?"

"He did not." Teal'c told her.

"Stubborn." Daniel said, as the three of them headed out of the infirmary.

"I do not believe so." Teal'c said. "O'Neill did not wish to… drag us down with himself." The cliché sounded strange coming from Teal'c, causing his team mates to look at him strangely.

As the three members of SG-1 neared the briefing room the atmosphere hit them. It was most definitely hostile.

They slowed, listening in.

"What excuse can you give for your behaviour, General?" Brenda Clarke demanded.

"None." Jack said.

"None? Come on General O'Neill, you usually do better than that!" Clarke sounded frustrated.

"Usually?" Jack's asked, his voice languid.

"Your lame excuses for insubordination are well documented, General." Colonel Fredericks said.

"Cool."

"Well?"

"Well what?" Jack asked, obviously doing his utmost to be difficult, and succeeding masterfully.

"You were ordered not to go in search of Lieutenant Colonel Carter. Why did you?" Fredericks sounded extremely angry.

"Easy, Fredericks." Jack said, mockingly.

"Don't let him get to you, Colonel." General Lewis said, sounding less annoyed than the others. "Now, General, answer the Colonel's question."

"I don't have to, do I?" Jack asked, sounding bored.

"What makes you say that?"

"Oh, c'mon. You guys came here with your own preconceptions of why I did it. And I'm pretty sure I know what they are."

"And just what do you think they are, General?" Clarke asked nastily.

"We cannot allow them to dishonour O'Neill in this fashion." Teal'c told Daniel and Sam in a low voice.

Sam nodded and made to enter the briefing room, but Daniel put a hand on her arm, stilling her. "Listen." He whispered.

Inside the briefing room, Jack was answering the question. "You think I did it because you think I'm in love with Colonel Carter." He said.

Out in the corridor Sam gasped at Jack's audacity. "I can't believe he said that!" She hissed to Daniel and Teal'c.

Lewis spoke next. "And are you?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"General O'Neill!" Fredericks exclaimed, obviously shocked at Jack's attitude.

"What? I'm just wondering what you guys would have said if I'd gone for Daniel, or Teal'c."

"Then you are not fraternising with your subordinate?" The calm man asked.

"Fraternising with my subordinate?" Jack repeated. "I think I should make something clear here. I didn't go to that planet for my subordinate," Jack said, as though the word were distasteful. "I went to that planet for my friend."

"Your friend?" The woman repeated.

"Yes." Jack said.

In the corridor Daniel winced. He could tell that Jack was about to push his luck.

He wasn't disappointed.

"I can see that the concept is completely alien to you." Jack added.

Before Clarke could speak again, General Lewis said, "General O'Neill, as I am sure you are aware, there have long been rumours concerning yourself and Lieutenant Colonel Carter. This last… incident… has only served to… inflame our concerns."

"Inflame your concerns about what?" Jack asked.

"The way you run this place!" Colonel Fredericks exclaimed, as though he couldn't believe Jack hadn't guessed.

Sam, Daniel and Teal'c had finally had enough. "What's wrong with the way he runs this place?" Daniel asked, entering the room ahead of his friends.

"Daniel!" Jack exclaimed, smiling at his friend.

"Jack." Daniel said in greeting.

"Sir." Sam said, nodding to Jack.

"O'Neill. Do you require my assistance in dealing with these… humans?" Teal'c asked, sending his best First Prime glare at the people seated opposite Jack.

Jack, however, was staring at Sam. "Carter, what the hell are you doing out of the infirmary?"

"I heard there was a lynch mob in town, sir." Sam replied.

"I can't believe you guys let her leave the infirmary!" Jack said, glaring at Daniel and Teal'c.

"We didn't let her do anything." Daniel said.

"I believe the phrase 'undomesticated equines' could be applied here, O'Neill." Teal'c said.

"I take it these people are SG-1?" Colonel Fredericks said.

"What?" Jack asked, distracted. "Oh yeah. Lieutenant Colonel Carter, Dr Daniel Jackson and Teal'c. I'm sure you've heard of them."

General Lewis turned to SG-1. "I am going to have to ask you people to leave. This is a private meeting."

"They're just leaving." Jack said pointedly.

"Like hell we are!" Daniel exclaimed. "I am not going to stand by and let these people pick you apart, Jack."

"Dr Jackson, while your loyalty to General O'Neill is admirable… your presence here is not appropriate." Fredericks said.

"Why not?" Daniel demanded, glaring at Fredericks.

"You are not a member of the Air Force."

"I am." Sam said quietly.

"Carter…" Jack said warningly.

"Sir?"

"What are you doing?"

"I want to know why these people didn't see to it that you had a witness, sir." Sam said, her glare not shifting from the people on the other side of the table.

"If you are suggesting that you be General O'Neill's witness, Colonel, I am afraid that is not possible. You are too biased, as are Dr Jackson and Teal'c." General Lewis told her gently.

"Perhaps someone else on the base?" Clarke suggested.

Sam laughed mirthlessly. "Do you really think you could find someone on this base that isn't biased? Good luck."

"Carter, I am ordering you to get your ass back down to the infirmary and stay there." Jack said.

"No, sir."

"So this is how the SGC operates is it?" The woman said. "Barely contained insubordination and flagrant disregard of the regulations that are supposed to govern the armed forces."

"Yes, ma'am. That's exactly how we operate." Jack snapped, glaring at the woman. "Which," he added, "is an improvement on how we operated, say, ten years ago."

"General, the Stargate program was not in operation ten years ago." Fredericks said.

Jack stood and snatched a copy of his own service record from the small pile of papers in front of Clarke. "Ten years ago the Stargate program operating out of Cheyenne Mountain deployed an Air Force officer, who according to his most recent psyche evaluation was 'unfit for active duty due to severe depression.' Someone who had 'exhibited an inclination towards suicidal behaviour,' and could be considered a 'danger' to any mission he was sent on. I quote from the psyche evaluation of one Colonel Jonathan J. O'Neill circa 1994. I'm sure you've all read it."

He tossed the file back onto the briefing room table. "You guys at the Pentagon brought me back. You guys put me in charge of this place. I told you it wasn't a good idea."

General Lewis was smiling slightly. "You haven't changed, have you, Jack?" He asked gently.

"You expected me to?" Jack shot back, glaring at the older man.

"You're a General now. I would have thought that would have mellowed you." Lewis said, holding Jack's gaze.

Jack snorted derisively. "Cut the crap, Tom. I haven't changed since you met me."

"No, you haven't. Probably what's kept you alive all these years. God knows I can't find another reason for it." Lewis said, his eyes smiling at Jack.

"Sit down, General O'Neill." Clarke said.

Jack complied, glaring at her.

"We merely wish to discover if there is any truth to these… rumours." Lewis said.

"What do you want me to say?" Jack asked.

"I want you to say no." Lewis said.

At the same moment, Clarke said, "Tell us the truth, General."

Before Jack could speak Daniel said, "I can't believe you people." He sounded truly astonished.

"Daniel…" Jack warned.

"No, Jack. You saved Sam."

"Teal'c helped." Jack said.

"I could not have found ColonelCarter without you, O'Neill. Neither could I have removed her from the cells." Teal'c responded.

Jack shrugged.

"You rescued their foremost expert on the Stargate, and they want to string you up for it?"

"We are not questioning the facts of what General O'Neill did, Dr Jackson." Lewis said. "We are merely trying to ascertain his motives."

"General, we already know his motives!" Clarke interjected.

"Do we?" Lewis asked, turning to look at the woman with some interest.

"You know we do, sir." Fredericks said.

"And what might those be, Colonel?" Lewis asked.

"Her!" Fredericks said, pointing at Sam.

"You will address my officer by her rank, Colonel Fredericks." Jack said, his mild tone belied by the hard set of his jaw

"I don't think you're in any position to give me orders, General O'Neill." Fredericks said.

"Fredericks!" Lewis snapped.

"But, General, sir-" Fredericks began.

He was interrupted by General Lewis. "You will not speak to your superior officer like that!"

"General, that man is a disgrace to the Air Force and everything it stands for!" Clarke said. Fredericks nodded his agreement.

Before any member of SG-1 could speak, Lewis glared at the people sitting with him. "I have known Jack O'Neill since he was… sixteen?" He paused looking at Jack.

"Fifteen." Jack told him.

"Fifteen years old." Lewis continued, nodding his thanks. "By the time he was twenty-two I owed him my life three times over. I can assure you, Mrs Clarke, that he is in no way a disgrace to the Air Force. He is an asset. You will not speak to him like that again. Do I make myself clear?"

Clarke and Fredericks buckled under the General's glare.

Satisfied Lewis turned to SG-1. "Have a seat, SG-1."

Clarke and Fredericks looked slightly peeved at his inclusion of SG-1, but said nothing as
they took seats along Jack's side of the table.

Lewis turned to Jack. "Jack?"

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Sam.

"General Lewis, sir, if I may say something?"

Everyone at the table turned to look at her, surprised.

Lewis nodded.

Sam ignored the dark look Jack shot her and concentrated on the people sitting opposite.

"I feel I am to blame for General O'Neill's non-compliance with his orders."

"Carter-" Jack began, only to be interrupted by Lewis.

"Let Colonel Carter finish, Jack." He said. "How is this so, Colonel?"

"Anyone who knows General O'Neill knows he feels a certain… obligation… to the people under his command." Sam paused, swallowing hard before going on, "Despite my previous experience, when I first joined SG-1 I did not possess half the skills I have come to rely on over the past eight years. It was General O'Neill that taught me some of the most important lessons of my career."

She paused, looking at the three people sitting opposite. She was aware of Daniel and Teal'c's eyes on her. And acutely aware that Jack was examining a spot on the briefing room table that had held his attention since she started speaking.

"On my last mission I failed to get myself home safely with my team. I then failed again: I could not escape the prison that the natives held me in." She looked at General Lewis. "General, you've known General O'Neill a long time?"

Lewis nodded. "I have."

"Taking into account all I've just said, what would you say his reaction to my failure would be?"

"I wouldn't call it a failure, Colonel-" Lewis began.

"If you could just answer the question, sir." Sam said, cutting him off.

Lewis narrowed his eyes at Sam, switching his gaze from her to Jack and back again. "Jack would see it as his failure, not yours." He admitted grudgingly.

Sam nodded.

Fredericks felt compelled to interrupt. "I still don't see that that would be enough for a career officer, like General O'Neill, to disobey a direct order."

Lewis snorted his amusement, but said nothing.

"I agree." Sam said. "However there are extenuating circumstances."

"And those are?"

Sam swallowed in a suddenly dry throat. This had seemed so simple at first. Save him. It was her turn after all.

All she had to do was tell the truth.

"My feelings for General O'Neill."

"And just how do you feel about him?" Fredericks asked nastily.

Sam smiled. "I care about him." Sam said. Jack looked up, his eyes begging her to just shut up. "A helluva lot more than I'm supposed to." She added.

For a moment there was absolute silence around the table.

Absurdly, Daniel and Teal'c looked pleased. General Lewis looked down at the table, masking his expression.

In the eyes of Clarke and Fredericks, triumph bloomed.

Jack stood. "Carter, my office, now." He snapped tersely.

Sam stood to follow him.

"Whatever you have to say will be said in this room, General." Clarke said.

Jack turned and smiled. It wasn't a friendly expression, it was a warning. Keep pushing me…

"Fine." He said. He turned to Sam. "What the hell do you think you're doing Colonel?"

"Being honest." Sam said.

"Shut the hell up, Carter." He snapped.

Sam looked up at him, hurt. "Sir-"

"That's bullshit, Carter, and you know it."

Sam just stared at him, hurt. 'He doesn't believe me.' Abruptly, Sam realised that she'd said what she'd said as much so that he would hear it, as for her admission to save him.

"Now follow my order and shut the hell up." Jack walked past her back to the table. "I want what Colonel Carter said to be disregarded." He told Clarke, who was taking notes.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, General." She said, smirking.

"Oh really? Colonel Carter has just been put through two weeks of torture, all in the name of her planet. She is not entirely stable or rational right now. You will disregard what she said."

"Jack!" Daniel exclaimed, shocked at the way his friend was talking about Sam.

"Stay out of this, Daniel."

"No." Daniel said.

"Indeed." Teal'c added, his deep baritone causing Clarke and Fredericks to glance at him nervously.

Years of watching people's reactions to Teal'c meant Daniel could easily read their expressions. They were afraid of the big alien.

Jack turned to Daniel and Teal'c. "Stay out of this." He said again.

Daniel shook his head.

Teal'c spoke. "Approximately four years ago I was present when both O'Neill and ColonelCarter were tested as Za'tarcs, since then their behaviour has been nothing but commendable. Their-"

"General O'Neill let his feelings for Colonel Carter cloud his judgement." Fredericks interrupted Teal'c. "He has admitted so himself and there are other documented incidents that verify this."

"You're right." Jack said.

Daniel almost gave himself whiplash turning to look at Jack. "What?"

"They're right, Daniel." Jack said, his voice quiet, tired. "I let my personal feelings for Carter influence my decision."

"Jack!" Daniel exclaimed.

"O'Neill!" Teal'c snapped.

Sam closed her eyes.

"Jack, what are you doing?" General Lewis asked softly, almost inaudibly.

"I would like the record to show that Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter is engaged. Whatever feelings might have influenced my decision, are not reciprocated on her part." He ignored the shocked looks he was attracting from SG-1 and levelled a glare at the three people sitting opposite. "No matter what she says."

"General, what exactly are you saying?" Clarke asked, as though she couldn't quite believe that he was admitting it.

"He's not saying another word." It was an order, directed at Jack, and it came from General Lewis. "I call for a recess. Go and get yourselves something to eat and drink, be back here in fifteen minutes." He said to Clarke and Fredericks, not taking his eyes from Jack.

"But sir!" Fredericks protested.

"That was an order, Airman. You too Mrs Clarke."

"You can't tell me what to do, General." She said.

"Watch me."

Obviously deciding that they couldn't win this one, Clarke and Fredericks stood and left the briefing room, closing the door behind them.