Title: Safe Bet

Chapter: Take-Off

Summary: One day, probably one day soon, Hammond was going to have to follow through with his promise, and buy back his soul.

Spoilers: Slight spoilers for Chain Reaction

Disclaimer: Not my show and not my characters. Only my plot.

XXXX

"So let me get this straight," Jack stated, glancing between the two sitting in front of his desk. One of whom he knew very well, the other, only slightly. Both men shared the same look on their faces, one that plainly told him they weren't telling the entire story. And, he wanted to know what it was that they had felt necessary to leave out. "You need Daniel, an archaeologist, to return to Washington DC with you, and help you with your work?"

Davis nodded, "Yes sir."

Alright then... he still didn't get it. What on earth could Davis need Daniel for? He wasn't military and if it had to do with the Stargate, well, Jack would be the person to go to. Hammond, even. And George lived in DC, all Davis had to do was pick up a phone and not even dial an area code, and he could have his help. "...To help you with all sorts of complicated archeology things, I assume."

Neither man was stupid, so both saw that Jack was just fishing for more information. They had both expected him to be suspicious of their request. It's not every day the liaison between the SGC and the Pentagon asks for a doctor of archeology for help with his work, anyway. And it wouldn't have made any sense, if they hadn't thought it through. "Sir, I have to do a follow up of various archaeological finds that were a result of the Stargate program. I, myself, have only a very small understanding of the subject. Most of what I know about archeology comes from the History Channel, and I'm sure Doctor Jackson would be a lot more informative than a TV station."

"Right," Jack said, leaning forward in his chair and resting his elbows on his desk. "But I am still a bit confused as to why you are doing this, instead of... say, Daniel or somebody from Area 51."

Which was another thing that Davis had expected of O'Neill. "To tell you the truth, sir, I have no idea why it was me who was assigned to this particular... assignment. But, the fact of the matter is, general, my CO gave me a direct order to carry it out, and that is exactly what I am going to do." There it was. O'Neill would have to buy the excuse, because he, himself knew the rules of chain-of-command. He could have done the same with any of those underneath him, and they would have been obligated to follow through with the order. It was a part of the military, and Jack was a military man, through-and-through.

"I see..." there was a thunderous scowl on his face, put there because there wasn't a thing he could say to rebuke the man's explanation. Unless he called Davis' CO and questioned him about it... but then that would probably mean more paperwork for Jack to do, and... he trusted Paul enough.

"It is only two days, sir," Davis reminded him, shrugging his shoulders. "And if he was suddenly required back here at the SGC, all that you would have to do would be make a phone call and he would immediately be on a plane."

"Not to mention," Daniel added, jumping into the conversation, "the fact that with me being gone, it gives Teal'c and Sam some much needed downtime." He watched as Jack's attention perked at the mention of Carter, and continued on, using his own tactic, much like Davis had. "Think about it... Teal'c hasn't seen his son, or Bra'tac, in almost two months, and he has been worried about them lately. I'm sure he would appreciate the opportunity to see them, even for only two days. And Sam's got a lot to deal with at the moment, with her father resurfacing after so many months and not liking..." he paused, catching himself from telling Jack that Jacob didn't like Pete in the slightest. "She has a lot on her mind, is all. I know she would enjoy a few days to just think. Without any interruptions."

The scowl on Jack's face deepened as he was forced to agree with his friend. He had noticed that lately both Carter and Teal'c had been detached, and he had assumed with Teal'c it was because they hadn't been in touch with the Jaffa Rebellion in more than a month, so that consequently meant he hadn't spoken with his son or the man who was like his father. With Carter, he didn't really have a clue. It could have had something to do with her father, he guessed, but he didn't think that was the complete truth. Possibly trouble with Pete?

He had noticed in the commissary that she had seemed indifferent when talking of him, and she had shied away from the subject fairly quick. Maybe there was trouble in paradise?

Jack snorted lightly at the idea. Wishful thinking, was all it was. There had been no indication from her or anybody else (namely, Daniel), to say that things weren't going so great for Carter and her fiancé. He had better quit while he was ahead, there was no reason in getting his hopes up, just to see them married by the end of the next month. Like he could do anything, anyway, if they were having troubles. He was still her CO and that wouldn't be changing for a long time.

But, still... he had noticed that she hadn't been completely there for the past few days. She seemed to be thinking of something else at all times, and that was both dangerous for her and dangerous for the base. What happened when she went into daydream mode while working on some doohickey in her office? Boom. And, it wasn't like the cop would even be there for her downtime. She, herself, had mentioned that he was in Denver and wouldn't be returning to Colorado Springs for awhile. Why not give her the time to think and Teal'c the time to see his son?

"Alright," he finally agreed. "But two days is it. I want him back her by the end of forty-eight hours."

There was a combination of "yes sir" and "of course, Jack" from the two men. He waved his hand, letting them know they could leave, and watched the two as they made their way out of the office. Leaning back in his chair, letting his back rest heavily against the padding, he let out a long, stressful sigh. One day, probably one day soon, Hammond was going to have to follow through with his promise, and buy back his soul.

XXXX

They had a little over an hour and a half until their plane left, after Jack had let them out of his office. Before they headed to Peterson, where their flight would be leaving from, they stopped by Daniel's apartment, where he grabbed a few outfits (including his most expensive suit) to bring along with him. Davis had assured him that he could crash at his house, where there was an extra room, rather than spending a fortune on a nice hotel room. His girlfriend would be there as well, but he promised that there would be no problem with him staying for a few days.

"What does she do?" Daniel questioned, after hearing about Davis' girlfriend, Meghan, for the first time.

"She's in the Air Force," the man replied. "Works at Bolling under the Judge Advocate General."

"A lawyer?"

Davis nodded.

"So she doesn't know anything about the SGC?"

"All she knows is I deal with classified information. She's military so she understands why I can't tell her what I do everyday and why I'm always heading out to Colorado Springs."

"Oh... is that hard? Not being able to tell her about it?"

"Sometimes it is. There are times, like after Antarctica, where I thought she deserved to know. Seeing her watch the news talk about asteroids and comets and satellites blowing up and believing it, for the most part, it's kind of frustrating that we're lying to everybody. But, then, I think about how much I have to deal with, knowing about the Stargate. I'm constantly wondering how things are going at the SGC, whether the earth is about to be blown up or over run by the Goa'uld. I don't want her to have those thoughts every five minutes. It's not fair to anyone to be scared for their lives, as well as the lives of everybody else in the world, all of the time."

"It burned at Sam to be dating Pete, and not have him know about the Stargate. She said that he could handle it, it wasn't fair that she had to keep the secret from him."

"Well, he obviously couldn't handle any secrets she kept from him," Davis sighed, as Daniel unlocked his apartment door.

"You know about the background check?"

"Flags went up in DC when he had that ordered. Everybody who knows about the Stargate program knows about the background check on her, and any background check done on anybody from the SGC or Area 51. It's a precautionary method. We can't have civilians knowing too much about you, or they might figure some things out."

"Like Pete did..."

"Yeah, he didn't handle the situation too well, and he was lucky to live to hear about what had happened. If Sam hadn't vouched for him, the man would probably be in jail at this very moment." Davis shrugged as Daniel walked into his bedroom to grab his clothes. "What about you, Jackson? Why don't you have anybody to obsess over whether or not to tell them of the SGC?"

"Everybody I fall in love with is either a Goa'uld or ends up dead." Daniel replied, emerging from his room with a duffel bag and a dress-bag, containing his suit. "Not to mention, captured by the Goa'uld."

"Have you spoken with the former host of Orisis? Sarah Garner?"

"Twice," the man supplied, heading back out of the apartment. "She's moved back to England and is trying to get on with her life. I don't think that's working out too well for her."

"She was offered a position at the SGC, was she not?"

"Only half-heartedly, we never expected her to agree. I'm sure the last place on the planet she wants to be is near a Stargate."

Davis nodded, "That is understandable."

"Well," Daniel said, locking his apartment door and turning to face Davis, "let's get this over with."

XXXX

"Sam?" Pete questioned, when she didn't reply. "Is something wrong?"

Yes. There is most definitely something wrong. You are here. Now. Too early. Go back to Denver for a few hours. "You're home early," she croaked out, coughing to bring her voice back to normal. "I thought you would be hours?"

He smiled at her, "I might have fibbed a bit..."

Oh. That's great. You lied. Wonderful. "This is a surprise." I hate surprises.

"That's a good thing, right?"

No. "Um... I'm just a bit caught off guard is all."

Pete nodded and proceeded further into the house, "What was it that you and Daniel were talking about? It sounded important... Does it have to do with the SGC?"

She shook her head, "It has nothing to do with work." Pete nodded and walked into the living room, sitting down next to her on the couch, a little bit too close for her comfort at the moment. Then again, he had no idea that she was running the different possibilities of their breakup through her mind, trying to weed out the bad ones, in search for the perfect words. All of the knowledge in her brain about the Stargate and Naqquadah generators and engines was doing her very little good at the moment, and she suddenly wished that there had been a course on how to break up with a guy at school, rather than shop.

"Well then," Pete said, "if it's not about work, what does it have to do with?"

Sam tried not to wince, but it was an immediate reaction that couldn't be stopped. She was so not ready for this. Not ready at all. "Listen, uh..." she cut her sentence short, deciding that was a bad idea and sighed deeply. There were precious little choices for her to pick from and she found herself taking the most used road. "We need to talk..."

XXXX

"So," Jack said with a sigh, standing in the middle of the 'Gate room, next to his bulky Jaffa friend. "You'll tell Bra'tac that I said hello and give Rya'c and Kar'yn a hug for me?"

"Indeed," Teal'c replied, as he watched the 'Gate being dialed. "I will."

"That's... uh, great. Give the young couple my best wishes, as well."

"I will," Teal'c repeated. "Tell Colonel Carter and Doctor Jackson I will see them upon my retun."

"Sure thing," Jack promised. "Have a good trip."

"Thank you. I will."

The Stargate kawooshed forward, and Teal'c bowed slightly towards Jack before taking off up the ramp and through the event horizon. Mere seconds later, the 'gate shut itself down and Jack was left standing alone in the embarkation room. With nothing to do and nobody to talk with. It was already nearing time for the day-shift to leave and night-shift to take over, and there were no teams leaving or returning until bright and early the next morning. Yup, he was going to get bored really quick.

He could go home and take a jog around the neighborhood... by himself. Or, he could go see a movie... by himself. Neither option sounded like very much fun to him, so they were quickly discarded. There was a heated pool at his gym, he could take a swim... alone. Or, he could just work out a little... alone. That didn't jump out at him either. He had his game boy and yo-yo on base, he could spend some time with the both of them... alone. Daniel had that Rubix cube in his office, that was time consuming. But, then again, he would still be all by his lonesome.

"Well, there's always paperwork," he sighed to himself as he turned to leave the 'gate room. He entertained the idea for a few seconds, before deciding against it and wondering why on earth he had even thought of it. "On second hand... maybe I'll go see Carter."

XXXX

A/N: You guys thought that the breakup would be in this chapter, eh? Nope. Just another evil cliffhanger.