Title: Safe Bet
Chapter: Explinations
Summary: Nothing left to do now but wait for his reaction. And hopefully return to Colorado Springs with good news.
Disclaimer: Well, most of it isn't my property. I stake claim to a few, unimportant characters, i.e. the presidents secretary and Doctor Newman, but other than that... nothing.
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She studied the device, while everybody else studied her. After a minute or so of having the eerie feeling of people watching her, she looked up, the expression on her face annoyed, and asked, "You think I could have a little room to breath in here?"
The technician and Newman seemed to get what she was saying, and left, albeit very reluctantly. O'Neill either didn't get the subliminal question of "please leave the room" or he just wouldn't go. When she keep looking at him, the look on her face even more annoyed than before, he shrugged his shoulders. "Just act like I'm not even here, Carter," he told her, causing her to sigh.
Not wanting to waste anymore time, since she had no clue how long they had left, she went back to her examination of the device. As the doctor had described, it was fairly smile, and oval shaped, with red and purple lights blinking. Sam thought it odd that there were purple lights, she had never before come across that before, and she briefly wondered if it meant anything of importance. The ticking was loud and obsessive and going at a rate of about sixty times a minute, one per second.
There was a panel on the right side, Sam assumed that was where the wires were, seeing as there were no other panels or grooves on the "bomb". She took a flat-edged screw-driver from the kit that was already in the room when she arrived, and worked on getting the top of the panel off of the device. Pushing the edge of the screw-driver into the groove, she lifted it up, and heard the pop of the top coming off slightly. She worked the driver around the entire square panel until it came off entirely, exposing a mass of purple, red, blue, and white wires.
Breathing deeply. She looked up at her CO, suddenly feeling unsure of herself. He gave her a nod of encouragement and she held her breath, turning her attention back to the object in front of her. Praying that she wasn't making a mistake, she inched closer to cut the first wire.
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Davis almost winced at the informal tone of the archaeologists voice. Here was a man who had negotiated numerous treaties with nations both on the planet or off-world, a man who had made nice with hundreds of alien races, who somehow managed to fix the things that General O'Neill managed to screw up, and he was talking to the president as if he was an old friend. It didn't seem like the smartest thing to do, if you asked him.
"A favor?" the president questioned. "On behalf of whom?"
Recognizing the question as a way to see if Daniel was there for vain purposes, Davis jumped in to answer the question. "Not just one person, in particular, Mr. President. But, mostly for General O'Neill and Colonel Carter."
"The CO and 2IC of Stargate Command..." the president mused. "What could you possible have to ask me that concerns the two of them, amongst many others?"
Sitting back, Davis let Daniel answer that question. The doctor's Adam apple jumped as he gulped, and Davis knew exactly how he felt, this was extremely nerve racking. "Well, Mr. President, sir... it's a very complicated issue, really. But... ah, we were... wondering..." he paused, to regain his composure, in order to stop stumbling through his sentence like a drunkard. "The reason we are here, Mr. President, is to request that the fraternization regulations for the SGC be dropped." There. He said it. It was out on the table. Nothing left to do now but wait for his reaction. And hopefully return to Colorado Springs with good news.
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She paused, the pliers shaking in her hand, and took a deep breath. Inching the tool forward, she hoped that she was right, and that by snapping the purple wire she wouldn't blow the device up, consequently doing some damage to herself. With unsteady hands, she slowly clipped the wire, letting the breath she was holding in out when nothing blew up. She could sense him looking over her shoulder, but at the moment it was the last thing she was worried about. After a few seconds of nothing happening, she moved to cut the second, purple wire.
Again, nothing happened. Nothing blew up, nor did the ticking stop. There were two more purple wires, and hopefully after those two were gone, the ticking would stop. If that even meant the device was off, of course. Another wire, another few seconds of waiting, and then she moved towards the last. With a deep breath, she snapped it, and then waited. Milliseconds later, the ticking stopped, and the purple lights stopped blinking. The red lights, however, were still going at full force.
There was only one red wire, and Sam hoped that meant that it only controlled the lights, so she snapped it, and the lights went off.
"That's it?" O'Neill questioned from directly behind her. She jumped slightly at the sudden noise, and turned around to glare at him.
"Yes, sir. That's it. There was really no need to call me in for this..." she sighed and set down the pliers. "May I return home, now?"
O'Neill nodded, "You can do your report when you return... Are you sure that's it?"
She turned back around and looked at the so called bomb, and nodded, "Yes, sir. It wasn't very advanced, and the level of technology is about twenty or so years behind ours. The main thing was knowing which wires to cut."
"And you knew because?"
"I have never seen a bomb made with purple lights, or wires for that matter, before. I just took my gut feeling and ran with it, sir."
"I see..." he sighed. "You're dismissed, then, colonel."
"Thank you, sir," she brushed past him and out the door, headed for the elevator. He was right behind her, and as they left she heard Newman and the tech rush into the room to see what had happened. Boy would he feel like an idiot when he knew how easily it had been disarmed. Sam shook her head and entered the elevator, holding the door open for O'Neill, who was only a few steps behind her.
He was going down a few levels, but Sam didn't mind having to wait. It was easier doing it that way, than to have him stand by the elevator on Sub-Level 16 for twenty minutes until her elevator got back, and that was only if it was intercepted before returning back to 16. They rode in silence for the entire trip down to Sub Level-20, and when the elevator stopped he turned to her and smiled, "See you when your downtime is over, Carter."
She nodded, knowing that was his way of telling her to stay off of the base until she was done with her time-off, "Yes, sir."
"Good. Have a good day."
"You too, sir."
O'Neill nodded and left the elevator, and when nobody else boarded, Sam started to the trip back to the surface. She leaned against the back of the elevator and sighed. Maybe she could catch another few hours of sleep when she got back home...
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The president was quite for a few minutes, and Daniel and Paul held their breath until he finally spoke up again. "Just how does the fraternization regulations have anything to do with Colonel Carter and General O'Neill?" he asked calmly. "They've not been--"
Daniel wasn't sure if interrupting the president was the smartest thing in the world to do, but he did it anyway. "No sir," he assured the man. "They would never disregard the rules in such a way, Mr. President."
"Then why were the two brought up?" the POTUS inquired.
"Sir," Davis interjected, since the question had been asked of Daniel. "If I may..." he paused and the president nodded. "I would like to consider myself a friend to both General O'Neill and Colonel Carter, although I do not pretend to know near as much about them as Doctor Jackson does. But, one thing is apparent to all who spend even the smallest amount of time with the two. They harbor strong feelings for each other, perhaps even love. But, because of the fraternization regulations, and their positions at work, they are forbidden to have a relationship. Maybe there would be good reason for this in any other situation, but at the SGC things are much different. They risk their lives on a daily basis, doing things most of the world couldn't even imagine, and because of that everyone who works there are extremely close. As much as they know, the people that they travel with may very well be the last people they ever see. So, in many ways, all who are a part of the SGC are compromised. They would do anything for the team-members already, so there really isn't a reason to be worried about two who are in a relationship putting themselves in danger for their significant other, because they already put themselves in danger for each other."
Slightly shocked at Davis' observations, Daniel coughed and jumped into the explanation, "Sir, I am the closest person on this earth to both Colonel Carter and General O'Neill. I have seen their feelings grow for each other, from extreme dislike to, well... love. I have also seen them struggle with their feelings because of the simple fact that they are not allowed. In my opinion, holding the way they feel for each other in may cause more damage than being in a relationship would. And, sir, we are not here just for General O'Neill and Colonel Carter. I, myself, know that it is incredibly hard to maintain a relationship with somebody outside the SGC. No matter what the situation, a relationship built on a lie just will not work. Now, there are few who have been able to maintain a relationship, but most of them were already married by the time they began their work at Stargate Command, and their relationships are strained. It's not fair to ask these people to risk their lives everyday for the entire planet's safety, and then turn around and say that they cannot have feelings for somebody they may work with. These people are the only reason this planet is still here, I think that they deserve at least the chance to be in love."
The president sat back, taking both speeches in, his face expressionless. Daniel assumed that, in his line of work, he had learned to keep a straight face fairly quick. In his experience, he knew that sometimes the way you appear gives off your thoughts, and that can be at times a bad thing.
"Sir," Daniel continued, wondering if he was pressing his luck. "Jack and Sam have saved the world more than a handful of times, and they've been rewarded very few times before, but that doesn't matter to either one of them. The truth is, they love their jobs. The only reason they won't admit their feelings is because they love their jobs as much as they do. Neither one of them can imagine doing anything different than what they are doing, and saving the world is more important to them than having a relationship. They've each sacrificed so much already and I think it's due time they've gotten something back. The same with all of the men and women at the SGC. They deserve something for all that they have done."
"What about you, Doctor Jackson?" the president questioned. "Do you have any reason for being here?"
"Other than seeing my two best friends finally happy?" he asked. "No. Even if I was interested in somebody at the SGC, the frat regs don't apply to me. I am not military."
Hayes nodded, knowing that it didn't apply to Davis, as well, since he worked at the pentagon. He had to admit, he was impressed with the two men before him. Doing what they did took an extreme amount of courage, or stupidity. Perhaps devotion. They seemed truly genuine in their statements, and it wasn't the first time he had heard of feelings between O'Neill and Carter. General Hammond was now a close, personal friend, since he had moved to Washington, and the two occasionally chatted about things that went on at the SGC. It seemed even George was rooting for the two.
But this was something big, he admitted. Even though the SGC was a top-secret organization, if it ever came out that the fraternization regulations were suspended for them, there would be questions as to why it was only them, and not everything else. "This is going to take quite a deal of thought," Hayes finally replied.
"Nobody is rushing you, Mr. President."
Daniel nodded in agreement.
"I have meetings to attend to during the day, but if the two of you will return at 2000 hours, I will have my answer."
The two nodded, "Yes, sir. We can do that."
"You are dismissed," Hayes informed them, and Daniel and Paul got up from their chairs, their legs a bit wobbly from both sitting for so long and worry.
Well, it wasn't anything like he had expected. But, it had gone fairly well. Daniel just hoped that it would go just the same that night.
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Sam hadn't been able to fall back asleep, but that hadn't been such a surprise to her. When she got home, there were no messages on her machine, which also hadn't been a surprise to her. Since she had nothing to do, she got her bike from the backyard once again and took it out for a ride around the town.
She ended up back at the lake she had gone to on her first day of downtime. It was peaceful and quiet and exactly what she needed. A break from the hectic life she had when at the SGC.
As she sat on the dock of the lake, she wondered about where Daniel was at and what he was doing. All the general had said was that he had gone with Davis to D.C. to help him with his "homework". That didn't make any sense to her, what on earth could Davis need Daniel's help for?
And why hadn't Daniel told her he was leaving?
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A/N: Well... you know what to do. Review!
