Disclaimer: Just having fun with the characters for a little bit. Promise to give them back. Don't own them, never will. Sigh...

Author's notes: Big ups to Verb (I'd chip in for that phrase to be spoken by CJ as T too, hehehe!), BookWorm37 (glad you liked the Thor POV) and Vid Z (happy your keyboard survived!). You are clearly all mad bonkers, having reviewed the last chapter within five or so minutes of me posting! This, by the way, is not a bad thing, it is certainly inducing of the happy and makes me all the more eager to write! Also hey to Lorettakay (I can't believe I'd forgotten about the cowboy thing, made me smile all over again), DragonChaos (backatcha with the Bwahaha!), kittn (five minutes ago:) Harsh, lol!), Gwil (still blushing!), feb04 (my daughter thought it was sweet, too), Peri of the elves (glad you find it funny), akiko-dono (I do watch Galactica and your cursing is appreciated!), Intergalactic smart-ass (the next blading sensation, now there's a vision!), PhDelicious (as always, your reviews are insightful and genuinely helpful) and Albi (due to my reaction upon reading your review, I shall indeed be requiring a place for myself in your support group. lol). And big hugs to all at As The Stargate Turns. Thank y'all kindly!

Sorry this chappie has taken so long, but sometimes RL just has to take you away from the fun for a little while. Just so as you know, there will be three further chappies after this one. I hope you enjoy them all. Bestest wishies.

The President And Permission

General George Hammond stared at the open door of his office in sheer disbelief as the red phone started to ring.

Blinking, he picked up the receiver.

"Hammond."

"I just had an interesting visitor, George."

George Hammond sat bolt upright, unconsciously and automatically, as he registered the voice of the Commander-In-Chief.

"Mr. President. When you say a visitor, do you mean a gray one?"

He heard a huff of amusement at the other end of the line. "Well, George, I would say he was a little pasty. I might also describe him as short, but not to his face! After all, your reports state that he has control of a large amount of weaponry, so it wouldn't do to offend the little guy."

He smiled. "Probably not, Mr. President."

"Oh, George, leave the Mr. President when it's just us talking! And how did you know?"

He almost choked out his reply. "Well, Sir, he just beamed himself into this office, said ,'Greetings, General Hammond. I was successful', and rollerskated straight out the door!"

He was still, in fact, staring at said doorway in shock.

The leader of the free world actually chuckled at the other end of the line. "I was going to ask you about the skates."

General George Hammond was barely informed enough at this stage to provide a suitable answer. "From what Doctor Jackson told me, the price of his intervention in this matter was learning to rollerskate. Something to do with rediscovering the joys of taking physical risks. I'm not too sure, but..."

President Henry Hayes broke in. "Well, he sure didn't do any rediscovering of that here, George! The little guy seemed scared by the carpet in the Oval Office!" He started to laugh openly, breaking up his description of the scene. "You should have seen him! Kicking his little legs...skates stuck in the pile...moving nowhere..."

George Hammond rolled his eyes. Not enough to bring him up on charges, of course, but he had the feeling that the moniker 'the little guy' was going to stick to the Supreme Leader of the Asgard Fleet. The situation did sound very funny though.

"The carpet in the Oval Office is very plush, Sir. And I don't think the Asgard use that sort of flooring."

The President Of The United States hooted in amusement. "Oh, George, stop! That's just too much! It was hilarious!"

He calmed himself after a few moments. "Is he really one of the most powerful beings in the universe? Because I have to say, he sure doesn't look it."

"Well, yes, Sir. On this plane of existence, anyway."

Henry Hayes seemed to emit a slightly strangled sound. "Your job is too strange, George!"

He sighed and continued. "Anyway, back to business. The little guy made a request about two certain officers under your command."

"I thought as much, Sir." The upcoming conversation was making the General quite uncomfortable.

"I'm worried, George. This will set a precedent that I'm not sure should be set in the first place."

"I understand, Sir. But when Thor came back, he said..."

The President broke in. "Well, my concerns aside, of course I said yes! Excuse me if I sound a bit like the proverbial doormat when I say that there was no way I was going to say no to the little guy with the big spaceship and the probably, lets be honest, terrifying space guns! Can you imagine? No, Mr Thor...zap! Fried Henry!"

George Hammond grinned. Status aside, he really liked this man. And boy, could he boil down a complicated question till you got the simplest answer?

'Fried Henry'? Oh, but yes!

He didn't quite manage to keep the smile out his voice. "That would be a little inconvenient for you, Sir. So, how do we go about this?"

"George, they can embark on a relationship, so long as it doesn't interfere with their duties. To be honest, I'm stilla bit surprisedabout meeting the little guy and that's pretty much as far as it goes, so far. I'm having Margaret draw up a document right now that gives my permission, but leaves the details up to you, as their commander."

There was a momentary silence as General George Hammond, USAF, whom was a shining example of how to serve your country, moved the receiver away from his ear so that he could glare at it.

He put it back only to hear yet more chuckling. "Were you just glaring at me, George?"

He spoke mildly. "I'll have to take the fifth on that one, Sir."

Still the President chuckled, but became quiet after few moments. "George, I trust you. I trust your judgement. You're a good man, a great officer and you know these two almost better than anyone. If you think that they can handle it..."

"I do, Sir."

"...Good. But I know enough about you to realise that you won't let it get out of hand. So don't."

"I'll do my very best, Sir."

"I'm sure you will, George, I'm sure you will." His tone became lighter again. "I have thought of a couple of things that I'd like you to pass on to them since I spoke to Margaret, though. Firstly, can you make sure there is no groping in the gateroom? Because it doesn't look good and, in truth, I just wanted to say 'groping in the gateroom' to somebody. Looks like you're the one who gets to hear it!"

Hammond smiled. "I am certain that neither Colonel O'Neill or Major Carter will even have to be told to use the utmost discretion, Sir."

"Just what I like to hear. And secondly...well, this next bit is really important, George. I know this might be a bit...shall we say, sensitive? But you gotta order to them to restrain themselves when they're away. Particularly on the more unusual planets. The guys over at NASA will have my hide when the Stargate Program goes public if they find out that there has been prior unofficial research into, um...offworld 'relations'." He chuckled. "They thought they were clever looking into the effects in zero-g. Not that I think they were looking looking. Can you imagine their excitement when they find out?" He put on a squeaky voice. " 'Ooooh, we can research 'relations' in 0.757 g's!' " He was again laughing outright. "Scientists are really funny sometimes!"

General George Hammond had been about to raise his coffee cup to his lips, but had put it back down during that particular little speech.

He managed not to laugh himself, though, despite the unbidden vision of vast numbers of men in white coats holding up scorecards that popped into his mind.

"I am sure they wouldn't even consider it anyway, Sir."

"Great. I'll have the document sent to you within the hour. That's pretty much it for me here, I have to speak to the President of Burundi in a few minutes. Though I understand that one of your staff might be running some sort of pool...?"

George Hammond huffed. "Seargant Siler. Not that you heard that from me, Sir."

He heard the phone being tapped on a surface of some sort for a few seconds. "No, George, this is a very bad line. Could you put ten on for me? On, say, them being together by the end of the day?"

He smiled. "I could indeed, Sir, but if I could advise you, the smart money and by that I mean mine, is going on tomorrow."

"I'll go with that then, George!"