Title: Safe Bet
Chapter: On the Third Day
Summary: "But the real question is," Hammond continued, after a moment of silence, "what are you going to be doing to fix it?"
Disclaimer: We've gone through all of this before, have we not? The show and the characters are not mine, and I make no cash profit from my stories.
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It had been two days. Forty eight long hours since she had done the most rash thing in her entire life. Having already come to terms with her confession mere hours after doing so, that was not the part that bothered her. For the entire two days since she had gone to his office, he had done everything in his power to steer clear of her. Canceled the mission SG-1 was scheduled to have, used Walter as a messenger whenever he needed an update from her, for whatever reason, and wouldn't even let her into his office. She was starting to wonder if maybe she had been wrong in assuming he shared the same feelings as she had.
After siccing Cassie after him, in hopes that the girl could make him crack, she was disconcerted to find that even the young girl couldn't get him to open up. From that point on, all hope seemed to be lost, and if he was planning on coming to her with any sort of revelation of his own, it would have to come from his own accord, and not be forced by her hand. She wasn't sure what bothered her more; the fact that he had yet to open up, or the fact that there was nothing she could do to speed the process.
The twenty one year old had been a godsend for Sam. If Cassie hadn't been on break she was sure she would have gone insane from the wait and lack of knowledge. Both nights they had stayed up late, watching old horror flicks, and the Star Wars movies that Sam had yet to seen, eating ice cream and chocolate and popcorn and whatever else they could get their hands on, as long as it was high in calories. Sam would work the extra food off at work, and Cassie, who was blessed with a high metabolism, would simply have to do some extra running around to get rid of her unwanted pounds, so they didn't worry about splurging.
It was on the morning of the third day when she heard the rumors that had been flying around the commissary since the afternoon of the first. Walter had let it slip to Siler that General O'Neill was thinking about retirement– for good this time– and Siler had let it slip to about ten or so technicians, and after that the whole base had known. Well, the whole base, sans one person, which just so happened to be her. Why she was always the last leg of the rumor mill at the SGC she would probably never know, but it was starting to frustrate her.
Knowing that even if she went to his office he wouldn't let her in, the thought didn't even cross her mind. The last thing that she needed was to be brought up on charges for disobeying a direct order. No, instead of doing something as insanely stupid as charging into his place of work and demanding an explanation, she decided to wait until that night, and charge into his house, only to do the same exact thing. So, for almost the whole work day, she stayed in her office, not working on her newest doohickey, but contemplating what she would say and how she would approach him. And that was even if the rumor was true, and she was hoping that it wasn't. But, as she had learned in her years at Stargate, anything was possible.
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"I believe that may be the understatement of the century, Henry," George replied with a slight chuckle. The man smiled slightly in reply. "But the real question is," Hammond continued, after a moment of silence, "what are you going to be doing to fix it?"
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Hammond had replied to his e-mail, telling him not to do anything too incredibly unreasonable, and to just wait for a few more days, think things through, and then come to his conclusion after weighing out all his options. But to Jack, there were only two to weigh. Retire, have a life with Sam, the life he had missed out on the first time around, or stay at the SGC and be alone forever. To him, there really wasn't much of a conflict of interest, but he took Hammond's advice anyway, because he respected the man and knew that a little more time wouldn't kill him.
He wasn't stupid, he knew that the entire staff knew of his plans. Walter rarely ever kept a secret, and even so, the men and women who worked under his command had a unnatural ability to find out even the best kept secrets. Taking the cowardly way out, he locked himself in his office, only emerging when there was a debriefing to be had. And even then, he did his best to ignore the confused looks and quite whispers.
On the second day of his deciding, Hammond called him, and told him to hang in for a few more days before he made his final choice. Five days tops, he said. That would leave him at a week since her confession. Jack wasn't sure whether he could go an entire week ignoring her or not. It had already taken everything he had not to go to her, tell her everything, say screw the regs, and take her into his arms. His bones ached for it, but his mind knew better. If anything good could come of her boldness, it would have to take time. And a week was a reasonable amount of time, he confessed. He could handle it.
At least, he hoped that he could.
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"There's really only one thing that I can think to be done," Hayes replied with a sigh of regret. "I confess, I made a huge mistake. I went against my internal instincts, because I was afraid of the repercussions, and now I managed to screw things up worse than anything I had imagined before hand." He ran a hand over his head, rolling it and wincing at the pops and cracks his bones produced. "There's no way that I can let a man like Jack O'Neill slip through the program. He may not think he's important to us, but he is. I have to suspend the fraternization regulations for Stargate Command."
It was all Hammond could do to keep from smiling in triumph.
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As the clock ticked towards 1800 hours, day three, Sam grew impatient. What if he didn't even go home? What if he wouldn't let her into his house, much like he ignored her when she knocked on his office door? And, even worse, what if he didn't share her feelings? Was she setting herself up for heartbreak
Telling herself that her doubts were incredibly childish, she grabbed her things and headed out of the office, at 10 after 1800. Her dad had seen it, Daniel had seen it, Cassie had, and even Pete said he knew the two held a greater bond than he could even dream of having with her. So, there wasn't a chance that he might not feel the same, right? If all of those people knew he felt something more for her, then he more likely than not, did.
She thought back to her conversation with her father, the very thing that had led her to where she was then. When he had left, she told her to "tell him". It was a vague suggestion, and Sam hadn't known what he meant at the time, but now she was certain that he had been saying for her to tell Jack. Either way, she had done both. And although she was going out of her mind with worry, an entire world of weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.
Then there was the conversation with Daniel. If her father hadn't confirmed things for her, then Daniel sure enough had. Sam had confessed to him that she was afraid of the way she needed Jack, the strange hold he seemed to have over her. Her friend had replied that the fear she felt, all the things she experienced when he was around her, was love. She knew now, that he was right.
When she pulled into his driveway, she was surprised that she had arrived already. She had been completely lost in thought, and hadn't even noticed that she had been driving to his place. Driving to his house had been done solely on autopilot, an unconscious act that she could most likely do blindfolded or in her sleep. Although she had been to his house very few times, she had memorized all the possible ways to get there. It struck her how incredibly creepy that sounded, but she didn't give it too much thought. It was important that she knew where he lived. With the nature of their jobs, a lot of people did.
Not surprisingly, his truck was in the driveway. Most of the lights were out in the house, but that was merely because it was still daylight. His living room light appeared to be on, so she gathered up her courage, turned off the car, and made her way to his front porch. After knocking lightly she waited, hoping he would answer the door, and she wouldn't have to yell through the wood to get what she needed to say off of her chest.
After a few seconds of no reply, she rang the doorbell. There was footsteps, then the sound of curtains being pulled back, and a deep sigh, before the door opened. He stepped out on the deck, obviously not wanting her to stay so long as to invite her inside, and sat down on the steps. She didn't follow him, and instead sat in one of the chairs on the patio itself.
"You've been ignoring me," she confronted him, feeling a bubble of courage rise in her throat. "And for the life of me, I can't figure out why."
He didn't turn to look at her, instead just sat, staring into the trees from across the street. "As long as we work together," he told her, "this can't happen." He hung his head low, "We can't happen. It's not allowed, you know it. So why in hell would you complicate things by telling me that you love me?"
"Because I'm sick and tired of having to put my life on hold," she replied. "I understand that with the nature of our jobs work has to come first, but I shouldn't have to spend my life alone because the air force says I'm not allowed to be in love with somebody that I work with." She snorted, "After all we've done for this planet, and we aren't even allowed to be happy."
He didn't reply.
"Is it true?" she asked.
Jack finally turned around to look at her, "Is what true?"
"You're going to retire."
"I'm not going to lie to you, Carter," he said. "It's been on my mind... the only reason I haven't turned my letter in yet is because Hammond wants me to think it through completely before I do."
"Still thinking?"
"Truthfully, I made up my mind in my office, three days ago..." she colored slightly at the mention of her confession. "But Hammond wants me to take some time, so I'm going to take some time. After all the things he has done for me, I think I owe him at least that much."
"So, either way...?"
"This time next month, I'm looking forward to nonstop fishing in Minnesota, with a certain blonde companion."
Raising an eyebrow, much like Teal'c would have, she asked, "Me?"
"Nah," he replied with a grin, "I've been thinking about a Golden Retriever."
"Oh," a smile spread over her lips as she stood up from her chair and sat down next to him. There was silence for a few minutes, as the two just enjoyed being close, thinking about the weeks ahead of them, and what would happen were he to really retire, and then she said, "We're going to be okay, right?"
He nodded, slipping an arm around her waist in a forbidden moment, "More than that. We're going to be wonderful."
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When Hammond's name appeared on Daniel's caller ID, he was a bit confused. Not that he and the man didn't stay in touch since he left for Washington D.C., but it was rare that he called unannounced. Picking up the phone on the third ring he greeted him sincerely, "Hey, George, what's the occasion."
What George Hammond had to say floored Daniel. He had heard of Jack's supposed retirement, but hadn't bought a word of it, especially since nobody could give a legit reason for his doing so, not even Walter. But what the general was saying, was the Jack was indeed considering retiring for good, and it was because Daniel and Davis had failed their mission. However, were the younger men had failed, Hammond had passed with flying colors.
"You got him to change his mind?" Daniel question, shocked.
"No, son, it wasn't me." the older man replied. "Jack and his irrational streak did. When the president heard that he was intending on retiring, he didn't hesitate to think twice. We need Jack as a member of the program more than he would like to think."
"So he's really going to suspend the regulations?"
"He's drawing up the papers as we speak," Hammond replied. "It should take a day or two, but once everything is signed, you take over and let the two know the change of plans."
Daniel smiled into the phone, "Sounds like a plan to me... but do you mind if I let somebody else in on this? Well... make that two people, no... three."
"Well," Hammond replied, "I understand you letting Davis know, but who else could you have to tell?"
"Oh," Daniel said, "you'll see."
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A/N: Sorry it took so long, I was in North Carolina for a few days and couldn't get a few free hours to write out this chapter. Hopefully the next will come much sooner, but who knows. With me, you can never really tell.
